Skirt Dance in the Early Years of American Cinema

Abstract

This work focuses on the study of early American films that depict dances such as the skirt dance and similar styles. The observation of movements that are very similar, if not identical, in the performances of dancers in films whose titles evoke very different dances raises the question of what was actually being danced in the United States at that time. In this regard, the main objective of this research is to determine what type of dance can be observed in early American film productions in order to establish an initial classification of the surviving recordings. The qualitative methodology of the study is based on documentary analysis, both textual and choreographic. The results of the first bibliographic inquiry point to the existence of a miscellany of dance styles on American stages during those years, which is later fully confirmed by choreographic analysis. At the same time, it is also evident a strong presence of later and, in a way, degraded versions of the English skirt dance, which had arrived in the United States a few years earlier.