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Description: | A collection of material relating to the career of Robert Sielle and his dancing partner, Annette Mills. This collection gives an insight into a neglected area of dance in the early 20th century, is an important part of the cross over history where social dance and professional dance meet, and shows how ballroom dances were devised and promoted by the professional performers.
Archive number: THM/27 (3 boxes)
Robert Sielle (also known as C. L. Roberts) and Annette Mills (sister of John Mills) were exhibition ballroom dancing partners during the 1920s - often called 'the English Astaires'. Sielle is credited with introducing the Charleston into England, and he and Mills also promoted the Black Bottom and invented several ballroom dances, of which the most famous was the Moochi. These dances were performed in theatres, hotels, casinos and public ballrooms; Sielle and Mills also taught the dances themselves and to other dance teachers. They also appeared in musicals most notably in the Fred and Adele Astaire roles in the No 1 tour of 'Lady be good'. Sielle also appeared in Prisoner of War camp entertainment.
Robert Sielle (nee C L Roberts) and Annette Mills (sister of John Mills) were exhibition ballroom dancing partners during the 1920s ? often called ?the English Astaires?. Sielle is credited with introducing the Charleston into England, and he and Mills also promoted the Black Bottom and invented several ballroom dances, of which the most famous was the Moochi. These dances were performed in theatres, hotels, casinos and public ballrooms; Sielle and Mills also taught the dances themselves and to other dance teachers. They also appeared in musicals most notably in the Fred and Adele Astaire roles in the No 1 tour of Lady be Good. Sielle also appeared in Prisoner of War camp entertainments. The collection includes press cuttings relating to the partnership, photographs of the pair, posters, programmes, financial records, contracts, and correspondence, including some correspondence with John Mills. (THM/28) (3 boxes); V&A Theatre Collections, | Format: | Correspondence Ephemera e.g. daybills & fliers Press cuttings Photographs (miscellaneous) Documents (business) Diaries Music scores Programmes Photographs (portrait) Dance notation sheets Written / typed ephemera Periodicals Posters Photographs (production) Scrapbooks Photographs (venue) Lighting plots | Subjects: | Dance - Exhibitions Ballroom dancing; Dance - Exhibitions Ballroom dancing | Temporal: | 1920s-1930s 20th century 1919-1955 | Source: | Backstage | Address: | Blythe House, 23 Blythe Road, London,,
W14 0QX | Creator: | Sielle, Robert | Identifier: | www.backstage.ac.uk/records/collection/c | Language: | en | Format: | Correspondence Ephemera e.g. daybills & fliers Press cuttings Photographs (miscellaneous) Documents (business) Diaries Music scores Programmes Photographs (portrait) Dance notation sheets Written / typed ephemera Periodicals Posters Photographs (production) Scrapbooks Photographs (venue) Lighting plots | Go to resource |
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