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Recent Posts
- The fallibility of film history: Valeria Creti unmasked as Filibus
- Il cinema ritrovato 2018 in review
- Bologna-bound: Il cinema ritrovato 2018
- Buster on the big screen: a visit to the delightful Time Cinema
- The perilous camera-eye: El sexto sentido | The Sixth Sense (ES 1929)
- Coda to Valentine’s Day: silent film postcards
- Power couples of Italian silent film
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Tag Archives: dance
Image, light, sound – magic: Reporting back on Il Cinema Ritrovato 2016
There was a time when cinema came out from behind trees, burst forth from the sea; a time where the man with the movie camera arrived in town squares, entered cafés, and turned screens to windows into infinity. In this … Continue reading
Stacia Napierkowska on film
As dancer Marfa Koutiloff in Les Vampires (FR 1915-16), Stacia Napierkowska gave the silent cinema one of its most iconic images: a woman in a black bodystocking and great black bat wings, stretching and swirling as if to take flight. Later, she … Continue reading
On New Year’s Eve, do the sugar foot strut!
To round out 2015, here’s some instruction on the dance sensation that’s sweeping the nation. Of 87 years ago, that is. From Fox News of 1928, here’s the sugar foot strut! Louis Armstrong would record “Sugar Foot Strut” the same year, but … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged cinema of 1928, cinema of the US, dance, NFPF, race and film, year in review
1 Comment
Tórtola Valencia in Pasionaria | Passionflower (ES 1915)
From the Spain of a century ago comes the extraordinary film Pasionaria. The film is a star vehicle for Carmen Tórtola Valencia, better known simply as Tórtola Valencia, a famous Spanish dancer of the era who specialized in exotic dances. Here she … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged cinema of 1915, cinema of Spain, dance, EFG, excellent women, forgotten film stars, Joan Maria Codina, nitrate damage, original research, queer, Tórtola Valencia
9 Comments
Sangue Bleu | Blue Blood (IT 1914)
With the release of Sangue Bleu in 1914, reviews were glowing: “This splendid masterpiece is transfused by all of Ms. Bertini’s soul as an incomparable artist.” Francesca Bertini was already launched as a film star, and as a major production, Sangue … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged Centi anno fa, cinema of 1914, cinema of Italy, clothing & fashion, dance, Desmet collection, diva films, Francesca Bertini, Kri Kri, Nino Oxilia
5 Comments
Грёзы | Daydreams (RU 1915)
Daydreams is a story about love, grief, and the blindness that can result from these states. As the story opens, Sergei Nedelin (Aleksandr Vyrubov) is mourning his wife Elena, whom he had loved passionately. Out walking one day, he sees a … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged Boris Zavelev, cinema of 1915, cinema of Russia, dance, dangerous female sexuality, floral symbolism, N. Chernobaeva, Yevgeni Bauer
2 Comments
The flowers of romance? Хризантемы | Chrysanthemums (RU 1914)
Today it’s back to pre-revolutionary Russia, where indeed I’ve been spending a lot of my reading + watching time lately. Chrysanthemums (translit. Khrizantemy; 1914) is the story of Vera Alekseevna Nevolina, played by the radiant Vera Karalli in her first film role (her … Continue reading
Sur Un Air de Charleston | Charleston Parade (FR 1926)
2028: Europe lies in ruins. Civilization is now focused in Africa, and from there an intrepid explorer sets out in his spherical aircraft: Catherine Hessling is the last woman living in Paris; the only other inhabitant is a very fake-looking … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged Catherine Hessling, cinema of 1926, cinema of France, dance, Jean Renoir, race and film
2 Comments
Silents, Please! 