Sunday, June 22, 2008

Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901)




Camera is positioned as if in the audience at a vaudeville or burlesque show. Two men with long hair and beards in rough clothing appear to be eating and talking in a box on the left as a female aerialist sits on a trapeze over the stage and its painted backdrop of trees. Fully dressed in street clothing, the trapezist removes her jacket and hat before performing a flip. She stands to remove her skirt and then sits back down on the bar as she takes off her corset and throws it to the country bumpkins in the box, who fight over the undergarment. The trapezist continues to disrobe, removing her shoes, stockings, and garters, again throwing the latter to the men, and then seemingly hangs upside down (with her feet anchored off-camera) as she slips off her petticoat. Thus clad only in tights, trunks, and a camisole, the woman performs her trapeze act to the increasingly excited men. - From the Library Of Congress description

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