The Song

Pencil and watercolour drawing of Lottie Collins performing Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay, "The Song", signed by 'CAH', 1892

Lottie Collins (1865-1910) became famous through performing the vaudeville and music hall song Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay. She sang the song for the first time at the Tivoli Music Hall in London in 1891. Her act featured a signature dance, in which Collins would start gently and demurely on a low note, before quickly launching into uninhibited high-kicking movements. At the height of the craze for the song, she is said to have performed the dance five times a night at different venues across London.