Wikipedia

Nina Payne

For the American actress with a similar name, see Nina Wayne.

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.

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

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.
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  • 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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