shanmonster | More Dance Photography! More!

Oooh, I sure do like these boots! I like the quasi-Victorian look of them. Someday, if I ever get cash again, I'm going to go shopping for boots. It's been quite a few years since I last bought any, and my collection is not aging gracefully. Ah well. Maybe I'll luck out and find some funky boots at a thrift store. It hasn't happened yet, but I did find a pair of Doc Marten Mary-Janes which I wear frequently.

And now, since it's been quite a while, I'd like to share some more vintage photos with you. These ones all have theatre or dance as a theme, but are pretty disparate, otherwise. Enjoy!

This portrait of a nude ballet dancer was taken by Alfred Cheney Johnston around 1915. Johnston was famous for his portrayals of Ziegfeld Follies dancers. This unidentified ballerina may have been one of those performers.

An unidentified topless dancer from the 1920s appears to be communicating "Speak No Evil." I think that's a pretty unflattering costume. If the model doesn't like it, she's keeping mum about it....

It's the same half-dressed dancer, this time avoiding looking at herself in the mirror. The appliqué on that skirt seems specifically designed to emphasize a pot belly, or to at least create the illusion of one.

This is Miss Madge Lessing, a theatre personality in Edwardian times. This photo dates from around 1908 and shows Miss Lessing in a risquée (for the time) costume.

Here is young Selena Cohen of Cleveland, Ohio all decked out in her ballet finery. I think she's awfully young to be dancing en pointe, but I could be mistaken. This photo dates from around 1920.

A fanciful hand-painted photograph of a cowboy's "dancing lesson". This one dates from around 1910.

Bring on the dancing horses! I'm not sure when this photo was taken. I doubt this big man was riding that tiny pony, though. The stirrups are far too short.

Cleo de Merode was considered one of the most beautiful women of her era, and was famous for her dancing and also for allegedly being the courtesan of King Leopold of Belgium. This cabinet photo dates from the 1890s, and was taken by Reutlinger of Paris.

Two crossdressing couples dancing in Algonac, Michigan. This scandalous photo dates from around 1910, and was in the photo album of a wealthy boat builder Jan Smits.

This French postcard features two half-naked women: a dancer and a musician. I think this is probably the sexiest of the erotic Orientalist postcards I've found to this date. There's just something about the two women's attitudes....