Salomania

Salomania was an artistic, cultural, and performance phenomenon of the early 20th century, characterized by a popular fascination with the historical figure of Salome and her imagined "Dance of the Seven Veils".

[1] While the term "Salomania" came into common usage after appearing in The New York Times in 1908,[2] the phenomenon is associated with dance, theatre, opera, motion pictures, and other activities dating primarily from the first three decades of the twentieth century.

"[4] The character of Salome as depicted in these works was a seductive and dangerous femme fatale, whose "Dance of the Seven Veils" (Wilde's invention) was emblematic of her lethal allure.

The Bible (Mark 6:21–29 and Matthew 14:6–11) and the Roman historian Flavius Josephus describe Salome as a Jewish princess, daughter of Herodias and stepdaughter of King Herod.

By the early 20th century, however, she had been reinvented into a dangerous, sexualized figure—one that both shocked standards of good taste and helped usher in new ideas about art, personal freedom, and gender roles.

Other prominent performers, such as Loie Fuller, Eva Tanguay, Gertrude Hoffmann, Mademoiselle Dazie, and others also engaged with the broader themes of Salomania.

German director Oskar Messter made the short film Tanz der Salome in 1906, starring the notorious nude dancer Adorée Villany.