Betsy Ross Dance
Betsy Ross Dance
Filmed June 18, 1903 in the Biograph New York City studio. Performer: Little Anita. Opens on a bare stage with a painted backdrop of an interior theater wall and pillar. From screen right, a woman twirls onstage and performs an enthusiastic dance. It appears she is a woman dressed to look like a little girl, in a short, ruffled dress and sash, tights, and ballet slippers, with long, dark hair worn in curls. Her movements include some with an apparent ballet influence, such as pirouettes and walking on pointe. She also performs various feet and leg movements, leg kicks both to the front and side, spins, and twirls, all the while flouncing and lifting her skirt and smiling coquettishly. She ends by throwing a kiss to the camera as she twirls offstage.