Annabelle Serpentine Dance

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Annabelle Serpentine Dance is the title of several silent movies filmed by movie pioneer William K. L. Dickson and William Heise and produced by William Heise from 1894 to 1897, starring the late 19th century Broadway dancer star Annabelle Moore. Black-and-white and hand-tinted coloured versions exist of these movies, making them the first movies in colour in the history of cinema, pre-dating George Méliès' famous hand-tinted movies by several years.


The 1895 version depicts Annabelle dancing the serpentine dance while wearing a white long dress that was later hand-tinted frame by frame in azure, yellow, violet and other colours to give the viewer the impression that her dress changed colour as she dances. Her hair were hand-tinted as well, in red. The stage and background were left in black-and-white.

Other versions show Annabelle wearing a long and voluminous skirt and holding sticks in her hands attached to the outer edges of the skirt, so that while she dances, her skirt follows her arm movement in an armonious flow that resemble a sped-up blooming flower. These versions were hand-tinted as well in a way similar to the 1895 version.

In the black-and-white version Annabelle dances while wearing a shorter skirt and fake butterfly wings on her back and bewteen her hairs. This version is often also referred to as "Annabelle Butterfly Dance".

Why They Rock

  1. Their historical relevance in general is undeniable, since they are documents of more than a century old footage.
  2. They are the first coloured movies in the history of cinema.
  3. The colourization of Annabelle's dress to give the feeling that it changes colour is very well made and gives the viewer a sense of magic and beauty.
  4. The 1895 coloured version in particular is stunningly beautiful.


This is the video of the most famous coloured and beautiful version, referred in the Why-It-Rocks pointer number three.

This, instead, is a video containing all short films starring Annabelle Moore dancing from 1894 to 1897, including the 1894 black-and-white short movie "Annabelle Butterfly Dance".