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Film, Video Princess Rajah dance Shooting title from Biograph production logs: Princess Rajah, dance with chair

Digital viewing copy

About this Item

Title

  • Princess Rajah dance

Other Title

  • Shooting title from Biograph production logs: Princess Rajah, dance with chair

Summary

  • "An Oriental dance which was one of the features of "Mysterious Asia," a Concession on the Pike, St. Louis Exposition. Length 72 feet"--Kleine Optical Co. catalog.
  • Princess Rajah performs an "Oriental" or belly dance, and a balancing chair act in her teeth like that often found in folk performances in various cultures from Northern Africa to Greece. Shot outdoors in a street scene at the St. Louis Exposition, the film captures her act in an extreme long shot. She wears a dark, sleeveless dress to mid-calf, with a fringed, low-cut bodice and fringed belt worn at the waist, over multiple petticoats, bloomers, stockings, and heeled shoes. While playing finger cymbals, Princess Rajah performs a variety of dance movements that include spins, traveling movements, shoulder and hip shimmies, a frontal hip lock, other hip movements, and pirouettes. She then grabs a decorated chair in her teeth and swings it above her head, playing the finger cymbals and performing traveling foot movements, followed by floor work with the chair. Returning to a standing position still with the chair in her mouth, she performs shimmies and hip movements while playing the finger cymbals, then lowers the chair in front of her face and spins. She puts the chair down with a flourish, makes a closing gesture to the camera, and starts to exit the frame.

Names

  • Princess Rajah, performer
  • Weed, A. E., camera
  • American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
  • Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • United States : American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904.

Headings

  • -  Louisiana Purchase Exposition--(1904 :--Saint Louis, Mo.)
  • -  Belly dance--Missouri--Saint Louis
  • -  Dancers--Missouri--Saint Louis

Genre

  • Filmed vaudeville acts
  • Peep shows (Motion pictures)
  • Silent films
  • Short films
  • Nonfiction films

Notes

  • -  H46819 U.S. Copyright Office
  • -  Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 3June1904; H46819.
  • -  Original main title lacking.
  • -  Duration: 1:11 at 16 fps.
  • -  Summary description provided by dance ethnologist Michelle Forner, September 25, 1996.
  • -  Biograph catalog no. 2924.
  • -  Kleine catalog no. 3207G.
  • -  Paper print shelf number (LC 1821) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
  • -  Additional holdings for this title may be available. Contact reference librarian.
  • -  Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Niver, K. Early motion pictures, 1985; AFI cat.: film beginnings, 1893-1910; Biograph photo catalog, v. 6 [MI]; Kleine Optical Co. catalog, Nov. 1905, p. 348; Laurie, J. Vaudeville, p. 40-41, 392; Gilbert, D. American vaudeville, p. 246-47.
  • -  Camera, A.E. Weed.
  • -  Performer: Princess Rajah.
  • -  Filmed May 23, 1904, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis.
  • -  Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.
  • -  35 mm viewing print renumbered: FEC 2186 to FYA 3350.

Medium

  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (28 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (71 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (28 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (71 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • paper pos 1 roll of 1 (ca. 70 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.
  • paper pos (copy 2) 1 roll of 1 (ca. 70 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • FLA 4835 (viewing print)
  • FYA 3350 (viewing print)
  • FRA 1843 (dupe neg pic)
  • FPE 7702 (dupe neg pic)
  • Box 0075B (paper pos)
  • Box 5107D (paper pos, copy 2)

Repository

  • Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 96520235

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Weed, A. E., Camera, American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, and Paper Print Collection. Princess Rajah dance. performeds by Princess Rajah United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/96520235/.

APA citation style:

Weed, A. E., American Mutoscope And Biograph Company & Paper Print Collection. (1904) Princess Rajah dance. Princess Rajah, performer United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/96520235/.

MLA citation style:

Weed, A. E., Camera, American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, and Paper Print Collection. Princess Rajah dance. performer by Princess Rajah United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/96520235/>.