Alice Guy-Blaché, William K.L. Dickson - Butterfly Dances (1894-1907)

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Description: Many of the earliest nickelodeon films featured the dancing of vaudeville performer Annabelle Whitford (known as Peerless Annabelle) Moore, whose routines were filmed at Edison's studio in NJ - Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894), Annabelle Sun Dance (1894), Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895) - the first publically-released color film (pictured) - hand-tinted, Serpentine Dance by Annabelle (1896), Annabelle in Flag Dance (1896), Skirt Dance by Annabelle (1896), Tambourine Dance by Annabelle (1896), Sun Dance - Annabelle (1897), etc.; male audiences were enthralled watching these early depictions of a clothed female dancer (sometimes color-tinted) on a Kinetoscope - an early peep-show device for projecting short films.

1. Ballet Libella (Alice Guy, 1897)
2. Danse Fleur de Lotus (Alice Guy, 1897)
3. Annabelle Butterfly Dance (William K.L. Dickson, 1895)
4. Danse du Papillon (Alice Guy, 1900)
5. Butterflys/Farfalle (1907)
6. Danse Serpentine (Alice Guy, 1900)
7. Annabelle Serpentine Dance (William K.L. Dickson, 1897)

Early cinema's most prolific star, Annabelle Moore (later Annabelle Whitford, and finally Annabelle Whitford Moore Buchan) made several films for Edison and Biograph between 1894 and 1897. A follower of Loïe Fuller, Annabelle performed several dances at the Black Maria studio and was featured in the Kinetoscope's first London showing in October 1894. The Serpentine Dance, Butterfly Dance and Sun Dance were often hand-coloured and enjoyed such popularity that they frequently wore out, necessitating many reprintings and several refilmings . When the Biograph was launched in 1896 two of its earliest productions were Annabelle's Butterfly Dance and a Flag Dance in which she performed draped in the American colours.