Annabelle Butterfly Dance

Even before the Great Train Robbery, the Annabelle Dances were the first big motion pictures in America. Just starting to make its way into the major cities, Annabelle Dances amazed its audience with the movement and added spray color to the images. Deep down, all it was, was a woman (Annabelle) dancing on stage with a crazy butterfly like costume. The world was dazzled by the new invention called cinema.

This was one of the earliest of the many 1890s movies that featured Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performing her popular dance routines, and it is still interesting enough to be worth watching. The distinctive costume in this one sets it apart a bit from most of the other movies in the series.

The "Butterfly Dance" is really a routine very similar to her popular "Serpentine Dance", but for this butterfly routine, her costume has a large pair of wings attached at the back, which along with her flowing skirts are used to create an effect. As in all of her features, Annabelle dances with skill and energy.

It's no surprise that these features were so popular in their day. By present-day standards, they are much tamer, but they still have their artistic value.

Proximity to New York City provided Edison's West Orange studio, the Black Maria, with the opportunity to obtain talent from the city's artistic community. An artist, invited to appear before the Kinetograph, might take the North River ferry to the west shore. There, at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad station, they could purchase a ticket and take the train directly to West Orange, New Jersey. Arriving at the West Orange station they could take a trolley or walk a half-mile to Edison's laboratory complex.

This was possibly the route followed by Annabelle Whitford, a vaudeville performer, as she went on a number of occasions to appear before the camera. Although Edison publicly professed the high-art-artistic merits of his invention, the actual films taken - cock fights, blacksmiths working and drinking, boxing matches and sexy female dancers - show a pandering to the masculine element of future peep-show patrons.

This film of Annabelle Whitford was so popular that she was invited back a number of times to do dance numbers. With her cute butterfly wings and high kicks that reveal shapely legs under her neck-to-ankle dress, it is no wonder that she was well received by the 1894 male audience. The copy I saw of this 15-second film had "copyright 1897" imprinted on the film. Her attire, was tinted yellow at the very end.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore dances for the camera of Edison filmmakers, William Heise and W.K.L. Dickson. She was a favorite of the Edison crew and was invited back several times to perform for them.

In the film, her movements are pretty basic. She lacks the energy of other Edison shorts, such as "Carmencita" or the "Buffalo Ghost Dance". Her costume is supposed to copy the movements of a butterfly as she dances around. Yet, the effect is muted, as Moore is not able to do much in the short time span of the film.

YOU WILL LIKE THIS FILM: IF YOU LOVED: "Annabelle Serpentine Dance" IF YOU HATED: "Breakin'"

The dance is better than the serpent dance. But as the serpent dance has the reputation as "the very first color-painted film," the Butterfly dance's prestige goes down the road and gains not equal popularity and recognition of Serpent dance. The dancer revolving around her consistent passion and beguiling dress are terrific The dance is better than the serpent dance. But as the serpent dance has the reputation as "the very first color-painted film," the Butterfly dance's prestige goes down the road and gains not equal popularity and recognition of Serpent dance. The dancer revolving around her consistent passion and beguiling dress are terrific.