I know that as a phrase, it is a metaphor for an elaborate presentation designed to show only parts of a subject with the purpose to induce attention or to hide the main part.
But I wonder now if the dance was real and where it came from. Was there really an original Dance of the Seven Veils?
Did it originate from Asia, Africa or America?
Woops, I forgot to mention I did check Wikipedia already, it seems that it is not a very good article; googling around, some other sites report also the biblical connection to Salome, but only to say there was actually no dance name mentioned in the Bible so it was likely a later invention.
While the Oscar Wilde play is mentioned, the script of the play does not specify that the dance must be seductive, or that it must consist of removal of veils one after another. Yet other cites mention that the seven veils connection to strip tease and current versions of the dance originated out of all places, from the bible belt in the early 20th century, in theaters and fairs producers used Salome and a now seductive 7 veils dance to get around the censorship of the day since “it was coming from the good book”.
So, what is the correct version?