The Paramount Ballroom in the 1930S : a Modernist Social and Architectural Space
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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2012 The Paramount Ballroom in the 1930s : a modernist social and architectural space. Xi Zhang 1987- University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Zhang, Xi 1987-, "The Paramount Ballroom in the 1930s : a modernist social and architectural space." (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1642. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1642 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PARAMOUNT BALLROOM IN THE 1930s: A MODERNIST SOCIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SPACE By Xi Zhang B.A., Sichuan International Studies University, 2009 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Fine Arts University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May, 2012 Copyright 2012 by Xi Zhang All rights reserved THE PARAMOUNT BALLROOM IN THE 1930s: A MODERNIST SOCIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SPACE By Xi Zhang B.A., Sichuan International Studies University, 2009 A Thesis Approved on April, 2012 by the following Thesis Committee: Delin Lai Thesis Director Benjamin Hufbauer Yuxin Ma ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Delin Lai, for his years of patient mentoring and guidance, which have been instrumental in achieving my academic goal of a M.A. in Art History. I would also like to thank the other committee members, Dr. Benjamin Hufbauer and Dr. Yuxin Ma, for their comments and assistance over the past three years. I am grateful for their constructive criticism and support. I would like to thank the following Chinese scholars: Xing Jianrong,Yang Weixun, Zhang Wei and other scholars who granted me interviews and provided me photos during my field research in Beijing and Shanghai. I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents, Nie Fei and Zhang Qinghai, who have given me invaluable educational opportunities and emotional support; and to all my friends, who assisted me with the editing of my thesis. iii ABSTRACT THE PARAMOUNT BALLROOM IN THE 1930s: A MODERNIST SOCIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SPACE Xi Zhang April 9 2012 The Paramount Ballroom was an innovative urban space that challenged traditional Chinese values. In doing so it played an important role in Shanghai's modernization. Traditional Confucian morality set very strict regulations on the social interaction of men and women, while, in contrast, the architectural space of the Paramount Ballroom allowed men and women to have close contact. The experience created by this architecture was not just pleasurable and fashionable; it was a sign of modernity. This study reconstructs the entertainment experience of the contemporary middle class in the newly constructed ballrooms of Shanghai. It examines how the Paramount Ballroom emerged, how it was interpreted by Chinese society, and the historical role it played in modernizing Shanghai's urban space in the 1930s. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................. , .................... .iii ABSTRACT .... , ............................................. , .................................... .iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER I: THE PARAMOUNT AND DANCING CULTURE IN SHANGHAI ..... 3 The Paramount ................................................................................. 7 A novel scene in Shanghai: Western dancing moving eastward ......................... 10 An era of the Paramount Ballroom: Shanghai after 1932 ................................. 16 CHAPTER II: THE INVESTOR LIANCHENG GU AND THE SITE SELECTION ............................................................................................................... 19 Site Selection ................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER III: LIGHT, HEAT, AND POWER: THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF THE PARAMOUNT ................................................................................ 25 Different spatial experience ................................................................... 25 Plan of the Paramount ......................................................................... 28 Outside the Paramount ........................................................................ 32 Fluid urban public space: modern, open and popular ...................................... .43 Two varied experiences of the dance floor ................................................ .48 v CHAPTER IV: EXPERIENCING AND EXPRESSING: THE IMAGIERY OF MODERNIATION ........................................................................ 53 Women's new images and the modern imagination .................................... 58 Women's experience: Shaping Their Own Discourse of Power ....................... 63 Men's experience: from architectural space to social space ........................... 69 CONCLUSION: THE GATE TO ONE HUNDRED PLEASURES ....................... 72 REFERENCES .................................................................................... 75 CURRICULUM VITAE .......................................................................... 80 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Shen Baa reported the Paramount "Open to the Public on December IS" on March 21, 1933 .............................................................................................. 5 2. The North China Daily News reported the Paramount "Open to the Public on December IS" on March 21, 1933 .............. , ............................................... 5 3. Le Journal de Shanghai reported the Paramount "Open to the Public on December IS" on March 21, 1933 ..................................................................6 4. The band of the Paramount, Le Journal de Shanghai, December 24, 1933 ....... 6 5.1. The designer of the Paramount, Yang Xiliu in the 1970s .............................. 9 5.2. Xiliu Yang's old residence in Tongli, Wujiang .... , .............. , ................ 9 6. Dancing Parties .............................................................................. .15 7. Popularity of dancing class in 1930s' Shanghai ....................................... .15 8. Map of 1930s' Shanghai ................................ , ................................ 18 9. Gu Jingzhai ................................................................................ 22 10. Gu Liancheng ........................................................................... 22 11. The plan of the first-floor of the Paramount .......................................... 31 12. The present Cathay Cinema ...............................................................38 13.1. Today's Paramount .......................................................................38 13.2. The column-shaped lighthouse of the Paramount ................................39 13.3. The column-shaped lighthouse and the signage format of the Paramount .... 39 vii 14.1. The opening of the Metropol Theater, December 5,1933 ...................... .40 14.2. Series reports of Hollywood Stars, December 2, 1933 .......................... .40 15.1. The entrance of the Paramount, December 15, 1933 ........................... .41 15.2. The lobby of the Paramount ........................................................ .41 16.1. The circular space on the second floor entrance into the lounge .............. .42 16.2. The present lounge of the second-floor circular dance floor ..................... .42 17.1. The plan of the second-floor of the Paramount with the main sprung dance floor .............................................................................................46 17.2. The plan of the third-floor of the Paramount with the smaller glass dance floor .............................................................................................46 18.1. The interior decoration of the Paramount ........................................ ..47 18.2. The interior decoration of the Paramount, under the smaller glass dance floor .............................................................................................47 18.3. The present interior decoration of the Paramount ................................ .47 19. The main dance floor of the Paramount .............................................. 51 20.1. The cross-section and plan of the steel sprung floor .............................. 51 20.2. The wooden "sprung" floor utilized by Yang in the design of the Paramount ...................................................................................... 52 2l. The smaller glass dance floor of the Paramount .................................... 52 22. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard dancing at the Paramount ................ 57 23. Taxi dance girls in Shanghai in the 1930s ........................................... 61 24. Calendar of dancing scenes ...........................................................