Imperial Japanese Dance
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About Imperial Japanese Dance
Three dancers, the Sarashe Sisters, perform a Mikado dance in full costume for the Kinetoscope. They shake paper fans and strips of sarashi. The Edison catalog calls it a charming turn, and very effective when colored. AFI times the performance at 28 seconds.
Cast & crew
More about Imperial Japanese Dance
The catalog names William Heise as director. Wikidata names William Kennedy Dickson. AFI credits both, and names Heise as cinematographer and Thomas A. Edison as producer. Shot in October or November 1894 in the Black Maria. Edison Manufacturing released it. Silent Era also names Raff & Gammon as distributor. Lengths given are 44, 45, or 50 feet. Some prints were hand-colored. The sisters were performing at the 5th Avenue Theater. The dance is from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. AFI's synopsis places them in geisha costumes.
Themes
Making
It was made for the Kinetoscope in New Jersey, not in Japan.
Look
William Heise photographed the Sarashe Sisters in the Black Maria. Some release prints were hand-colored.
Preservation
A paper print is at the Library of Congress. The British Film Institute also holds a print.
Notes
- The BFI describes the cloth strips as standing for dyed cloth rinsed in a river, and compares the flutter to the serpentine dance.
- A paper print is in the Library of Congress. The BFI National Archive also holds a copy and calls it the oldest surviving moving image of Japanese people in that collection.
- Silent Era says there was no copyright registration.
Scenes
- The three sisters shake fans and strips of sarashi in costume.
Influenced by
- Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado
Also available
- Library of Congress (paper print)
- British Film Institute National Archive
