Italian Folk Dance (1895) FULL VIDEO

 

 

Italian Folk Dance (1895)

Original Title (German): Bauerntanz zweier Kinder - English: Peasant Dance of Two Children

Also Known As:  Italienischer Bauerntanz (German) - English: Italian Peasant Dance

Director: Emil Skladanowsky, Max Skladanowsky

Cast: Ploetz, Larella

Release Date: November 1, 1895

Country of Origin: Germany

The Skladanowsky Brothers' "Wintergartenprogramm (1895)" first sequence. It features an Italian peasant dance performed by two kids, Ploetz and Larella.

Max Skladanowsky's 1895 German short black-and-white silent documentary film Bauerntanz zweier Kinder (English: Peasant dance of two children) is often referred to as Italienischer Bauerntanz (Italian peasant dance) or Italian folk dance. Ploetz and Lorella, two little children, are shown dancing throughout the movie.

It was one of several movies made to be viewed through a magic lantern as part of the Wintergarten Performances, which were the first time movies were shown to a paying audience in Europe. Bauerntanz zweier Kinder, Komisches Reck, Serpentinen Tanz, Der Jongleur Paul Petras, Das Boxende K�uruh, Akrobatisches Potpourri, Kamarinskaja, Ringkampf, and Apotheose were the film titles for the first show. Each clip would be repeated multiple times, lasting roughly six seconds.

The 1895 film known as Italian Folk Dance (original German title: Bauerntanz zweier Kinder or Italienischer Bauerntanz) is significant for several pioneering achievements in early cinema history: 

Earliest Public Projection in Europe: It was a part of the "Wintergartenprogramm," the first public film screening in Europe for a paying audience. This demonstration occurred on November 1, 1895, at the Wintergarten Theatre in Berlin, predating the Lumière brothers' famous Paris screening by nearly two months.

Pioneering Technology: The film was projected using the Bioscop, an early motion picture projector invented by German cinema pioneers Max and Emil Skladanowsky.

Cultural Documentation: It is one of the earliest examples of a documentary short capturing traditional culture, specifically featuring two child performers (Ploetz and Larella) dancing a traditional Italian peasant dance.

First Series of Films: It was the opening sequence of the world's first multi-film program, which included other short variety acts like boxing kangaroos and acrobats. 

While the film depicts an Italian dance, it was a German production. The first officially recorded films produced in Italy did not appear until late 1895 (patent of Filoteo Alberini's Kinetografo) and 1896 (documentaries of the Italian Royal family).