Dance troupe for pensioners banned from wearing pharaoh outfits

It’s so un-Pharoah! Female pensioner dance troupe is banned from wearing Egyptian outfits after being accused of cultural insensitivity

• AWO Ballet is a dance troup from German Mannheim for women in their 60s
• Their costumes included Japanese kimonos, Indian saris and Mexian sombreros

A German dance troup for female pensioners has been banned from wearing Egyptian pharaoah outfits in their upcoming show after they were accused of cultural insensitivity.

The AWO Ballett group from Mannheim, a city in western Germany, was set up in the 1980s to give women over 60 the opportunity to socialise and dance.

Their performance ‘world cruise on the dream ship’ at today’s garden show in Mannheim was planned with 14 costumes the women would change into during the show.

But six of their costumes from all over the world were met with criticism.

The garden show intervened as they reportedly were concerned that the costumes – which include Japanese kimonos, Indian saris, Mexian sombreros and pharaoah outfits – could offend the local audience.

The AWO Ballet from Mannheim, a city in western Germany, was set up in the 1980s to give women in their 60s the opportunity to socialise and dance

Their performance, ‘world cruise on the dream ship’, at today’s garden show in Mannheim was planned with 14 costumes the women would change into during the show

But six of their costumes from all over the world were met with criticism. The garden show intervened as they reportedly were concerned that the costumes – which include Japanese kimonos, Indian saris, Mexian sombreros and pharaoah outfits – could offend the local audience

On pictures posted on the group’s website, they can be seen dancing in their various outfits

On pictures posted on the group’s website, they can be seen dancing in their various outfits.

The troupe’s leader, Erika Schmaltz, told The Telegraph: ‘We were shocked. These are just normal carnival costumes that everyone wears to have a bit of fun.’

The group insisted they would either be allowed to wear all of their costumes or they wouldn’t perform at all after they had prepared for the show for months.

After national backlash, the garden show gave in and offered a compromise that would see the women not wearing the sombreros, the wigs they had planned to wear with kimonos for their Japanese dance and that they would remove the gold and blue elements for their pharaoah outfits, so they would look like ‘modern workers’. 

The group has doubled down on wearing their kimonos since they ‘were expensive’.

Schmaltz questioned why they were allowed to wear the poncho and not the sombrero, labeling the decision ‘ludicrous’ while recognising the compromise would guarantee ‘no one loses face’.

To make up for removing some of their costume parts, the garden show moved the group’s total of seven performances of ‘world cruise on the dream ship’ to their main stage.

However, the show will end with an audience discussion, during which people can express their views on the costumes.

For any future performances the group would go back to wearing their sombreros and dark haired wigs, Schmaltz vowed. 

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