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Nina Payne

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For the American actress with a similar name, see Nina Wayne.
Nina Payne
A young white woman wearing a large elaborate dark hat, and a gown trimmed with pearls
Nina Payne, from a 1915 publication
BornNovember 15, 1890
Charlestown, Indiana, U.S.
Died1971
New York, New York, U.S.
Other namesNina Dibble, Nina Bostwick, Nina Isbell
Occupation(s)Dancer, vaudeville performer

Nina L. Payne Dibble Bostwick Isbell (November 15, 1890 – 1971) was an American dancer, singer, and vaudeville performer. She danced at the Folies Bergère in Paris, and was known for her "Cubist and Dadaist"[1] costumes and dancing.

Early life and education

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Payne was born in Charlestown, Indiana,[2] and raised in Seattle,[3] the daughter of Leslie A. Payne[4] and Emma N. Lutz Payne. She attended Broadway High School, but left after three years to begin her stage career.[5] Her mother traveled with her,[6] and her cousin Catherine Payne accompanied her as musical director.[7]

Career

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Nina Payne in 1922, in a dance pose
Nina Payne, 1916, Ira L. Hill

Payne was a dancer and a singer.[8] She made headlines when she set fire to her gown and hair with a candle, during a 1910 performance in New York City.[9] In the 1920s she danced at the Folies Bergère in Paris,[10] and toured Europe. "Paris's Most Sensational Dancer is an American!" declared one 1922 newspaper headline.[11]

She was known for her elaborate and unusual costumes,[12][13] sometimes with Cubist or Dada influences,[14] and her dances inspired by Egypt,[15][16] jazz,[17][18] and technology.[19] Fellow American vaudeville veteran Holland Robinson designed gowns and sets for Payne's Paris shows.[20] Some of her costumes and moves were considered "shocking" or scandalous by American critics.[11] One costume, based on a newspaper cartoon, was painted onto her body.[21]

Personal life

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Payne married Merritt Z. Dibble in 1917; they later divorced. She married businessman Charles A. Bostwick in 1930. He died in 1937.[22] She married a third time in 1941, to Frank Genovar Isbell. She died in 1971, at the age of 80, in New York City.

References

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  1. ^ Kermode, Frank (2004-09-06). Pieces of My Mind: Essays and Criticism 1958-2002. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 1887. ISBN 978-1-4299-3118-2.
  2. ^ "Indiana Girl 'Takes' Paris; The Reason is Because She Wears Clothes in the Follies". The Enid Morning News. 1923-10-14. p. 14. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Gay Comedy Coming to the Met; Nina Payne, Seattle's Own Star, Will Dance at the Moore Theatre". The Seattle Star. 1917-10-13. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Leslie A. Payne Service Monday". The Franklin Evening Star. 1934-03-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Famous Dancer Visits Old Home; Nina Payne, Star at Moore, Recalls Her Days at Broadway High". The Seattle Star. 1917-10-18. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Szold, Bernadine (1924-10-05). "About Town". Daily News. p. 70. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Nina Payne, Social Favorite". The Buffalo Times. 1918-03-27. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Dancer to Singer Easy". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1913-11-05. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Ablaze on Stage, Dancer Stops Panic; Nina Payne Sets Fire to Her Gown in Play at the American Theatre". The New York Times. May 5, 1910. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via TimesMachine.
  10. ^ Smith, Clay (January 1929). "Loose Lyrics of Lovely Ladies". The Lyceum Magazine. 38 (8): 29.
  11. ^ a b Van Duzer, Winifred (1922-10-29). "Paris's Most Sensational Dancer is an American!". El Paso Times. p. 43. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Another Novelty from America". Tatler. 62: 301. December 6, 1916.
  13. ^ "Nina Payne, Artist; Orpheum Today". Lincoln Journal Star. 1917-12-27. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "A Vision out of the Past". Arts & Decoration. 20 (2): 44. December 1923.
  15. ^ "Why the Pharaohs of Old Egypt Did Not See Dances Like This". The San Francisco Examiner. 1929-07-14. p. 99. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "A Western Exponent of Eastern Dances". The Tatler. 63 (813): 116–117. January 24, 1917 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ Roberts, Walter Adolphe (1974). The moralist. Internet Archive. [New York, AMS Press]. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-404-11411-4.
  18. ^ Blake, Jody (1999-01-01). Le Tumulte Noir: Modernist Art and Popular Entertainment in Jazz-Age Paris, 1900-1930. Penn State Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-271-01753-2.
  19. ^ "No Matter Where You Go, You Will Find Radio". The Wireless Age. 10: 24. November 1922.
  20. ^ Robinson, Holland (February 28, 1929). "Taking a Fling at High Art". Musical Courier. 98 (9): 8 – via Internet Archive.
  21. ^ "Nina Payne Prances". The Los Angeles Times. 1917-11-30. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Charles A. Bostwick Dies". The Baltimore Sun. 1937-07-26. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-08-22 – via Newspapers.com.
[edit]
  • Chapman, Gary. "Nina Payne" Jazz Age Club (December 4, 2010); a blog post about Payne, with images.
  • A photograph of Nina Payne by Ira L. Hill, in the New York Public Library Digital Collections
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