Sheet music produced in America at the end of the 19th century was a natural way cultural attitudes and ideas could be shared . Phonographs were rather rare and not readily affordable to the general American public , so musical culture was circulated primarily through live performances , either in the home or on the stage . In 1893 , George Schleiffarth transcribed the music he heard in the Turkish Cafe & the Dancing Theatre for “ In Cairo Street , a Characteristic Fantasie for Piano ”. Regarding the Dancing Theatre segment , the back page liner notes of the sheet music says , in part : “ We now visit the Dancing Theatre . You , kind reader , have been there . If not , you missed a rare sight and “ rarer ” music (?) It took Mr . Schleiffarth an hour to “ catch ” the “ tune ” to which the leading dancer trips about . It is very odd , to say the least , and the last four measures are continued for ten minutes or longer ”. Dear reader , I ’ ve included a scan of this music , if you play the piano , can you bring this historic tune to life ?
From the photo of the Algerian theatre we can see that traditional Amazigh ( Berber ) Dance is on offer . A sign painted on the building reads :
“ Performances every hour : Moorish Kabils Algerian Negre and Oulades Nai ’ le Dances ”
1893-AlgerianTheatre : Aankoop met steun van de Mondriaan Stichting , het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds , het VSBfonds , het Paul Huf Fonds / Rijksmuseum Fonds en het Egbert Kunstfonds 1893 , public domain
20 The Belly Dance Chronicles � May 2022