Carmencita | 1894 | Documentary, Short, Dance

Title: Carmencita | 1894 | Documentary, Short, Dance Director: William K. L. Dickson Studio: Edison Manufacturing Co. Starring: Carmencita Release Date: April 1894 Runtime: 0.35 Format: Black-and-white silent; 35 mm; 1.33:1; Kinetoscope; 30 fps Country: United States Language: Silent Genres: Documentary, Short, Dance --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Opening pose 00:00:05 Skirt flourishes 00:00:11 Spins and kicks 00:00:17 Final pirouette --- Summary: A Spanish dancer performs a solo routine on a small studio stage, executing rapid spins, high kicks, and skirt flourishes for the stationary camera. The brief film presents a distilled record of a popular vaudeville act, emphasizing movement and spectacle over narrative. --- Background: Filmed March 10–16, 1894 at Thomas Edison’s Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey, the production was photographed by William Heise and produced for exhibition on the Kinetoscope. Carmencita is noted as the first woman to appear before an Edison motion picture camera. The film circulated in the earliest wave of Edison Kinetoscopic Records and is dated to an April 1894 release in kinetoscope parlors. --- Trivia: The film’s preserved running time is approximately 21 seconds at 30 frames per second. Cinematographer William Heise operated the camera for this production. It was made for Edison's peephole Kinetoscope system rather than projected exhibition. Production took place at the Black Maria, often cited as America’s first movie studio. AFI catalogs the release as April 1894 within the Edison Kinetoscopic Records series. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: April 1894 Original Studio / Distributor: Edison Manufacturing Co. Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: No --- Hashtags: Carmencita 1894 SilentFilm Documentary PublicDomain Edison BlackMaria Kinetoscope LibraryOfCongress Source page: https: //www.loc.gov/item/00694116/ Direct media URL: https: //tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mbrs/ntscrm/00179915/00179915.mp4