Danse des saisons | 1900 | Documentary, Short, Dance

Title: Danse des saisons | 1900 | Documentary, Short, Dance Director: Alice Guy Studio: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont Release Date: 1900 Runtime: 1 Format: Silent; black-and-white Country: France Language: Silent Genres: Documentary; Short; Dance --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Prologue and stage reveal 00:00:10 Winter entrance 00:00:30 Snow dance 00:00:50 Curtain and bow --- Summary: A staged dance program presenting the four seasons was filmed as a concise record of a Paris music-hall performance. The surviving material shows the Winter tableau, with a solo “snow” dance culminating in a bow to the audience. The film emphasizes stylized movement and season-themed imagery rather than narrative incident, exemplifying early nonfiction performance cinema made to document and showcase stage acts. --- Background: Produced by Gaumont and directed by Alice Guy in 1900, the film was part of a wave of early “dance views” capturing theatrical numbers for the screen. Only a fragment of the Winter section is known to survive; stage “snow” falls from the flies, and a placard reading “Elgé – Paris” appears onscreen. --- Trivia: Only the Winter segment is extant; the original program represented all four seasons. The dances derive from an unidentified Paris music-hall show, recorded specifically for the camera. A sign reading “Elgé – Paris,” referencing Léon Gaumont, appears in the surviving footage as a form of early branding. An English-titled version appears in home-video collections as “Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance.” --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: 1900 Original Studio / Distributor: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: DanseDesSaisons AliceGuy Gaumont SilentFilm PublicDomain FrenchCinema 1900 DanceFilm This video was sourced from Internet Archive. Originally uploaded by jake@archive.org. https://archive.org/details/silent-danse-des-saisons