Signe Paterson

Signe Paterson (May 6, 1890 – August 15, 1963), sometimes written as Signe Patterson, was a Swedish-born American vaudeville dancer, celebrated both for her solo performances and as one-half of the jazz duo Hale and Paterson alongside Frank Hale.[1]

Paterson on the cover of Variety, January 1917

Paterson is notable for introducing the shimmy — a dance known at the time as the Shimmy-She-a-Wabble —onto the American stage.[2] She is also credited with being the first non-native Hawaiian to introduce the Hula into the United States, in the 1920s, successfully raising awareness of the Hawaiian national dance on American shores.[3][4]

Early life

Paterson was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1890 as the eldest of eleven siblings, including one brother and six sisters.[5] As a teenager, Paterson performed around Sweden, including as the principal dancer of King Gustav V of Sweden, reportedly his favorite performer.[6] At age 14, she left her hometown of Sundleyberg to become an actress in America.[7]

Career

After leaving Sweden, Paterson moved to Rhode Island to live with family friends while studying English and dramatic arts. While still a young teenager, she joined the chorus of the Chicago production of Prince of Tonight, touring the US and Canada.[8]

Soon after, Paterson joined the Chicago chorus of the show A Modern Eve, where she met her longtime dance partner Frank Hale. Due to the female lead's illness, Paterson was promoted to perform alongside Hale on opening night. Her debut was received enthusiastically by the audience, and Hale and Paterson went on to perform 300 shows in Chicago, a record for the era.[8]

Signe Paterson in a 1921 advert

Following her early success, she traveled to Paris where she performed on the stage at venues including Ciro's Paris and received top billing.[9] She mingled in upper class and high society circles and was friendly with Grand Duke Boris of Russia, who regularly came to see her perform, as well as Alexander Montagu, the Duke of Manchester. Back in America, she taught society figures to dance in Newport, Palm Beach, and New York City,[10] including Edith Rockefeller McCormick, who she taught to tango.[8]

Paterson performed around the globe at notable venues, including New York's Winter Garden Theater and Shubert Theater[11] and the London Opera House, and participated in numerous touring productions around the US, including the George M. Cohan Review, which toured in 1918.[12] At the height of her fame, she appeared on the cover of Variety in January 1917, with five photos on the cover, including solo portraits as well as photos together with her partner Hale.[1] In 1921, she was presented to President Warren G. Harding in Washington D.C..[13]

During her years on the New York stage and in the theater circuit, Paterson worked with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on the Keith-Albee circuit of vaudeville and motion picture theaters. She was well-known for introducing dance styles that American audiences were unfamiliar with. She learned to dance the Hula in the Sandwich Islands and adapted it for Western audiences, performing in Sweden and Paris before attempting to raise its profile in America by performing it in Central Park in 1916.[14] While performing the Hula, she was backed by The Royal Hawaiian Orchestra.[13] In addition to the Hula and the Shimmy, she is credited with introducing the Tango onto Broadway.[7]

Together with her manager and eventual husband, F. Ralph Gervers, she is credited with producing the first large-scale stage presentation running at motion picture theaters.[8]

Throughout her career, various nicknames included "The Sprite from Sweden".[15] and "Goddess of the Dance"[3]

Personal life
Signe Paterson Gervers with her son James

Following Paterson's marriage to F. Ralph Gervers, she left her career to start a family and moved to Pittsburgh in 1928,[7] before moving to Tampa, Florida in 1934. In Tampa, she was active in civic affairs, working as society editor and associate editor of the Port-Tampa Interbay Beacon,[16] president of the Port Tampa Women's Club, and helped organize the Port Tampa Library and Port Tampa Blood Bank.[17]

Paterson contributed to war efforts on multiple occasions. During World War I, she served in the Women's Service Division in New York, also performing in training camps to entertain American troops.[8] She also used her fame to appeal to Swedish-Americans to supply tobacco and pipes to those serving in the United States Army.[18] In Tampa, she helmed the Red Cross Canteen during World War II.

She had two children, a son named James A. Gervers and a son named Albert Gervers.[7] Through her son James, she is the grandmother of filmmaker Erik Courtney.[19] Paterson died August 15, 1963, aged 73.[17]

References
  1. "Variety magazine" (PDF). Variety. 5 January 1917. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  2. Levitt, Paul (2011). My Life In Vaudeville: The Autobiography of Ed Lowry. Library of Congress: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-8093-3016-4.
  3. "Hula-Hula Coming to Hub! That's the Definite Announcement of Swedish "Goddess of the Dance"". Boston Post. 17 September 1916. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  4. "Miss Signe Patterson Dancing the "Hula"". Arkansas Democrat. 7 September 1916. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. "Mrs. Gervers, Civic Leader, Editor, Dies". The Tampa Times. 17 August 1963. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  6. "Now Comes the Whirling Dervish Dance". Nashville Banner. 30 September 1917. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  7. Baubie, Jr, James A. (29 December 1929). "Famous Dancer of Few Years Ago is Now More Interested in Recipes Than Steps". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  8. "First White Exponent of The Hula Returns to the Stage". The Pittsburgh Press. 23 February 1930.
  9. "Broadway to Feature Famous Swedish Dancer". Richmond Times Dispatch. 29 March 1925. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  10. "Dances to Be Fashionable This Winter". The New York Sun. 23 September 1916. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  11. "Shubert Gaities". New York Herald. 28 September 1919. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  12. "Doings in Vaudeville". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 28 April 1918.
  13. "Signe Paterson Well Known Among Best". The Evening News Harrisburg Pennsylvania. 15 October 1921. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  14. "Signe Patterson Startles Gotham With Hula Dance in Central Park". The Arkansas Democrat. 7 September 1916. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  15. ""Hawaiian Swede" is Now Claimed by the Windy City". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 25 September 1916. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  16. "Gervers Move to Two Papers in Everglades". The Tampa Tribune. 26 October 1958. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  17. "Mrs Signe Gervers Dies at 73". Deaths in the Tampa Bay Area. The Tampa Tribune. 17 August 1963.
  18. "Signe Patterson". Carbondale Free Press. 30 August 1917. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  19. "Erik Courtney". IMDB. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
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