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La Apache,

Dibujo De Bolins,

Social,vol.V, No.10, octubre 1920, pg 37

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“Ugliest Woman in Paris Will Come to the States”

Sacramento Union, Number 86, 18 May 1910

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Tribute to Merian Ganjou, adagio dancer: The Dior Dancers

My friend Merian Ganjou – the star of the world-famous speciality act The Dior Dancers – died on 2 July 2018. We are posting my archive feature as a tribute to this spectacular artist, who I met when I interviewed her in 2011, the year she was Queen Ratling of The Grand Order of Lady Ratlings.

Subsequently I introduced her to the young circus artists in the cast of Opus at the Barbican (see final picture). The show was by leading Australian contemporary circus troupe Circa; a company that reveres her and often uses moves originally choreographed by her husband Bob Ganjou, which Merian performed with such exquisite finesse and daredevilry.

Circa’s artistic director Yaron Lifschitz says: “At Circa we were saddened to hear of the passing of Merian Ganjou of the Dior Dancers. Her work was an inspiration to us. It is the basis of the ‘toss-the-girl’ acts and languages that now infuse our acrobatics. It is wonderful to share in this lineage. Merian's work is often watched by our acrobats and it is never bettered. She was truly a great artist and it is an honour to preserve and work with some of the techniques she perfected.”

I also suggested her as a subject for Mat Ricardo to interview on his London Varieties show. It was at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club on 14 June 2012. No one knew she was there but us, and we felt honoured to be sitting with her at a table near the stage. He showed The Dior Dancers video and the audience went wild. Mat was so clever in the way he brought her onstage, like a magician doing his big reveal, and as she stepped into the spotlight the place erupted. Merian was a sensation on that unforgettable night, even though she had been a little bit nervous about doing it. Mat’s podcast of their conversation is here.

My friendship with Merian all started with this video. Watch it and you’ll understand what made her so special.

It would be a good idea to look up the Dior Dancers on YouTube right now. This old black and white clip of their stunning adagio act, introduced by a young Bruce Forsyth, caused a sensation when it was shown last December at BFI London during its season saluting 100 Years of the London Palladium. It shows three men and a girl performing some of the most amazing moves you’re likely to see. The men lift her, balance her, pass her from hand to hand, use her body as a skipping rope and literally throw her around. Of course, it was the girl everyone was interested in; slender, sexy, daring, she was breathtaking and able to do everything with ease while wearing what was then quite a racy costume.

Sir Bruce is still alive; was it possible that she was, too? When the same footage was shown on the BBC’s New Year’s Eve Palladium celebration, there she was! Merian Ganjou – tiny and as glamorous as ever – made a contribution. The clip has brought a new wave of interest to the act and has coincided with her year as queen of The Grand Order of Lady Ratlings, the female section of The Grand Order of Water Rats that was founded in 1929. Merian says: “The new YouTube audience is so thrilling because it’s happened this year. It couldn’t have happened at a nicer time.”

For many people the name Ganjou is synonymous with excellence. The Ganjou Brothers and Juanita was an iconic classical adagio act that spanned the thirties to the fifties. One of those brothers, Bob – the others were Serge and George – went on to create The Dior Dancers, a similar act but somewhat more in the apache (pronounced ah-pash) style, or what is now being called ‘throw the girl around’. The then Merian Morris was chosen for the act virtually straight from school. She recalls: “When I was 15, they decided I wasn’t right for ballet, which is what I aspired to my entire life. I decided I was still going to be a dancer so joined Herbert De Vere’s troupe and did various shows and pantomimes. But I had great difficulty in keeping my legs up in line with the other girls because, barely 5’2”, I was so much smaller.”

Merian remembers, with a laugh: “I was saved by the back end of a pantomime horse. A chap called Marty – the back end – joined the show Shake It From Here at Chelsea Palace. He said: “You’d be great for adagio. Have you ever thought about it?.” I said: “What is adagio?” And he said: “It’s when a fellow lifts the girl up and depending on how many people are in the act, throws her about.” I was always a tomboy and thought I’d love that. He said, and these are his exact words: “The great impresario Bob Ganjou is looking for a girl for a new act he’s just devised.” He’d had a heart attack and could no longer catch Joy [Juanita] when she was flying at him through the air. I used to watch the Ganjou Brothers and Juanita on television. I was entranced; their act was so perfect. Bob devised this new act while recuperating in hospital. He did more or less everything; the music and my costume.”

