The Golden Horseshoe Revue, October 1967
Here are three fun and unusual photos taken from the balcony of the Golden Horseshoe Revue back in 1967. For that "you are there" experience!
Oh boy, cancan girls! Sure, this saucy dance is scandalous, but everybody needs a little scandal in their lives sometimes. The cancan... is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music-hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day.Originally danced by couples, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers. The main features of the dance are the vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, splits, and cartwheels.
That's a pretty small stage for four high-kicking gals - maybe 12 feet wide? But they made it work for decades. Now the dancers have feather boas; I hardly ever seen feather boas "out in the wild" anymore. Well, maybe in certain parts of L.A.
The famous Moulin Rouge did not allow its cancan dancers to wear revealing undergarments - but other places did. That famous establishment developed what most of us think of (when we think of the cancan at all!); a combination of the individual style of the Parisian dance-halls and the chorus-line style of British and American music halls. You know, what you might see in an MGM musical.
18 comments:
Major-
"That's a pretty small stage for four high-kicking gals - maybe 12 feet wide?" We refer to that as "a jewel box"-! Now, doesn't that sound swell-?
Thanks, Major.
In the first and third shots, they only used headless one-legged gals for the front and center position. That must’ve been a hard role to fill.
Thanks, Major, for more fun pictures.
In the middle pic, the poor gals seem to have misplaced their skirts. Oh well, the show must go on!
Fortunately, there was an infestation of feather boa snakes in the building. After stomping them to death with their pointy heels (that's the origin of the cancan), the gals threw the lifeless feather boa snakes around their necks and everyone just thought it was part of the show.
In the third pic, they located their misplaced skirts in time for the finale and all's well that ends well! Notice the garter snakes wrapped around the gals' thighs. Serpents play a huge part in old west saloon entertainment.
Sue, by golly, you're right! Disney, always a stickler for the details!
These are quite nice photos. Perfect exposure and in focus. Thanks Major.
In the last photo, the performer in the blue dress is doing her impersonation of a certain famous lamp.
By the way, that dancer's name was Ilene.
If a toucan has a tutu
She can do the can-can dance
(The can-can is a dance that
tutu'd toucans do in France.)
When a toucan does the tutu can-can,
Two can can-can too
So if you have a tutu too
To can-can so can you!
--Ryan Wang
Thanks Major, saucy photos. There was an aura of being in an MGM musical at the Golden Horseshoe, though the structure was copied from Warner's "Calamity Jane". Metro's "Harvey Girls" is about the same era as the GH show, and if you were in there when the Big One struck Southern California it might feel like living the movie "San Francisco".
Can Can girls, real Sub lagoon mermaids, lovely Tahitian dancers, Disneyland had a bit of pulchritude on display when Walt was around.
I really do miss this show whether it was the Golden Horseshoe Revue or the later Golden Horseshoe Jamboree of which I've been to both. Why they discontinued it is a headscratcher to me.
I remember one show I went with some friends, I insisted on sitting in the back upper balcony dead center to the stage. Out of nowhere these two dance hall girls surrounded me on both sides with their arms around me and their legs slung over the balcony. Then suddenly a bright spotlight came on and focused on the two dance hall girls with me in center and the show was introduced. I must've looked like a deer caught in headlights because I felt like one.
What a wonderful show to have at Disneyland. Walt knew what he was doing. Thanks, Major.
Oh Ken, it’s a shame we don’t have a photo of that.
I had a similar experience at an Armenian restaurant with a belly dancer, I was there with my girlfriend, and two friends I didn’t see in the shadows tipped her to embarrass me. It certainly worked.
Major, these are great photos, unusual to have so clear in this tough room, and the back story is fun to learn.
Tokyo, I see what you did there…
JG
These photos really flashed me back. I celebrated my 10th birthday at Disneyland (seven years before these photos were taken) and sat in the private box on the left side of the stage. I remember being so embarrassed by the can-can girls flashing their stuff right in front of me. Just a few years later it didn't bother me at all. ;)
Nanook, I have heard the term “jewel box” for movie theaters, but I guess it must have originated with live stage shows.
Lou and Sue, I’m just glad that they found work for the headless, one-legged dancers. And they had those jobs for decades!
JB, we all know that dinosaurs used to have fur, and now we know that some snakes had feathers. Nature sure is wonderful. Using their bodies for decoration is one of the “hard facts” that Walt was always talking about. I guess that it was easy to misplace skirts in the hectic atmosphere of live theater, but as you said, the show must go on!
TokyoMagic!, a famous lamp?? You mean Luxo Jr.? Or is there another famous lamp? Maybe a lava lamp.
TokyoMagic!, boy you sure know a lot!
Stu29573, I don’t know who Ryan Wang is (was?) but he can write a rhyme that kicks butt, so I give him an A+ with three stars and a smiley face.
Stefano, I have read about how Harper Goff was inspired by the saloon in “Calamity Jane” (which I think he also designed?). MGM did a musical about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?? I remember a blogger (was it “The Pickle Barrel”?) had a blog article about “sex in Disneyland”, and the many instances of lovely women on display around the park.
K. Martinez, I think it’s safe to say that the Golden Horseshoe Revues (any versions) were discontinued because of MONEY. What else could it be? I love your story about finding yourself to be a part of the show, hilarious! I would have been the “deer in the headlights too”, ha ha.
JG, oh man, that would have been amazing if somebody had snapped a photo of Ken as he realized what was going on. While I would have appreciated the attentions of a belly dancer, I generally would prefer to not be the center of attention! I remember the one time I went to Cirque de Soleil, and one of the clowns was getting closer and closer, and I kept thinking, “Please just keep on going past me!”. Luckily the show started, ha ha.
Grant, I remember reading that Walt liked to sit in those private boxes, I wonder if you sat in the same one that he liked? I feel like the can can dancers were an acceptable bit of naughtiness for Disneyland, since it was the “wild west” after all.
I was going to write something about Toucan Can-cans, but when I googled it I liked that one better than what I was going to write.
I don't know who Ryan Wang is either!
Stu29573, as a kid, the Jungle Cruise joke about three toucans making a six pack was always one of my favorites!
I obviously live under a rock, as I don’t ever recall hearing that JC joke. (Or maybe it’s my age and I forgot it.) I love it!
Major, the feather boa snakes in today's photos are the descendants of the feathered serpents of the Aztec and Mayan legends. This particular species is unique to the Anaheim area called Quetzalcoatlus Disneyensis, and are prized for they're brightly colored plumage. Fortunately, they breed like rabbits and are raised in captivity so they are in no danger of becoming extinct.
The snakes are actually the larval stage of the winged serpents. And the tail feathers of the adults are used for the Indian headdresses that can (or were) available as souvenirs in Disneyland.
^ Prized for their (not they're) brightly colored plumage.
^^ ...headdresses that are (or were) available as souvenirs in Disneyland.
Geez, I shoulda typed it as a temporary Notepad file like I usually do!
Lou and Sue, there are so many Jungle Cruise quips, there’s no way you could know them all!
JB, you are the David Attenborough of feather boa snakes! I’m sure you have rare footage of them in the wild. Quetzalcoatius Disneyensis, I always appreciate learning the Latin so that I can impress girls at parties (while soulfully playing my accordion in the corner). I feel like such a fool thinking that the feathers in the headdresses were mere chicken feathers!
JB, I think you mean “there”. ;-)
JB, because today is the anniversary of the day that Nelly Bly completed her round-the-world journey, I will forgive you!
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