Princess Rajah Dance [1904]

Princess Rajah performs an "Oriental" or belly dance, and a balancing chair act in her teeth like that often found in folk performances in various cultures from Northern Africa to Greece. Shot outdoors in a street scene at the St. Louis Exposition, the film captures her act in an extreme long shot. She wears a dark, sleeveless dress to mid-calf, with a fringed, low-cut bodice and fringed belt worn at the waist, over multiple petticoats, bloomers, stockings, and heeled shoes. While playing finger cymbals, Princess Rajah performs a variety of dance movements that include spins, traveling movements, shoulder and hip shimmies, a frontal hip lock, other hip movements, and pirouettes. She then grabs a decorated chair in her teeth and swings it above her head, playing the finger cymbals and performing traveling foot movements, followed by floor work with the chair. Returning to a standing position still with the chair in her mouth, she performs shimmies and hip movements while playing the finger cymbals, then lowers the chair in front of her face and spins. She puts the chair down with a flourish, makes a closing gesture to the camera, and starts to exit the frame.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Belly
• dance
• Louisiana
• Purchase
• Exposition
• Vaudeville

[Styxhexenhammer666]

I am sure every plutocrat had a copy of this in his sock drawer for when those nasty night time cravings arose in his trousers on lonesome winter nights.

[TheNicneven]

Actually, "Oriental" used to be used to refer to anything that was "Eastern," ie. Middle Eastern, Far Eastern, Muslim, Hindu, Indian...you name it. Many Westerners just viewed the rest of the world as exotic and homogeneous. We know this is not so today....or hopefully most of us do, but 19th century people had a different conception of the world. I've read that this woman's dance incorporated elements from Greece and North Africa, so you get the point.

[kimjociable]

didn't realize the Edwardians were already doing the shimmy...naughty!

[halfrek]

I love all the cultural mistakes featured here: rajah is a term used in india and

bellydance is from the middle east not associated at all with india, and I am pretty sure any indian or middle easterner would correct you big time if you called them oriental...go foreigners!

[qingofchina]

Holy shart.

[sweetvalina]

ma che è hihihi la sediaaa hahahahahah XD

[cannoir]

lol! sound wasn't introduced until 30 years after this clip was shot

[juanbosco31]

dedico esto a Luisito Falcon

[lilbug1978]

That is so cool to see! Too bad it doesn't have sound but it's still really neat to see such an old clip!