Merian not only got the job but later proposed to Bob – who was 35 years her senior – and married him. It took a year to perfect the eight-minute act and remarkably, she had no special training. In fact, she found the difficult moves easy. “I was always a daredevil and would do anything, scrump for apples or climb up on roofs. I was a contortionist, what they called double-jointed; very, very supple. It wasn’t at all scary, it was wonderful.”

The men were Ron Bone, Jay Neill and Clete Ball, though Ball was replaced after a year by Michael Taylor. “They balance you, you do nothing. You just keep very, very still. I had a very strong body and just had to keep rigid while the boy held me in the splits, for instance, then threw me up and brought me out of it.” It took a long time to make the movements look smooth, and although the act suited her perfectly, it was not without its dangers.

“We had a few mishaps, mostly between the catcher and the throwers. I once fell on to my head. The catcher immediately picked me up to do the last pose. I was still conscious but then passed out. At hospital they said I’d got such a thick skull there was no damage whatsoever. I went on the next night. If I hadn’t it might have played on my mind. If you have fear, that stops you from really going for something and the trick doesn’t work. You have to really launch yourself from your throwers.”

The Dior Dancers were immediately successful, appearing on The Royal Variety Performance in 1958 and ’59. Lots of producers and agents knew them in America and they appeared on the Statler circuit – a big hotel chain. After their first US appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show they found huge success in Las Vegas, doing two lengthy Folies Bergere runs – one for two years and the other for one – two shows every night, three on Saturdays, which she admits was “very hard going”. But she’d see Frank Sinatra sitting in the Tropicana’s lounge and go to lavish parties thrown by Sammy Davis Jr for the whole Strip. The Diors performed from 1957-1968, during which time Merian had her children, Gregory and Denise.

Now she again finds herself in the spotlight in her role as Queen Ratling – exactly 50 years since her sister-in-law Joy Ganjou, Serge’s wife – held the post. The position is only bestowed after years of service to the organisation, which has been dedicated to helping others since its Cup of Kindness charity was founded in 1931. “My chief role is to be the face of the order for this year. I represent the Ratlings at official functions and help with the charity. The big thing is we don’t give money to charities we buy things for them. If people give money to the Cup of Kindness, they know it won’t be funding an admin person; it all goes to buy some thing, like a special bed. That’s what people like and they can go and see the thing we’ve given.”

Still incredibly fit, Merian dances in their cabarets and undertakes fundraising runs – recently to raise money for rugby wheelchairs. No particular charities are favoured but they tend to help smaller organisations. “Our events committees organise lots of fundraising throughout the year. Our members donate money every week and we have raffles and auctions. Every year we put on a Ratlings show, but the biggest fundraiser is our spring luncheon, where we have a special guest. This year we had Julia McKenzie and Alan Titchmarsh and everyone was incredibly generous. The next big function is our ball on 23 October.” Merian has already been acclaimed as “a great queen”. She says: “It’s wonderful fun and I’ve discovered so many things about myself. Talking for one. I could dance in front of a million people but I couldn’t say two words in public. I’m thoroughly enjoying my year.”

On top of that, more than 40 years after the Dior Dancers stopped dancing, their influence is still being felt around the world. Their moves are evident in the Australian circus troupe Circa’s shows, Circa and Wunderkammer. It is Ball who has taught them, and however good they are, and they are very good, there’s no doubt who still reigns supreme.

I remember there wasn’t room in my feature to mention that during her appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show one of the straps on her costume snapped and she had to carry on rather gingerly holding it between her teeth, or the fact that its scanty cut caused a bit of a furore because, as the prudish Americans said, her “tush” was on view. They had to adapt the outfit using an extra piece of fabric, which Merian found hilarious.

Merian, dear Merian, keep on flying.

Pictures courtesy of Greg Ganjou

This feature first appeared in The Stage