Sorry, but all that comes to my mind when I see such stilted, soporific scenes is Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn and company busting their studiously aesthetic moves in "The Music Man."

Note to self: Store the cases for the camera gear behind the camera, not in the scene. Next time.

Judging by the attire on the onlookers, this must have been a very chilly day to be dressed as lightly as the lovely dancers are! It looks like they had just barely removed their outerwear and kicked their shoes off before assuming that pose!

describes the non-diaphanously black-clothed onlookers, who have gathered to observe what must have been a spontaneous (and oh-so-titillating) photo shoot. Love the dancer's street shoes strewn almost carelessly on the slope nearby, contrasting with the bags set down neatly in a row. Pretty cool.

[The somber onlookers strike me as Goreyesque. -Dave]

There was quite a bit of this terpsichore going on throughout the 20's and even earlier. The chief ingredient was at least one or more fetching young persons scantily clad in diaphanous, scarf-like garments such as could be imagined to invoke classic Greece. The presentations differed very little in terms of dance style, the main distinction between various groups being the amount of undergarments worn. It was all about beauty and freedom and liberation, and I congratulate them all for their efforts.

The founder of the style was of course Isadora Duncan, who met an ignominious end in the year of this photo when one of her famous flowing scarves became entangled both around her neck and the wheel of an automobile.

Sometimes a Shorpy photo just stands out as something special. For me, this is one of those photos.

I love the effect the mold gives the image. Makes it look almost like a high key image. Such a contrast to the way the girls are dressed compared to the rather stuffy looking onlookers.