DANCES WITH DARWIN, 1875–1910 In memory of Stephen Burton, whose knowledge of popular music and performance stimulated my ideas about shaking and gyrating singers, and whose friendship was such an important source of support. Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 Vernacular Modernity in France RAE BETH GORDON Professor emerita University of Connecticut, Storrs. Member of Research Group Littérature et histoires, Université Paris-8 (2008–2009) R O UT Routledge L E D Taylor & Francis Group G E LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2009 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © Rae Beth Gordon 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Rae Beth Gordon has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Gordon, Rae Beth Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 : vernacular modernity in France 1. Darwin, Charles, 1809–1882 – Influence 2. Popular culture – France – History – 19th century 3. Gesture in dance – France – History – 19th century 4. Ecstatic dance – France – History –19th century 5. Dance, Black – France – History – 19th century 6. Body, Human, in popular culture 7. Blacks in the performing arts – France – History – 19th century 8. Human evolution I. Title 306’.0944’09034 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gordon, Rae Beth Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 : vernacular modernity in France / Rae Beth Gordon. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-7546-5243-4 (alk. paper) 1. Arts, French—France—Paris. 2. Modernism (Aesthetics)—France—Paris. 3. Art and anthropology—France—Paris. 4. Art and popular culture—France—Paris. 5. Science and the arts—France—Paris. 6. Darwin, Charles, 1809–1882—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Evolution (Biology). 8. Dance—France—Paris. 9. Cafis—France—Paris. 10. Music- halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.)—France—Paris. I. Title. NX549.P2G67 2008 306.4’840944—dc22 2008023665 ISBN 978-0-7546-5243-4 (hbk) Contents List of Illustrations vii Preface xi Acknowledgements xiii Abbreviations xv Introduction: An anthropology of gesture: the place and gesture of movement in evolution theory; The impact of evolution theory and psychopathology on spectators; Ethnological spectacle and hybrid performance style 1 1 The Epileptic Singers 11 Dangerous Dances 13 Contagion 19 A New Genre of Entertainer 34 Sex, Vulgarity, and Disease 39 Just For a Laugh 43 Polaire 47 The Cancan 50 The Last Laugh 55 2 Darwinism and Degeneration Theory in Popular Culture 59 Making Order out of Difference 63 The Year 1878 67 Phenomena: from Hybrids to Hottentots 68 What the Spectator Really Wants to See 75 Doubtful Species: The Anthropoid in Our Past and Physical Anthropology in France 79 Degeneration, Anthropological and Medical 81 Monkey Business 93 Trouble-Makers 99 3 What Is Ugly? 103 Part I: Scientific and Evolutionist Aesthetics 103 The Wild Men of Paris 116 Movement and Creativity 120 The Body: Sex, Pain, and the Ugly 122 Part II: The Making of a New Café-Concert Aesthetic 124 The Ugliness Prize 125 The Grimace 129 The Voracious Mouth: Animals and Cannibals 138 The First Laugh 141 vi Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 4 Natural Rhythm: Africans and Black Americans in Paris 145 The Music-Hall Helps the Cause of Colonialism 145 Before the Cake-Walk 146 The Black Menace 155 Chocolat and Chocolates 159 Retribution 164 The Minstrels 165 Cake-Walking Babies from Back Home 172 Trading Places 191 Chocolat Redux: An American in Paris 195 5 Epileptic Singers and the Mysteries of the Dark Continent 199 Fashion and the White Savage 202 The Nude and the Naked 211 The Blond and the Black Venus 216 Polaire 221 The Ugliest Woman in the World 226 Hybridity 233 6 Darwin Meets Père Ubu 243 Jarry, Natural Historian 243 Ubu Cocu 253 The Ignoble Double 256 Bergson’s Lesson 261 Epilogue: Darwin’s Avant-Garde: Ubu’s Progeny 265 Dancing the Primitive 270 Josephine Baker and the Danse Sauvage 273 Bibliography 277 Index 295 List of Illustrations 1.1 Albert Guillaume, Mlle Duclerc in “La Revue Déshabillée,” Courrier Français 19 August 1894. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 12 1.2 Le Bal des Folles et des Hystériques at the Salpêtrière, Courrier Français 11 April 1886. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 16 1.3 Willette, “Another one of Marianne’s attacks that shows off her ugly underwear,” Courrier Français 25 June 1899. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 18 1.4 Henri Somm, “Suggestion,” Courrier Français 4 October 1885. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 23 1.5 Edgar Degas, “Mlle Bécat aux Ambassadeurs: Three Motifs,” 1876–77. Lithograph transferred from three monotypes. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of George Peabody Gardner 35 1.6 Polaire aux Ambassadeurs, Iconography dossier Polaire (1). Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 40 1.7 F. Bac, Polaire, La Vie en rose 26 October 1902 Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 48 2.1 André Gill, “Darwin!” La Lune Rousse 18 August 1878. Courtesy Pierre Courtet-Cohl 61 2.2 Krao, the Monkey-Woman, Courrier Français 24 October 1886. