Back in America , snake dancing bifurcated like a snake ’ s tongue at the end of the 1800s into the early 1900s and became popular at circus sideshows . However , those shows were actually more about snake presentation : standing with several snakes in your arms , about your shoulders and around your ankles . For example , in late 1885 Barnum and Bailey Circus featured a snake enchantress named Lulu Lataska . She was photographed in 1885 by New Jersey photographer Eisenmann , who specialized in publicity photos of circus sideshow performers .
In this 1908 publicity photo by Frank Wendt , we meet American Eva Brister who performed as Princess Sotanki . She is believed to have been the first Black lion tamer , but was more popularly known in Vaudeville houses for her snake dance , the “ Hindu Dance of Death ,” also billed as “ the Sacred Indian Snake Dance ”. In his fascinating book The Princess and the Prophet , author Jacob Dorman describes “ the Princess danced hypnotically with a large serpent and then mimed being bitten by the snake and pretend to die in front of her transfixed audience .”
September 2022 � The Belly Dance Chronicles 37