Two Film Clips From The 19th Century Of The Hoochie Coochie Dance & Information About That Dance

 

Sonny Watson, Feb 20, 2013

"Fatima Djemille (1890-3/14/1921) appeared at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It is said but not confirmed that this Fatima was the subject of two early films, Edison's Coochee Coochee Dance (1896) and Fatima (1897). performed at Coney Island for many years.

"La danse du ventre" (basically meaning belly dance in French) and in Turkish it's called Oryantal Tansi (again, Oriental Dance.) Early Americans called it "The Abdomen Dance" or "Stomach Dance." Finally most people (American) call it the "Belly Dance" which supposedly was misnamed when the first Little Egypt (Farida Mazar - Spyropoulos) danced for the infamous Sol Bloom at the Egyptian Theater, it was he who coined the term "Belly Dance." Little Egypt is said to have danced to the song "Streets of Cairo" as one of her songs.  There would be many Little Egypts to follow."...

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Edited by Azizi Powell Latest update- January 7, 2026

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series about the late 19th century "Streets Of Cairo" song. This series also focuses on the Hoochie Coochie dance that is mentioned in that song, and on the much later children's recreational rhymes that were inspired by that song.

This post showcases two late 19th century film clips of "Hoochie Coochie" dancers. This post also presents information about the Hoochie Choochie dance.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/information-about-song-streets-of-cairo.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents a YouTube sound file of the song "Streets Of Cairo" along with some online information about that song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/pre-1970s-examples-of-theres-place-in.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents a compilation of pre-1970s examples of the children's recreational rhymes "There's A Place In France", There's A Place Called Mars", "In The Land Of Oz", and other similar rhymes.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to the original "Little Egypt" dancer and to all other early Hoochie Coochie dancers. Thanks also to those who filmed examples of those dances. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This particular pancocojams series on the song "Streets Of Cairo" and the rhymes "There's A Place Called France", "There's A Place Called Mars" and "In The Land Of Oz' departs from the main mission of this blog which is to provide information about and examples of African American culture and other Black cultures around the world.

Sometimes pancocojams posts focus on children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers because I'm interested in those subjects, regardless of which population originated those compositions.

That said, many of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, that I focus on in this pancocojams blog were originally composed by or adapted by African Americans or other Black people throughout the world. 

Furthermore, regardless of who originated or adapted them, it's likely that each of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers that have been published in this blog have been performed or are now being performed by some Black people throughout the world. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Turkish Hoochie Coochie Dance, Ella Lola

MindsiMedia Home,  Mar 6, 2019

"Here's a 19th century film clip from Edison studios in it a young dancer named Ella Lola performs a period "Oriental" dance (commonly known as a belly dance) with some Turkish styling. She performs distinctive  hoochie coochie dance movements that include shoulder shimmies with pelvic movements and several foot patterns, side traveling movements with pelvic circles, a slow pelvic circle and a front pelvic lock, and paddle turns with various arm gestures. Her dance costume consists of a two-layered skirt to the knee, a hip belt with fringe, a chemise-like shirt under a fitted vest, several layers of necklaces and front decoration, white stockings, white--perhaps ballet--shoes, and a glittering fitted cap. Background on the dancer provided by dance ethnologist Michelle Forner, 5/22/96. From the New York clipper, 4/19/02, p. 167: Ella Lola was born Sept. 2, 1883, in Boston, and made her first appearance as a dancer at the age of eleven years, and by her clever work has steadily come to the fore, until now she takes rank among the best in her class. She has been featured at various times with road companies, and has met with success at the leading vaudeville houses through the country. CREATED/PUBLISHED Apparently filmed in Thomas Edison's "Black Maria" studio in West Orange, New Jersey in 1898. Music is “Bazar” by Lobo Loco downloaded from FreeMusicArchive"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "HOOCHIE COOCHIE" DANCE
Source #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoochie_coochie
"The hoochie coochie ... is a catch-all term to describe several sexually provocative belly dance-like dances from the mid-to late 1800s. Also spelled hootchy-kootchy and a number of other variations, it is often associated with "The Streets of Cairo, or the Poor Little Country Maid" song, also known as "the snake charmer song". "Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is also a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in Chicago, January 7, 1954. Numerous cover versions of this classic continue to be recorded. Hoochie Coochie is also mentioned in Alan Jackson's hit country music song "Chattahoochee", where he says it refers to "a country fair strip show". It is also mentioned in the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller songs "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" and "Saved" (sung by LaVern Baker).

Overview

Such dances, or something similar, were performed at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, and the World's Fair in Paris in 1889.[1] Although such dances became wildly popular in the United States during the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, there is no evidence of them being known by the name "Coochie Coochie" at the time.[2] Before, during and immediately after the fair, these dances were frequently called, "Mussel dance", "stomach dance", danse du ventre and sometimes, "Kouta Kouta".[3] The transition from "kouta kouta" to "coochie coochie", and later, "hoochie coochie", may have been influenced by the expressions, "hoochy, coochy, coochy", "kutchy, kutchy", or "kutchy, kutchy coo", which were found in popular song lyrics from the 1860s and the 1880s.[2]

Described by the New York Journal in 1893 as "Neither dancing of the head nor the feet", it was a dance performed by women of, or presented as having, Middle-Eastern and/or Romani heritage,[4] often as part of traveling sideshows.

The hoochie coochie replaced the much older can-can as the ribald dance of choice in New York dance halls by the 1890s.[5]

A carnival company recently rented a large open space in a New York town of 5000 population and opened up for business. The most lucrative part of their business is a "girl" show, too foul to write of. The barker in his endeavor to secure customers appeals to all that is opposed to decency, while the three main attractions emphasize his harangue by "hoochie-coochie" dances and other physical contortions.

—The Social Hygiene Bulletin, Vol. VII, No. 7, July 1920

Since the dance was performed by women, female impersonators or drag queens,[6] a goochie man, or hoochie coochie man, either watched them or ran the show. Alternatively, from the directly sexual meaning of goochie goochie, he was successful with women. The dance was still popular at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition: the World's Fair of 1904, and is even mentioned in the song "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis", but had all but disappeared by the Second World War."...

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Source #2
AI Overview (Artificial Intelligence results for my question "Is the Hoochie Coochie dance the same as belly dancing?"

"Yes, the "hoochie coochie" dance is essentially the Americanized, sensationalized name for the belly dance (or danse du ventre) when it was introduced to the U.S. at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, becoming a catchy but often misunderstood term for the exotic, hip-focused dance that captivated and scandalized audiences. While belly dance is a rich, traditional art form, the hoochie coochie was a Western interpretation, often stripped down for burlesque and sideshows, creating lasting confusion with stripping and sexualized performances.

Key Differences & Connections:

Origin: Belly dance comes from Middle Eastern and North African traditions; the "hoochie coochie" was a Western label slapped on it.

Introduction: Dancers like "Little Egypt" at the 1893 World's Fair popularized it as the "hoochie coochie," a provocative novelty.

Cultural Perception: The term "hoochie coochie" often lost the cultural context and skill, becoming associated with eroticism, stripping, and carnival shows, unlike the serious art of traditional belly dance.

Dance Style: The core movements (hip isolations, shimmies) are similar, but the context, costumes, and intent diverged significantly between authentic belly dance and its hoochie coochie iteration in the West.

In short, the hoochie coochie was the early, often vulgarized American version of belly dance, leading to a complicated legacy that many modern belly dancers try to distance themselves from."

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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

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