Exposition Universelle, 1889

topic posted Wed, November 21, 2007 - 11:32 AM by  Samira
www.youtube.com/watch

It was the fairs in France that inspired Sol Bloom. He even hired dancers from French fairs and brought them over to the US for his Chicago Worlds Fair.
posted by:
Samira
  • Re: Exposition Universelle, 1889

    Mon, January 7, 2008 - 7:34 PM
    Thanks for posting this, I really enjoyed it. But I just wanted to say that from the digging I did it seems all but certain that the voiceover that appears to be the words of one woman writing to her sister is really a composite from many sources. When she lists the countries the dancers are from, she lists them with modern day names (Turkey, etc) rather than what those areas were called at that actual time. And the film work I think is panning over close-ups of postcards from the era or after. So though the clip was apparently done for a museum exhibit it does not demonstrate the strictest historical accuracy. But it was artistically put together and fun! Cathy
    • Re: Exposition Universelle, 1889

      Sat, May 24, 2008 - 12:51 PM
      It was created for the modern audience and their current geographical references. I know she has multiple sources- so you may be correct in your assertion that it is a composite of many letters, but I honestly don't know. The sources of hers that I have seen include books original from the 19 century in English and French, as well as compilation books from newspapers of that time. She also does research at the library of the American University in Cairo.

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