Dansa Serpentina | 1900 | Documentary, Short, Dance

Title: Dansa Serpentina | 1900 | Documentary, Short, Dance Studio: Parnaland Starring: Mlle. Ondine; Dompteur Laurent Format: 35mm; silent; hand-colored print extant Country: France Language: Silent Genres: Documentary; Short; Dance --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Lion tamer enters the cage 00:00:20 Big cats display and control 00:00:50 Dancer’s entrance 00:01:20 Serpentine dance finale --- Summary: A lion tamer demonstrates control over big cats inside a performing cage. As the act reaches its peak, Mlle. Ondine enters and performs a brief serpentine dance, her flowing costume catching the light in hand-colored tints that emphasize movement and spectacle. Like many early “cinema of attractions” subjects, the film records a popular stage act for the screen, highlighting the visual allure of Loïe Fuller–inspired serpentine choreography and the era’s fascination with color effects and motion. --- Background: The serpentine dance, originated by Loïe Fuller in the 1890s, became a staple of early screen subjects because it showcased swirling fabric, colored illumination, and kinetic display ideal for hand-coloring. This 1900 French short, produced by Parnaland, situates the dance within a circus cage act, reflecting the period’s fairground sensibilities and the industry’s practice of filming stage attractions with added spectacle. --- Trivia: The film is also known under the alternative French title “La Loïe Fuller dans la cage aux lions ,” referencing the dancer’s style and the lion tamer credited as Laurent. Archival descriptions note surviving hand-colored prints; one festival record lists a 35mm element of 14 meters, approximately 42 seconds at 16 frames per second. Some databases attribute the film to Alice Guy-Blaché or list it under Gaumont, while others credit it anonymously, illustrating uncertain authorship common to early actualities. Distribution and access information in France cites Parnaland as rightsholder and notes circulation via Lobster Films and L’Agence du court métrage. The subject belongs to a broader wave of serpentine-dance films produced across the 1890s and early 1900s by companies such as Edison and the Lumière brothers. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: 1900 Original Studio / Distributor: Parnaland Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: No --- Hashtags: DansaSerpentina SerpentineDance SilentFilm EarlyCinema FrenchCinema HandColored PublicDomain ShortFilm 1900 This video was sourced from Internet Archive. Originally uploaded by Alice Guy-Blaché. https://archive.org/details/dansa-serpentina-1900