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Adah Isaacs Menken (1835–1868) achieved celebrity first as an actress, later gaining some literary following for her poetry. Uncertainty surrounds Menken’s family history, as she claimed various…
Napoleon Sarony took this photograph of Alla Nazimova in the English-language performance of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. Alla Nazimova (1879–1945) was born Mariam Edez Adelaida Leventon in Yalta, Crimea, to…
Among the figures of contemporary ballet on the Maryinsky’s stage, Mathilda Kshesinskaya constitutes a phenomenon of exceptional interest. Her name enjoys great fame, her talent—unusually brilliant…
“Tanzstudie,” from Hans Brandenburg’s Der moderne Tanz.
Verse 1Sadie Cohen left her happy homeTo become an actress lady,On the stage she soon became the rage,As the only real Salomy baby.When she came to town, her sweetheart MoseBrought for her around a…
Purim plays (Purim shpiln, in Yiddish), sometimes also called Esther plays, have been known since the fifteenth century in both Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities. These folk plays were performed on…
She heard a sudden loud squeaking, so she raised her head. Seeing the cart she let out a happy shout: “A troupe!”
Her mother came out from the kitchen and looked through the window. “A fat lot of good…
The drumhead of this Phoenician-style terra-cotta figurine from Shikmona (south of Haifa) is recessed, suggesting that the drum had only a single head. Figurines like this are typically found in…
Program cover of a 1911 performance of the Ballet Russe at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, showing Léon Bakst’s costume design for Narcisse.
Cover of sheet music for “Sadie Salome, Go Home.” Fanny Brice (1891–1951) was born Fania Borach in New York City to immigrants from Hungary and Alsace respectively. Getting her break in entertainment…