Gilda Gray (born Marianna Michalska; October , â€" December , ) was
an American actress and dancer who popularized a dance called the
"shimmy" which became fashionable in s films and theater
productions.Gilda Gray was born in to Max and Wanda Michalski in
Kraków (then part of Galicia-Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and now part
of Poland). After being orphaned, she emigrated with her foster
parents to the United States in and settled in Milwaukee. At the age
of only or , Gray entered into an arranged marriage with John
Gorecki, a concert violinist, who was the son of Socialist and union
leader Martin Gorecki. The couple had one child, then divorced in .
Their son later became a bandleader, performing under the name Martin
Gray.Although the shimmy is said to have been introduced to American
audiences by Gray in New York in , the term was widely used before,
and the shimmy was already a well-known dance move. Gray appropriated
it as her own, saying that she had accidentally invented the shimmy
while dancing at her father-in-law's saloon and "shaking her chemise"
(or her "shimee", as her Polish accent rendered it).Gray attributed
the origin of the shimmy to the American Indian in an interview
published in the July , issue of Variety. The article notes she was
working at the time at Reisenweber's with her partner Mildred Vernon.
Gray had just been signed to perform in the Gaieties of when she
described the dance, saying "The original shimmy dance has never been
properly introduced in New York. I know for I studied the dancing
characteristics of the Indians for a long time and they are really
responsible for the shimmy which they labeled the 'Shima Shiwa'. There
have been continual efforts on the part of this dancer and that one,
with each declaring that his or her version is the 'original.' There
is no doubt but that the shimmy dance as it was constructed by the
American Indians...would have a greater popularity were it done
right."
an American actress and dancer who popularized a dance called the
"shimmy" which became fashionable in s films and theater
productions.Gilda Gray was born in to Max and Wanda Michalski in
Kraków (then part of Galicia-Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and now part
of Poland). After being orphaned, she emigrated with her foster
parents to the United States in and settled in Milwaukee. At the age
of only or , Gray entered into an arranged marriage with John
Gorecki, a concert violinist, who was the son of Socialist and union
leader Martin Gorecki. The couple had one child, then divorced in .
Their son later became a bandleader, performing under the name Martin
Gray.Although the shimmy is said to have been introduced to American
audiences by Gray in New York in , the term was widely used before,
and the shimmy was already a well-known dance move. Gray appropriated
it as her own, saying that she had accidentally invented the shimmy
while dancing at her father-in-law's saloon and "shaking her chemise"
(or her "shimee", as her Polish accent rendered it).Gray attributed
the origin of the shimmy to the American Indian in an interview
published in the July , issue of Variety. The article notes she was
working at the time at Reisenweber's with her partner Mildred Vernon.
Gray had just been signed to perform in the Gaieties of when she
described the dance, saying "The original shimmy dance has never been
properly introduced in New York. I know for I studied the dancing
characteristics of the Indians for a long time and they are really
responsible for the shimmy which they labeled the 'Shima Shiwa'. There
have been continual efforts on the part of this dancer and that one,
with each declaring that his or her version is the 'original.' There
is no doubt but that the shimmy dance as it was constructed by the
American Indians...would have a greater popularity were it done
right."
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