Ameta
Ameta
Filmed April 1, 1903, in the Biograph New York City studio. Two large squares of white fabric completely cover a woman standing on a stage with a paneled wall as a backdrop. The fabric is supported in front and back of her by some sort of flexible poles along the top edge. The woman bends these rods and peaks out from the resulting hole, with her head and neck visible. She then performs what appears to be a variation on a skirt dance , with the fabric acting as a type of voluminous costume; she is actually wearing a full-length decorated dress. Holding the poles in either hand, she twirls the fabric about her, in both a front-to-back and side-to-side motion. She closes by twirling herself so that the fabric forms an upward-moving spiral, completely covering her upper body. *** This is an excellent example of the use of moving pictures. An act like this exploited the novelity of motion on film. *** From Library of Congress: Ads in the New York clipper proclaim "mirror dancer" Ameta "the most elaborate act in vaudeville." They describe four dances performed by Ameta, none of which appears to be the dance featured in this film: a "shower of confetti, ribbons;" a "prismatic fountain of real water;" a fire dance; and "mysterious transparent scenery," all performed on "a full stage setting of silk plush [and] eight large French plate mirrors" (3/21/03, p. 97; 8/30/02, p. 587).