Faith Bacon, who claimed to be the originator of the fan dance, was called “America’s Most Beautiful Dancer” at the height of her career.
Bacon's career began in 1920s Paris. In a 1930 interview, Bacon, who had no training, said she decided to become a dancer when visiting Paris. While there, she met Maurice Chevalier and later premiered in his revue. During her career, she used bubbles, flowers and fans in nude dance routines.
Back in the United States, Bacon appeared on Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities from August 1928 to February 1929. The program listed her performance as "Fan Dance - Heart of the Daisies." She went on to dance in Fioretta and Earl Carroll's Sketch Book, in 1929 and 1930, respectively. In July 1930, she appeared as a "principal nude" in another production of the Earl Carroll's Vanities initially doing a routine in which she stood nude and motionless onstage while lights "played over" her body. At the time, indecent exposure laws prohibited dancers from moving while appearing nude onstage. According to Bacon, she and Carroll tried several different tricks to get around these laws before finally coming up with the idea of the fan dance. The dance was an immediate hit.
On July 9, 1930, police raided the New Amsterdam Theatre and arrested Bacon, Earl Carroll and other cast members for "giving an indecent performance". She was appearing in a scene entitled "A Window at Merls". The show underwent some changes after the raid, Bacon continued to perform the fan dance. However, Earl Carroll stated that Bacon wore a chiffon during the performance and was not fully nude. In August 1930, a grand jury decided against indicting Bacon, Carroll and her fellow cast members.
Following Earl Carroll's Vanities, Bacon appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 from July to November 1931. In 1933, she went to Chicago to perform at the 1933 World's Fair after learning that rival dancer Sally Rand was performing a fan dance. Bacon, who maintained she originated the dance for Earl Carroll in 1930, billed herself as "The Original Fan Dancer". At the 1939 World's Fair in New York, she had an official position as fan dancer.
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