The Salome Dancer: The Life and Times of Maud Allan

Pauline Carey is an actor, playwright and librettist and author of the
children’s books Magic and What’s in a Name?

In 1908 Toronto-born Maud Allan danced “The Vision of Salome” at the
Palace Theatre in London, launching a dizzying two-year stardom. She
became world famous, both fascinating classical music critics and
exciting and shocking music-hall patrons.

This was merely a brief spell in the sun. Her popularity declined.
Despite the lack of public approval she continued to dance until she was
in her sixties, garnering the acclaim of her peers. Artists of all
disciplines invariably admired her work. The reasons for the decline of
her popularity are laid out in this biography by the nephew of Leo
Cherniavsky. Leo was a musical colleague and one-time lover of Maud.

The event that overshadowed Maud’s life was the trial of her brother,
Theo, who was charged with murder. He was convicted and hanged in San
Francisco while Maud was studying in Europe. Almost half the book is
taken up with the account of this particularly gruesome case. Later in
her life, when Maud launched a libel suit against an English magazine,
her brother’s case was brought up at the trial and she lost the libel
action. For most of her life Maud was dogged by bad luck and dubious
health. She wanted to retire from the stage and teach dance, but no
college would hire her because she did not have a dance degree. When she
retired at 68, she took an evening course in drafting and worked for an
aircraft company.

Cherniavsky sets out in a plain manner the highs and lows in the life
of an artist who was not a very pleasant person. We do not warm to her
but we cannot help but admire her, and wonder about the link between
personal pain and creative art.