''Annabelle Serpentine Dance'' is a
short silent American film produced and distributed by
Edison Manufacturing Company
The Edison Manufacturing Company, originally registered as the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison and incorporated in New York City in May 188 ...
in 1895. It is one of several released by the studio the late 19th century. Each short film depicts the popular
serpentine dance performed by
Annabelle Moore
Annabelle Moore (born Annabella Whitford, July 6, 1878 – November 29, 1961), also known as Peerless Annabelle, was an American dancer and actress who appeared in numerous early silent films. She was the original Gibson Girl in the 1907 Ziegfeld ...
. Many of the prints were distributed in color, which was
hand-tinted.
[Yumibe, Joshua (2012). ''Moving Color: Early Film, Mass Culture, Modernism.'' ]Rutgers University Press
Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University.
History
Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New B ...
,
Action in the film
The dance is performed in succession in a lockoff shot. The first is in a flowing skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended. She smiles, wearing butterfly wings on her back and the wings of
Mercury in her hair. Her dance emphasizes the movement of her visible, bare legs. She kicks high, bows, and moves to her right and left. The second dancer has a voluminous, long skirt, and holds sticks in each hand attached to the skirt's outer edges. The flowing patterns of the skirt from her arm movements give the second scene a different feeling from the first.
Production and distribution
Different versions of the film were released on four different dates: August 10, 1894; February 1895; April–August 1895; and May 8, 1897.
[Perry, Ted (2006). ''Masterpieces of Modernist Cinema.'' Indiana University Press, ] The film was directed by
William K.L. Dickson and
William Heise
William Heise (1847–1910) was a German-born American film cinematographer and director, active in the 1890s and credited for more than 175 short silent films. Heise filmed a "We All Smoke" skit promoting Admiral Cigarettes in 1897.
Heise is be ...
. Heise was also
producer and
camera operator
A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task.
In filmmak ...
.
Film historians have commented on the possibilities for viewers to slow down the hand cranking of the footage; it was not technically possible in other art forms.
[Barker, Jennifer M. (2009). ''The Tactile Eye: Touch and the Cinematic Experience.'' University of California Press, ]
See also
* ''
Annabelle Butterfly Dance''
References
External links
*
*
1895 films
American dance films
American silent short films
American black-and-white films
Films shot in New Jersey
Articles containing video clips
Edison Manufacturing Company films
1890s dance films
Early color films
1895 short films
1890s American films
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