It’s so un-Pharoah! Female retired dance troupe barred from wearing Egyptian outfits after accusation of cultural insensitivity
- AWO Ballet is a German dance group from Mannheim for women in their 60s
- Costumes included Japanese kimonos, Indian sarees and Mexican sombreros
A German dance troupe for female pensioners has been banned from wearing Egyptian Pharaoh outfits at their upcoming show after being accused of cultural insensitivity.
The AWO Ballet Group from Mannheim, a city in western Germany, was founded in the 1980s to give women over 60 the opportunity to socialize and dance.
Their “world cruise on the dream ship” performance at today’s garden show in Mannheim was planned with 14 costumes that the women would change into during the show.
But six of their costumes from around the world have been criticized.
The garden show intervened because they were reportedly concerned that the costumes — which include Japanese kimonos, Indian saris, Mexican sombreros and Pharaoh outfits — might offend the local public.
The AWO Ballet from Mannheim, a city in West Germany, was founded in the 1980s to give women in their 60s the opportunity to socialize and dance
Their performance, ‘world cruise on the dream ship’, at today’s garden show in Mannheim was planned with 14 costumes in which the women would change during the show
But six of their costumes from around the world have been criticized. The garden show intervened because they were reportedly concerned that the costumes – which include Japanese kimonos, Indian saris, Mexican sombreros and Pharaoh outfits – could offend the local public
Photos posted to the group’s website show them dancing in their various outfits
Photos posted to the group’s website show them dancing in their various outfits.
The leader of the group, Erika Schmaltz, told The Telegraph: ‘We were shocked. These are just normal carnival costumes that everyone wears to have a little fun.”
The group insisted that they would either be allowed to wear all of their costumes or not perform at all after spending months preparing for the show.
After national backlash, the garden show relented and offered a compromise whereby the women would not wear the sombreros, the wigs they planned to wear with kimonos for their Japanese dance, and that they remove the gold and blue elements for their pharaoh outfits would remove. , so that they would look like ‘modern workers’.
The group doubled down on wearing their kimonos because they were “expensive.”
Schmaltz questioned why they were allowed to wear the poncho and not the sombrero, calling the decision “ridiculous” while acknowledging that the compromise would “guarantee no one lose face.”
To make up for the removal of some of their costume pieces, the garden show moved the group’s total of seven performances from “world cruise on the dream ship” to their main stage.
However, the show ends with a public discussion, where people can give their opinion on the costumes.
For future performances, the group would go back to wearing their sombreros and dark haired wigs, Schmaltz vowed.