Elseeta

Elseeta, the Dancing Marvel
Born
Helen Loder

1883 (1883)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedFebruary 23, 1903(1903-02-23) (aged 19–20)
New York
Occupationvaudeville dancer

Elseeta or Elcita was the stage name of Helen Loder Jones (1883-1903), an American vaudeville barefoot toe dancer. Known as 'the Dancing Marvel',[1] or the 'Toe Dancing Marvel',[2] Elseeta was "a rising star on the circuit at the dawn of the 20th century".[1]

Life

Helen Loder Jones was born in Philadelphia in 1883.[3] She took up toe dancing at the age of five,[4] making a debut in vaudeville.[3] She went on to perform for the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit and in Klaw and Erlanger productions in New York.[4] She danced on roof-garden circuits, appearing at Madison Square Gardens and the Casino Theatre roof-garden. She danced barefoot. One of her acts involved jumping from the top of a grand piano, managing to land en pointe on the piano's high and middle C.[3]

Fred S. Stone composed a 1900 ragtime number 'Elseeta' in her honour. There is also an image of her on the cover of L. W. Young's 1900 march / two-step 'Hearts are Trumps'.[1]

Elseeta's last performance, before heart problems stalled her career, was in the 1901 Broadway performance of The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast.[3] She died on February 23, 1903, at the house of Mrs. Henry Huey, 3 Eighth Avenue, New York.[4] (Another source gives her place of death as Newark, New Jersey.[3]) Her cause of death was said to be "heart disease, superinduced by excessive dancing".[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Milan, Jon (2009). Detroit: Ragtime and the Jazz Age. Arcadia Publishing. p. 31.
  2. ^ "Keith's New Spectacle". Evening Star. January 1, 1902. p. 10. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah, eds. (2006). "Elseeta (1883–1903)". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages.
  4. ^ a b c d "Killed by Toe Dancing: Elcita Succumbs to Heart Disease Due to Her Stage Specialty". New York Times. February 24, 1903.