Neryda | The Snake Dancer

"Maiden of the Mist"

Neryda was an exotic dancer who performed with a 6-foot python named "Allah." She danced in night clubs in New York City and Chicago during the 1920s. In 1926 she went on a national tour showcasing her snake dance as the "Maiden of the Mist." She was an excellent dancer and contortionist who utilized snakes in her unique acts.

Neryda was the daughter of Dr. Ahmed Ajamy, a Hindu physician, rumored to have been born in Paris. (However, one newspaper reported she was born in Arizona on her father's ranch where she had a pet snake.) In 1926 she was quoted, 'I handled rattlesnakes, cobras, pythons, and boa constrictors during my stage career, and I have found that snakes, like other creatures, can distinguish between friends and enemies."

Neryda in Iowa

On October 19, 1926, Neryda performed in Dubuque, Iowa with her 8-month old snake, Allah, at "a local theater". According to the Des Moines Register, while she was staying at the Dubuque Hotel, she was attacked by her python after she fell asleep with the python out of the cage. She stated, 'Never before had I known the terror that paralyzed me when I was awakened by the pressure around my neck and realized that Allah was coiled around it, evidently bent on strangling me." She struggled to free herself. Her neighbors were awoken in the struggle and called the police--reporting Neryda had taken poison. When the police arrived she was "writhing in her bed. The reptile was on the floor nearby." At first she was unable to speak but was not seriously injured. Allah apparently did not have poison sacks at the base of its fangs, so it's bites were not fatal.

Neryda is often referred to as a "danseuse" or an "oriental dancer" in the papers that reported on this attack. Hastings, NE and Lincoln, NE reported on her injuries from the python. The News Tribune Newspapers in Tacoma Washington also reported on the attack. The incident became a bit sensationalized a year later in the Wisconsin State Journal who reported Neryda was "nearly strangled to death during her performance at the theater in Dubuque."

Neryda in Nebraska

Neryda performed with Allah at the World Theater in Omaha in February 1927 with the Ernest Evans Revue. She reportedly lost two pet snakes (or they died) in Omaha. She had to perform two shows at the World without her snake companions. When she had to continue with the Revue to Kansas City, she caught the measles and was forced to quit her job. A new snake had been sent from Texas to Kansas City, a Mexican boa constrictor, but was given to a zoo when Neryda fell ill.

Neryda in Court | 1929

On April 29, Neryda was summoned to New York's West Side court--she insisted she only had one name. Eventually she gave "Ajamy" as her last name. She was charged with walking her dog, named Wong, around the Hotel Embassy without a muzzle. The magistrate found her guilty and fined her $2 ($36.79 in 2024). She paid the fee and left.

On September 12, Neryda was performing in Richmond, VA at the National Theatre. She performed with a boa constrictor but partway through her snake dance the python struck at her face and buried its fangs in her. The boa fell to the floor and the audience jumped up and ran from their seats! Neryda quickly gained her composure, picked up the snake, and finished her dance. Once the serpent was back in its basket Neryda fainted and was taken to the emergency room. According to the Richmond Times, she had four wounds cauterized.

Notes on 'Orientalism' in Burlesque

The term "Orientalism" was coined by the anthropologist Edward W. Said in 1978. It refers to the general appropriation of Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African cultures (and arguably applied to any non-Western society) by Western so. The term is critical of the West's contemptuous portrayal of the peoples, their cultures, and their beliefs. The exaggerated and clichéd depictions of "the Orient" focus on Western individuals' consumption and is directly tied to colonialism and political domination of eastern cultures. The Western stereotypes of Eastern cultures were conceptualized in 18th century through imperialism (war and violence) and eventually adopted by the United States "orientalists" in the 20th century as "new" and "exciting". Cultural appropriation is not passive--it's a choice rooted in war and violence--and should not be accepted in the 21st century.

At the turn of the century, cultural representations of "the Orient" in Western media permeated art and the entertainment industry. Dance choreographers began schools to teach "oriental" dances, like the Denishawn School of Dancing (started by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn who undoubtedly encouraged cultural appropriation by Western European dancers). Western European women billed themselves as "exotic dancers" and "oriental dancers" relentlessly during the early 20th century and well into the 1950/60s. After reading about Neryda, one can surmise her ancestry is most likely Western European. She's regularly referred to as an "oriental dancer" who was born in Paris to a Hindu physician father in the 1920s newspapers, but by 1933 she's listed as an 'Egyptian' dancer--but wasn't she from Texas? These attributes, her snake dances, even her name Neryda, I believe, are all products of Orientalism--something we should learn from and not repeat. We can acknowledge the history of burlesque while not repeating the past's mistakes.

If you'd like more information about cultural appropriation in burlesque, please read Ruby Corvette's article here or 21st Century Burlesque's article here. I'd like to challenge burlesque performers and show producers to step away from appropriating cultures in their acts and show themes.

Sources

• Richmond Times Dispatch. "Dancer's Nerve Saves Patrons At Theatre Here; Continues Dance After Snake Buries Fangs in Cheek; Audience Returns." Page 2. September 2, 1929
• The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA). "How About Nice Snake House Pet? Dancer's Python Sleeps Under Her Pillow At Nights." Page 8. December 17, 1926
• The Omaha Evening Bee News. "Reviews of Stage & Screen." Page 12. February 19, 1927
• The Omaha Evening Bee News. "Along Theater Row." Page 3. February 26, 1927
• Wisconsin State Journal. "Attacked By Reptile; Performer at Parkway Severely Gashed Over Eye by Teeth of Huge Snake." Page 7. April 25, 1927
• Lincoln Nebraska State Journal. Neryda and snake, Allah. Page 8. July 19, 1928
• Omaha World Herald. "From the Pyramids." Page 46. April 2, 1933
• Evening World Herald. "Ah, There Peggy Joyce!" Page 20. July 18, 1928
• The Omaha Morning Bee. Advertisement for World Theater; Ernest Evans and Neryda." Page 16. February 15, 1927
• The Omaha Evening Bee News. "Along Theater Row." Page 9. March 12, 1927
• Lincoln Journal Star. "Python Injures Dancer; Woman Appearing in Dancing Act Found in Coils of Seven Foot Reptile." Page 2. October 19, 1926
• The Des Moines Register. "Finds Python in her Bed; It Happened in Dubuque Hotel: The Beautiful Danseuse Mlle. Neryda, Awoke Gasping for Break to Find Pet Snake Wrapped in Six Deadly Coils About her Throat." By Gerald Cosgrove. Page 21 & 25. October 31, 1926
• Salt Lake Telegram. "Snakes and Reptiles Are Her Pets." Page 18. February 6, 1927
• The Oregonian. "Theater Wall Shattered to Capture Snake. Allah Six-Foot Python, Makes Break for Liberty at Pantages." Page 13. December 9, 1926
• The Washington Herald. "Dancer Offers Specialties at the Madrillon." Page 11. March 27, 1934
• Reading Times. "Put Muzzle on Python's Jaws, But Let Her Pet Pup Go Without." New York, NY. Page 3. April 30, 1929
• The Orgeonian. "Mlle. Neryda." Page 3. December 9, 1926
• Lancaster Eagle Gazette. "Late News From All Parts of the World Reported by the Camera." Lancaster, OH. Page 7. May 8, 1929
• Said, Edward. "Orientalism". 1978. ISBN: 978-0-394-42814-7
• Sherman, Jane. "The Drama of the Denishawn Dance." 1979. ISBN: 0-8195-5033-7