The French Apache dance achieved major prominence on the theatrical stage in 1908: first in France in the "Revue du Moulin", then in England in the music hall ballet "A Day in Paris," then in America
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in the Broadway musical comedy-drama "The Queen of the Moulin Rouge."
This video begins with the 1926 Apache dance scene from the silent film "The Sunshine of Paradise Alley," slightly edited to shorten audience shots, and zoomed closer during long shots of the dance. As in this film, the Apache dance was usually softened in the movies or stage presentations, reducing the brutality and degree of theatrical conflict. The dancer here is supposed to be actress Barbara Bedford, but a stunt dancer was obviously used in most shots.
The Apache dance performed here is a very nice movie variation of the dance, which surprisingly includes the monetary motivation and contains good clinches, while omitting the full circle spin. For those who miss the spin it has been appended from the 1913 film "The Mothering Heart", interspersed with some photos of the most successful performers of the Apache dance during 1908-1913: (1) Louise Alexander and Joseph C. Smith, who performed the Apache dance in "The Queen of the Moulin Rouge"; (2) Maurice Mouvet (who performed the Apache dance in France) with Florence Walton; (3) Beatrice Collier and Fred Farren, who performed the Apache dance in "A Day in Paris". Because early studio photography was limited, only still moments of the dance were photographed. As is evidenced by the photos and film, the Apache dance works best when both dance partners are nearly the same height on stage.
Theatrical popularity of the dance peaked in 1910, but the dance has kept a continued presence in popular culture due to having been memorialized in so many films, cartoons, and TV shows, despite the seemingly anti-feminist nature of the dance, which can easily make serious performances distasteful to modern viewers.
The music used for the Apache dance was composed by Offenbach, the "Valse des Rayons" from the 1860 ballet "Le Papillon". But instead of the original smooth version, Offenbach's 1872 revised accented version from "Le Roi Carotte" is usually used. In Paris, another arrangement called "Valse Chaloupée" was used for the Apache dance. In 1908 Broadway's "The Queen of the Moulin Rouge", the Offenbach theme was arranged by John T. Hall and retitled "The Underworld Dance" (concerned that American audiences would be confused if the name "Apache dance" was used). That 1908 music arrangement, as scored in the published sheet music, is the music heard on this video. The sheet music cover is displayed after the movie scene.
