Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895) FULL VIDEO

 

 

Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)

Director: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise

Cast: Annabelle Moore

Release Date: April 1, 1895

Country of Origin: USA

One of Annabelle (Whitford) Moore's well-known dance moves is performed. She creates a variety of visual patterns with her long, flowing skirts and dance moves.

A stationary camera watches as two dancers perform one after the other. The first is holding out her arms with her hands while wearing a delicate skirt. Wearing Mercury's wings in her hair and butterfly wings on her back, she grinned. Her dance highlights the way her bare, visible legs move. She bows, kicks high, and shifts to her left and right. The second dancer wears a long, voluminous skirt with sticks fastened to its outer borders in each hand, emphasizing the swirling patterns the garment creates, frequently hiding her expressionless face. On the plain stage, her feet barely move; the swirling patterns are highlighted by variations in the lens filter's color.

In a lockoff shot, the dance is performed consecutively. The first is holding out her arms with her hands while wearing a flowing skirt. Wearing Mercury's wings in her hair and butterfly wings on her back, she grinned. Her dance highlights the way her bare, visible legs move. She bows, kicks high, and shifts to her left and right. The second dancer is wearing a long, voluminous skirt and is holding poles in each hand that are fastened to the outside of the garment. The second scene feels distinct from the first because of the skirt's flowing patterns created by her arm movements.

The Edison Manufacturing Company produced and released the little silent American film Annabelle Serpentine Dance in 1895. The studio produced a number of them in the late 19th century. Every version of the short clip shows Annabelle Moore performing the well-known serpentine dance. A large number of the prints were issued in hand-tinted color.

The Library of Congress designated the movie as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2024 and decided to preserve it in the US National Film Registry.

The film was released in four separate versions: August 10, 1894; February 1895; April–August 1895; and May 8, 1897. William K.L. Dickson and William Heise directed the movie. Heise worked as a camera operator and producer.

The ability for spectators to slow down the hand cranking of the footage has been discussed by film historians; this was not technically feasible in other art forms.

The 1895 film Annabelle Serpentine Dance, featuring Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore, is a landmark of early cinema known for several pioneering technical and cultural achievements:

First Hand-Tinted Color Film: It is recognized as the world's first hand-colored motion picture. To achieve this effect, artists painstakingly applied dyes frame-by-frame directly onto the 35mm film strip.

Creation of the "First Movie Star": Annabelle Moore became one of the industry's first "queens of the screen," with her popularity reaching such heights that her films were frequently remade as the original negatives wore out.

Pioneer of Visual Effects: The film utilized hand-tinting as a "special effect" to replicate the shifting colored stage lights originally used in the live theatrical version of the dance.

Early Example of the "Cinema of Attractions": It is a definitive example of early film that prioritized spectacle and visual novelty over narrative storytelling, captivating audiences with hypnotic motion and changing colors.

Transition to Projected Film: Originally filmed for Edison's Kinetoscope "peepshow" viewers, it was among the first films chosen for public projection during the landmark Vitascope screening at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall in April 1896.

National Preservation: In 2024, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress due to its historical and aesthetic significance.