All her movies were musicals, in the heyday of the Hollywood musical, the 1940's, and in those musicals that's how she always performed, singing and dancing, wearing a hat piled high with artificial fruit (apparently Hollywood's vision of what a female South American fruit vendor looked like). Even in non-musical scenes, she was always dressed like this. She was multi-talented, able to sing and
I think I see what you're getting at Hublot. You're wondering if the rather unusual phrase "a fruit dancer" can have any other connotation or meaning in English. No. When I first read your post, without even clicking on the link I knew who this was, Carmen Miranda. In the English language, the phrase "a fruit dancer" means only one thing, Carmen Miranda.