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Good golly, Miss Molly shone
Native American dancer was toast of Paris in the '30s

Stuart Derdeyn
The Province

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

ON STAGE

Evening in Paris
Where: Firehall Arts Centre, 280 E. Cordova St.
When: Tomorrow to Saturday, at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $16-$28 at 604-689-0926

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During the Great Depression, it was tough times all over for performing
artists. Tougher still, if you happened to be a Native American dancer from
the Penobscot First Nations on Indian Island off of the coast of Maine. The
opportunity to do much more than play a stereotype in one of the travelling
"Frontier Indian" shows of the day was next to nil. Molly Spotted Elk did
this and much more, becoming the toast of Paris society in 1931, wowing
French audiences of the day.

Evening in Paris, a new interdisciplinary show created by Spiderwoman
Theatre founder Muriel Miguel and Raven Spirit Dance's Michelle Olson,
tells Molly Spotted Elk's story through dance, spoken word and archival
photographic and cinematic images. It also ties her tale into the legacy of
First Nations women's histories of the time; a "journey of forgetting and
remembering."

"I first came across [Spotted Elk] in the library, perusing the dance
section, where I came upon her biography, Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in
Paris," says Olson. "I finished it in two days and was inspired to discuss
it with Muriel in Banff.

"I remember her from my sister's place when I was a young girl, always
writing in the front room," says Miguel. "We were absolutely terrified of
her because she could give the scariest looks.

"She was angry and mad. She was the toast of Paris, the star of the
silent-screen movie The Silent Enemy and when she had to flee the war and
came home to try to continue her performing career, she wound up scrubbing
floors."

Miguel was about nine years old at the time, blissfully unaware that the
old lady in the front room was once the stunningly gorgeous Molly Nelson
Dellis. Born Nov. 17, 1903, she worked in touring companies and eventually
New York City clubs before heading to the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition
with a First Nations brass band playing swing with "Indian" nuances. Prime
examples of the genre include Mildred Bailey's "Wig-Wammin,'" which is
included in the show.

"When I'm performing in the show, trying to experience what it must have
been like to perform these little dances that she did, I feel completely in
the moment," says Olson. "But there are parts where it needs to be spoken
more and Muriel comes in and we layer my grandmother and hers on top of
[Spotted Elk's story]."

"All of it to ride the emotional journey that includes Michelle's family's
getting from the Yukon to Whitehorse, my family from Brooklyn to New York
and Molly's ride from Maine to Paris," adds Miguel. "There is also the
tie-in of this popular perfume called Evening in Paris that was popular
with all of our grandmothers."

That scent's signature milk-of-magnesia blue bottle forms the backdrop for
Olson to dance in front of. Scenes from Spotted Elk's life appear on
screens while a period soundtrack plays. The performance is non-linear and
-- at its core -- really a rumination of rediscovering forgotten idols.

"I think that Molly is an inspiration because of what she was able to
achieve at a time when it was so rare for a woman, for a First Nations
person, to do," says Miguel. "That doesn't mean it all had a happy ending."

Olson agrees, noting that "however awful it is, her story is also so
awesome."

Visit the 1930s through today in one night, at this performance inspired by
the image of a scary madwoman writing away furiously about when she used to
dance for the world.

sderdeyn@...
© The Vancouver Province 2007