Leigh Sisters

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

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 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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