In a programme of the entertainment to be given by the civic authorities to our Illustrious Visitor, it is announced that:—
Upon the arrival of the Shah, the Pusci of Wales, and the Lokd Mayor in the Guildhall, dancing will begin; the library also will be used for dancing."
No better reception could have been devised for the entertainment of an Oriental potentate than the arrangement of dancing to begin the moment that he arrives: but who are to dance? The Shah, probably, would care little to see dancing dervishes. The dancers to suit him should, one would think, be a company of artistes selected from the corps de ballet of the principal theatres. Theirs is the sort of dancing which an Asiatic monarch would prefer to any other admitting of less deoorative costume, and, being promiscuous; Aldermen and Common Councilman and other men dancing before his Oriental Majesty along with their wives and daughters, and the numerous fair guests voluntarily assisting as odalisques and bayadeères. Surely the civic dignitaries do not expect the Shah to dance too?
Bibliography
“Ball or Ballet.” Punch; or the London Charivari” (21 June 1873): 252. HathiTrust online version of a copy in the University of California Library. Web. 23 June 2022.
Created 5 March 2022