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what it all means." --MARTHA GRAHAM
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Looking for Little Egypt
Little Egypt Home Page
that made "Little Egypt" infamous.
"Little Egypt" was a pre-Hollywood
sex symbol. She was created by and personified
the Western obsession for
the exotic. She was born in an age when showmen, in
deliberate Barnum-esque
fashion, outdid each other to manipulate the press and
mislead the public by fabricating
larger-than-life personalities.
Like the Web site? Read the Book Slide show/Lecture Review by Shakira Book Excerpt Little Egypt's Guest book
Who Was "Little Egypt"? A Quiz
1. LITTLE EGYPT WAS
a. a notorious entertainer of the late
nineteenth century
b. the originator of the theatrical strip
tease
c. a popular night spot in Chicago
d. the star of the 1893 World's Fair in
Chicago
2. LITTLE EGYPT'S CLAIM TO FAME WAS
a. she saved the 1893 World's Fair from
financial ruin
b. she legitimized "belly dance" in the
United States
c. she became a front-page news item in
1896 after she danced at a swank bachelor party that was raided by the
vice squad
d. she ruined the career and reputation
of impresario Oscar Hammerstein I
3. WHEN THE SEELEY BACHELOR DINNER WAS RAIDED, WHAT DID LITTLE EGYPT DO?
a. she escaped out the back way, dressed
only in her underwear
b. she remained hidden in another part
of the establishment, sipping champagne
c. she dove back into the giant cake which
she had just jumped out of moments before
d. she called her agent and asked if she
should perform her second number
4. AFTER THE SEELEY DINNER BECAME A SCANDAL IN THE NEWSPAPERS, LITTLE EGYPT
a. sued the Seeley brothers for damaging
her reputation and for nonpayment of her fee
b. was jailed and became a tragic heroine
of the women's rights movement
c. fled the country and spent the remainder
of her days in Paris at the Folies Bergere
d. was hired by a Broadway impresario
to appear as herself in a humorous parody of the Seeley Dinner
5. ALTHOUGH THE HISTORICAL RECORD IS DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW, IT APPEARS THAT AFTER HER BROADWAY STINT CONCLUDED, LITTLE EGYPT
a. repented her ways, married a devout
Mormon and moved to Utah
b. achieved wealth and a certain kind
of fame as a courtesan and actress in early French cinema
c. formed a touring burlesque company
d. popularized the use of the zipper,
by using it to wriggle out of her costumes more quickly
Answers
to Quiz
"(A) fascinating book"--Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine
Looking for Little Egypt by
Donna Barbrick Carlton is available at these fine bookstores:
AMAZON.COM
BARNES & NOBLE ONLINE
CALIFORNIA
SCHOYER'S BOOKS Berkeley
ILLINOIS:
BARBARA'S BOOKS Oak Park
WOMEN & CHILDREN FIRST Chicago
INDIANA:
BORDERS Bloomington
BORDERS Keystone at the Crossing, Indianapolis
BORDERS Castleton, Indianapolis
DHARMA EMPORIUM Bloomington
HOWARD'S Bloomington
INDIANA UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE Bloomington
TIS BOOKS Bloomington
KENTUCKY
JOSEPH-BETH Lexington
KENNEDY'S Lexington
LOUISIANA
KRUZ New Orleans
OHIO
BORDERS Moraine
as well as other bookstores via special order
Looking for Little Egypt is also regularly stocked by these dance
vendors:
ARTEMIS IMPORTS, Pacific Grove, CA (408-373-6762)
AUDRENA'S INTERNATIONAL BAZAAR, Oak Lawn, IL (1-800-327-3406)
SUZY EVANS, North Hollywood, CA (818-343-4410)
FATCHANCEBELLYDANCE, San Francisco, CA (415-647-6035)
GHAWAZEE BAZAAR, Edinburgh, UK (0131 5567976)
POSSIBLY PERIOD, Kokomo, IN
SCHEHEREZADE IMPORTS, Richmond, VA (804-749-3480)
The
Little Egypt Home Page is presented by IDD Books, publishers of Looking
for Little Egypt. ISBN 0-9623998-1-7, cover price $14.95. Available
at leading dance bazaars, through special order at most bookstores in U.S.,
through Amazon.com on the Internet, or directly from the publishers. The
book explains Little Egypt's notoriety and traces the history and development
of raks Sharki (belly dance) in the United States.
Click
here to order LOOKING FOR LITTLE EGYPT from Barnes&Nobleonline
United
Kingdom: Click here to order LOOKING FOR LITTLE EGYPT from amazon.com.uk
France:
Click here to order LOOKING FOR LITTLE EGYPT from amazon.com.fr
Deutchland:
Click here to order LOOKING FOR LITTLE EGYPT from amazon.com.de