Leigh Sisters
Artist's impression of their umbrella dance
Artist's impression of their umbrella dance
Background information
Genresburlesque, trilbyana, vaudeville
Years active1890s
Past members
  • Edna
  • Stella
  • Edwina
  • Lillie

The Leigh Sisters was a vaudeville act at the end of the 19th century in the United States.

The sisters were Edna and Stella Leigh who danced in a saucy style,[1] exposing their legs more than was usual in those times.[2] They were filmed by Alfred Clark for two Kinetoscope productions – Acrobatic Dance and Umbrella Dance[3] in 1895. The films were hand coloured so we know that they were blondes, the umbrella was purple. One had a pink skirt and the other was lime green or blue. The film was so popular that new versions were printed and hand coloured for the next five years.[4] These early moving pictures have been lost but there is a frame from the latter in the Margaret Herrick Library.[5]

In 1897, Stella had retired and was replaced by Edwina.[6] The act appeared as members of "The Alimony Club" in Little Miss Chicago, a burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre in Chicago.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Adams; Keene; Koella (2011), Seeing the American Woman, 1880-1920: The Social Impact of the Visual Media Explosion, McFarland, p. 18, ISBN 9780786489039
  2. ↑ "Danced Without Tights", New York Herald, p. 7, 19 June 1895
  3. ↑ Musser, Charles (1991), "Edison and the Kinetoscope", Before the Nickelodeon, University of California Press, p. 56, ISBN 9780520060807
  4. ↑ Joshua Yumibe (17 July 2012). Moving Color: Early Film, Mass Culture, Modernism. Rutgers University Press. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-0-8135-5298-9.
  5. ↑ Yumibe, Joshua (2012), Moving Color: Early Film, Mass Culture, Modernism, Rutgers University Press, p. 13, ISBN 9780813552989
  6. ↑ "Vaudeville Jottings", The New York Dramatic Mirror, p. 20, 20 March 1897
  7. ↑ Little Miss Chicago, Gaiety Theatre, 14 March 1897
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