Lola Montez

Lola Montez was the stage name of an Irish dancer commonly thought of as a spanish dancer back in the day. She became most famous for an erotic spider dance she performed in front of 400 in Austrailia in 1856...but before that she was pretty much hated by an entire country.

Born Eliza Rosanna Gilbert on February 17, 1821 in Ireland and died at age 39 on January 17, 1861 in New York...She became well known in several countries. in In 1846, she became the mistress to King Ludwig I of Bavaria and he gave her the title Countess of Landsfield. She used her influence to institute liberal reforms. She was hated by the people. In 1848 she was forced to flee and King Ludwig abdicated.

She eventually ended up in the United Stated and on June 30, 1860 suffered a stroke that left her partially paralized for some time. By mid-december she had recovered enough to walk a straight line with a limp. She contracted pneumonia and lingered for a bit before dying one month before her fortieth birthday in New York on January 17, 1861. She is buried in Green-Wood Cemetary in Brooklyn, New York...her tombstone incorrectly says she was 42 at the time of her death.

She was portrayed in the 1922 German film, The Kings Dancer...her part was played by Ellen Richter. {as well as other films and writings}

Lola Montez was a dance. Read about her here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez

This song is about the Irish-born Lola Montez, who became famous as an erotic dancer, with her infamous “Spider Dance” ensnaring King Ludwig I of Bavaria, eventually having her become his mistress.

"She’s very interesting if you look into all the details around her; she was definitely shady," Said Michael Poulsen. "I just thought, how the hell? If you read about her, there’s so many things that come up. She’s been all around, flirting with a lot of royal men. At that time, having the kind of act that she had with her Spider Dance… people were coming to her show, the miners were throwing their gold in front of her because she would be lifting up her skirt so they could see everything. She was very controversial, but at the same time she was very beautiful and all the men were totally drawn to her. It’s a very interesting character."