Japanese geishas oust Shanghai Russian girls (1935)
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“In Chinese cabarets and larger dance halls the Japanese dancing geishas are slowly but surely ousting their Russian contemporaries. In one Shanghai cafe, the Park Pavilion, Russian girls held undisputed sway until several months ago when the proprietor introduced a few Japanese dancing partners to the night-loving Shanghailanders.
“The Japanese girls - demure, pretty, good dancers - made a decided hit in their native costumes. The Russian dancers, finding partners becoming more and more scarce, shortened their dresses at both ends, heightened their color and announced that the battle was on. Since then, however, more and more Japanese girls have been added to the dancing staff, replacing the Russians and leaving the field in almost undisputed possession of the geisha girls.”
Evening Star, Washington, DC, Sept 1935.
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