The Shock of the Risky(qué) Female: Femininity and the Trauma of the Great War Era in the Dancing of Maud Allan and Anna Pavlova

Victoria Thoms

The Shock of the Risky(qué) Female: Femininity and the Trauma of the Great War Era in the Dancing of Maud Allan and Anna Pavlova

Victoria Thoms

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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Abstract

What role did the figure of the dancing female play in negotiating cultural anxieties in the Great War era? I explore this question by looking at the female performer Maud Allan who was famous for her danced interpretations of Salomé in pre-War London and cause of a sensational libel suit in 1918 bring together deviant female sexuality and wartime espionage. I juxtapose Allan with ballerina Anna Pavlova, a contemporary, and role model par excellence for proper femininity. These two examples offer a rich comparison from which to discuss how dancing and femininity was the grounds for inciting and palliating the profound cultural trauma of the Great War era.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	A World of Muscle, Bone & Organs
Subtitle of host publication	Research and Scholarship in Dance
Editors	Simon Ellis, Hetty Blades, Charlotte Waelde
Place of Publication	Coventry University
Publisher	Published by C-DaRE at Coventry University
Pages	267-293
Number of pages	27
ISBN (Electronic)	9781846000836
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2018

Bibliographical note

Except as otherwise stated this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Access to Document

PublishedFinal published version, 1.07 MBLicence: CC BY

https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/about-us/researchnews/2018/c-dare-e-book/Licence: CC BY

A World of Muscle, Bone & Organs: Research and Scholarship in Dance
Ellis, S. (Editor), Blades, H. (Editor) & Waelde, C. (Editor), 1 Jun 2018, Coventry: C-DaRE. 517 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Anthology or Edited Book › peer-review

Open Access

Victoria Thoms
- Research Centre for Dance Research - Associate Professor (Research & Teaching)
Person: Teaching and Research

Cite this

Thoms, V. (2018). The Shock of the Risky(qué) Female: Femininity and the Trauma of the Great War Era in the Dancing of Maud Allan and Anna Pavlova. In S. Ellis, H. Blades, & C. Waelde (Eds.), A World of Muscle, Bone & Organs: Research and Scholarship in Dance (pp. 267-293). Published by C-DaRE at Coventry University. https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/about-us/researchnews/2018/c-dare-e-book/

The Shock of the Risky(qué) Female: Femininity and the Trauma of the Great War Era in the Dancing of Maud Allan and Anna Pavlova. / Thoms, Victoria.
A World of Muscle, Bone & Organs: Research and Scholarship in Dance. ed. / Simon Ellis; Hetty Blades; Charlotte Waelde. Coventry University: Published by C-DaRE at Coventry University, 2018. p. 267-293.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Thoms, V 2018, The Shock of the Risky(qué) Female: Femininity and the Trauma of the Great War Era in the Dancing of Maud Allan and Anna Pavlova. in S Ellis, H Blades & C Waelde (eds), A World of Muscle, Bone & Organs: Research and Scholarship in Dance. Published by C-DaRE at Coventry University, Coventry University, pp. 267-293. <https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/about-us/researchnews/2018/c-dare-e-book/>

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The Shock of the Risky(qué) Female: Femininity and the Trauma of the Great War Era in the Dancing of Maud Allan and Anna Pavlova

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A World of Muscle, Bone & Organs: Research and Scholarship in Dance

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Victoria Thoms

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