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 70 2.3 Jeftichew, the Dog-Man, Le Trombinoscope, vol. 2, no. 119 (1873). Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 71 2.4 Rosa-Josepha at the Théâtre de la Gaité, poster. Courtesy Photothèque des Musées de la Ville de Paris 76 2.5 “Mr. Verpillon has one this big,” Courrier Français 12 June 1892. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 77 2.6 Consul the chimpanzee, “Reading,” Le Monde illustré 3 October 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 95 2.7 Jacques Villon, “Abduction,” Courrier Français 19 August 1894. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 102 3.1 Unattributed painting, “Une Soirée dans le désert,” The Architectural Record, vol. 27, no. 5 (1910). Photo, Courtesy of University of Connecticut Libraries 119 3.2 “Where do they find such ugly actors?” Le Rire 29 April 1899. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 129 3.3 Toulouse-Lautrec, “Café Concert – Mme Abdala.” Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 133 viii Dances with Darwin, 1875–1910 3.4 Xileff, “Black Laughter from Overseas,” Courrier Français 13 April 1895. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 144 4.1 Amazons from Dahomey at the Casino de Paris (1892). Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 149 4.2 André Rouveyre, “We have all we need for the moment, we’ll eat her when we’re in the Sahara,” Le Rire 7 December 1901. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 156 4.3 F. Lunel, “Eden Concert – The Fusion of the Races,” Courrier Français 17 January 1889. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 157 4.4 Widhopff, Advertisement for Kola Marque, Courrier Français 22 July 1900. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 158 4.5 Toulouse-Lautrec, “Chocolat dancing in a Bar,” Le Rire 28 March 1896. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 161 4.6 Willette, Advertisement for Pihan Chocolate, Courrier Français 17 January 1889. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 162 4.7 J. Raffaelli, “The English Minstrels,” Courrier Français, special supplement for flood victims, 1886. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 167 4.8 Widhopff, The Cake-Walk at the Olympia Music-Hall. Courrier Français 8 February 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 176 4.9 The Cake-Walk interpreted by Eugenie Fougère, Iconography Dossier Per 9996, Department Arts du Spectacle, Bibliothèque nationale de France 179 4.10 “Cake-Walk de salon,” composite for sheet music, taken from two separate images in L’Illustration 10 January 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney” 181 4.11 George Edward, “The Cake-Walk: How the Parisienne insists on demonstrating that we descend from the ape,”Le Rire 7 January 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 183 4.12 Willette, “How the French are perceived abroad,” Courrier Français 10 September 1899. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 184 4.13 A. Willette, “Parisians deprived of the Comédie Française return to the life of savages,” Courrier Français 8 December 1901. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 185 4.14 Henriot, “The Inferiority of Man,” Le Monde illustré 7 February 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 186 4.15 Rodriguez, “President Loubet awards a medal to the sole monkey of the Chiffa Falls (North Africa), creator of our national Cake-Walk; Who said that the Cake-Walk was American in origin?” Le Rire 7 February 1903. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 187 5.1 Lucien Métivet, “Civilisation!” Le Rire 23 January 1897. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 203 List of Illustrations ix 5.2 Ferdinandus, “The Zulus in a box at the Folies-Bergère,” Le Monde illustré 22 November 1879. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 204 5.3 “The Art of Raising a Sagging Neckline,” Fantasio 15 December 1906. Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France 206 5.4 Willette, “The Undressed Revue at the Ambassadeurs Concert,” Courrier Français 29 July 1894. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 210 5.5 At-home Attire of a Bambara Woman from Soudan, Fantasio 1 September 1906. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 213 5.6 Lucien Métivet, “Censorship and the Nude,” Le Rire 14 December 1901. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 215 5.7 A. Marie, “La Vénus Noire, Voyage en Afrique centrale,” Le Monde illustré 13 September 1879. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 219 5.8 Polaire, “The Lady the most ugly of the world!” Femina 15 September 1910. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 228 5.9 English School, “Miss Julia Pastrana. The Embalmed Nondescript, exhibited at 191 Piccadilly” (1862). Courtesy Bridgeman-Giraudon, Paris 229 5.10 Sem, caricature of Polaire, Album du Vrai et faux chic (1914). Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 231 5.11 The Darling Girls, Paris qui Chante 12 May 1907. Collection of author 240 6.1 La Mère Ubu in blackface, Fantasio 15 April 1908. Courtesy Bibliothèque Forney 260