American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

Note

Fanny Elssler, an Austrian ballet dancer, was world famous in the 1830s. The first European superstar to captivate the American public, she began a tour of the United States in 1840. In June of that year, Elssler was performing at Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theatre, and the French diplomat the Chevalier de Bacourt, recorded, "All Philadelphia was astir to see Fanny Elssler, who danced this evening. She is staying at the same hotel as me. I was very much pleased with her dancing, but what amused me as much was to see the hall crowded, and to hear the furious applause, far exceeding London or Paris, and that applause at Philadelphia, the chief city of the Quakers-Quakers-wildly excited over the dancer Fanny Elssler..."

For more information, see "The Divine Ellsler and the Quaker City," Philadelphia Dance History Journal, July 10, 2012.