Dancing Darky Boy Film 1898-08-12 50' foot film produced by William Heise (also on camera) for the Edison Company, shot on location October 12-14 August 1897 at the Monmouth County Horse Show in Long Branch, NJ. One of the earliest examples of buck and wing dancing on film. "Shows a small colored boy, about ten years old, amusing the stable hands with a characteristic negro dance. He is placed on a table and is surrounded by a crowd of stablemen, jockeys, etc. (all men), all of whom pat time and unconsciously follow the movement of the performer. The dance is a combination of jig, clog and negro cake walk steps. The audience is composed of about fifteen, all of whom, including the principal, show up full life size and are all action." Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Musser, Charles: Edison Motion Pictures, 1890-1900: An Annotated Filmography. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press (1997). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.1292