Tag Archives: 1920s ballroom dancing

Joe Strassner

Joe Strassner

Joe Strassner was a German costume and fashion designer who made his name in Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s designing couture and dressing a huge number of German films. He visited Hollywood with Lillian Harvey in 1933 and after the Nazi’s took power he fled first to Paris and then London. He replicated his Berlin success in London in the 1930s before leaving for New York in the 1940s where he ventured into the ready-to-wear market. It is also likely that in the 1920s he took the pseudonym of Ipsen Andre to perform as a dancer in cabaret where he frequently danced with Jenny Steiner, who became his wife.

Continue reading Joe Strassner

Ipsen Andre

Ipsen Andre

The enigmatic Ipsen Andre was an elegant German dancer who seemingly emerged out of nowhere dancing mainly in Berlin cabaret revues from 1924. His dancing career lasted until the late 1920s when he simply disappeared. Frequently paired with Jenny Steiner, they became a prominent dancing pair in Berlin nightlife.

Continue reading Ipsen Andre

Jenny Steiner

Jenny Steiner
 
Jenny Steiner was one of the most exotic and glamorous stars of Jazz Age Berlin. Largely a dancer, she was also a model, a singer and an accomplished impersonator. Well known as one of Rudolf Nelson’s leading stars, her legacy has survived in numerous images and yet her importance has been somewhat marginalised. She was partner to several dancers but the most prominent association was with the somewhat mysterious Ipsen Andre who was most likely a pseudonym for the famous dress  designer Joe Strassner whom she married in 1932. 
 

Continue reading Jenny Steiner

The dancers Ernest and Yvonne

The Dancers Ernest and Yvonne

One of the most popular and prestigious ballroom dancing acts in Germany in the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 1930s was that of Ernest and Yvonne who seemingly emerged out of nowhere in about 1925 and danced not just in Germany but also France, Holland, England and other parts of Europe.

Continue reading The dancers Ernest and Yvonne

Dolly’s Revels

Dolly’s Revels
 
The first cabaret show to be presented by Harry Foster and Major E.O. Leadlay at the Piccadilly Hotel in Piccadilly, London was called Dolly’s Revels. It was staged by Edward Dolly, the brother of the famous Dolly Sisters in February 1924 and had costumes designed by Dolly Tree.

Continue reading Dolly’s Revels

Harry Cahill

Harry Cahill was a multi-talented American dancer, female impersonator, singer and composer who became a popular and well-known figure in Paris during the 1920s and because of his achievements was once described as ‘a type of product of the Jazz Age.’

Continue reading Harry Cahill

The Dancer Fay Harcourt

Fay Harcourt was a British dancer who made it big dancing in Paris in the Jazz Age of the 1920s  as part of three dancing teams – the first with the American Harry Cahill, the second with a Russian called Nicholas and the third wit hthe Argentinian  Peppy de Albreu. But, after a glittering career from 1922-1928 she simply vanished.

Continue reading The Dancer Fay Harcourt

Carnival Time, the Cabaret at the Criterion Restaurant, London

After four successful years (1920-1924) of being one of London’s premier rendezvous for dining and dancing, the décor for the Criterion’s famous Italian Roof Garden was swept away and the room was re-decorated and became a cabaret with a show that was called Carnival Time.

Continue reading Carnival Time, the Cabaret at the Criterion Restaurant, London

The Criterion Restaurant, London

The Criterion in Piccadilly Circus, was a large collection of restaurants all housed in one building. It became an iconic rendezvous in London’s nightlife and a favoured haunt of London’s high society in the Jazz Age especially the splendid Italian roof garden that dazzled audiences from 1920-1924.

Continue reading The Criterion Restaurant, London

The Rocky Twins: Norway’s Outrageous Jazz Age Beauties

The Rocky Twins: Norway’s Outrageous Jazz Age Beauties by Gary Chapman

Admired for being stunningly handsome, the Norwegian Rocky Twins were dancers who had a ten-year career in Europe and America appearing on stage and in film between 1927-1937. Their beauty, their androgynous look and their outrageous antics made them legendary

Continue reading The Rocky Twins: Norway’s Outrageous Jazz Age Beauties