Hello All,<P>On a website <A HREF="http://www.eijkhout.net/rad/dance_specific/apache.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.eijkhout.net/rad/dance_specific/apache.html</A> <BR>is mentioned a Bay Area dance group called "Dance Through Time" which apparently does, or did, specialise in performances of the old Parisian-style apache dance. Does anybody know anything of this group and their performances; are they recorded at all? Does anybody have anybody have any other info on the apache dance? Is it really an offshoot of the Argentine tango, as some articles state?<P>Thanks in anticipation,<P>Phil

well, this one certainly comes from 'way out in left field', phil! <P>NEVER heard of this before! tres politically incorrect... <P>sorry i can't help. since azlan lives in the bay area, he may have heard of this group?...<P>BTW, WELCOME to criticaldance!

Grace,<P>Thanks for the reply; yes, the dance is indeed politically incorrect by today's standards, but the article at the site I quoted stated that the Dance through Time group started to perform versions in which the woman got her own back (quite right, too!). My interest comes from the Arg. Tango direction, after I saw it stated that the apache dance stems from it, which I'm not too sure about; there are only very superficial similarities, basically in the traditional setting. Exhibitions of the apache dance were a frequent part of variety shows up to the 1960s; I remember it was often performed on TV here in the UK, especially on Sunday Night at the London Palladium (that dates me!). Just recently, a fairly authentic, but humorous version was in an old Charlie Drake film (The Cracksman)screened on TV, and Jim Davidson's assistant Melanie (a professional dancer, I believe)did it last year on BBC TV's Generation Game.<P>Phil

pjattewell, I remember those Apache dances on the TV in the 60s. however, i have a memory that they always ended with the woman throwing the man around. There was a sort of Apache dance in Lea Anderson's 'Smithereens' recently.<P>Welcome to the site by the way. Hope you enjoy yourself here. We're from all over by the way. My home is in London, but I'm on holiday in Bremen at the moment.

Hmm, I must say I haven't heard of them but then again there are so many dance companies here in the Bay Area. Maybe Michael Phelan can help out. His Bay Dance website gets lots of requests from dance groups. Michael?<P>Michael's site:<P> <A HREF="http://www.baydance.com" TARGET=_blank>www.baydance.com</A>

Actually, I referred Phil to Critical Dance on May 4th when I couldn't answer his question. I have to apologize for not having done my homework. <P>Dance Through Time and Dancetime Publications conserve Western social dance. The professional dance company Dance Through Time was created by Carol Teten, who can be reached at: <P>Carol Teten<BR>5 Broadway, Kentfield, CA 94904 U.S.A <BR>Tel: 415-453-2989 Toll free: 888-854-5602 Fax: 415-453-3229 email:Carol@Teten.com<BR> <BR>Or via her website at <A HREF="http://www.dancetimepublications.com/public/resume.htm." TARGET=_blank>http://www.dancetimepublications.com/public/resume.htm.</A> <P>Thank you for the interesting historical background on apache dancing. I always wondered what its origins were.<P>Sorry I didn't help you right off, Phil, but I hope you will come visit Criticaldance and Bay Dance again.<P>Michael <A HREF="http://www.baydance.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.baydance.com</A> <P>[This message has been edited by Michael (edited May 27, 2000).]<p>[This message has been edited by Michael (edited May 27, 2000).]

AHA! michael...we've caught you out: sending the DIFFICULT questions to *US*!!! <P>this has been such an 'odd' one - to me, at least, that i'm kind of wondering, phil, what prompts your specific interest?<P>btw, at that site you link to in your first post, i especially like THIS bit: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Listen up: Victor did not write most of this stuff; he just collected it. So don't send him any dance questions.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi everyone!<P>Thanks to all for your replies and interest in this question, which I never realised would be such a poser. Thanks to Michael for putting me in touch with criticaldance, and don't worry about not having answered first time! I will enjoy visiting the site for much more than just this question! My interest was prompted mainly from the Argentine tango angle, (which has been an activity/interest for some years)and I read in several places that the apache dance was an offshot of it, which I was not aware of. As I mentioned, I remembered the dance from the 50s/60s/70s, when it was a staple of all sorts of variety and even comedy shows on TV. I even remember it once on a Muppet Show, believe it or not, when I think Racquel Welch guested and did the dance with some Muppet heavies! Looking up the few websites referring to it led me to the Dance Through Time reference, which I found intriguing. Funny how things develop!<P>Thanks again for the help so far, and for the great website!<P>Phil