Dance’s Reading Glass

Stacia Napierkowska in “Le Pain des petits oiseaux” (Albert Capellani, 1911). Lobby card.

Dance’s Reading Glass. The Depiction of Women Onscreen in Stacia Napierkowska’s Choreographic Performances, in The Visible Woman. On-Screen Presences of Femininity. 1895-1920, edited by Àngel Quintana and Jordi Pons, pp. 109-119. Proceedings of the 12th International Seminar on the History and Origins of Cinema, Girona, Fundació Museu del Cinema-Collecció Tomàs Mallol-Ajuntament de Girona, 2020.

“Napierkowska was among the first who brought modern dance to screen, and her choreographic embodiments – without corset and pointe shoes – conveyed the unexpected iconography of the new woman, reflecting social changes in their evolution and contributing to those transformations at the same time.”

Elisa Uffreduzzi