Champion Athletes at Birmingham (1902)
- Birmingham
- 1902
Calisthenics (c.1905)
A truly impressive exhibition of calisthenics from two teams of girls - perhaps an early talent contest?
Two teams of girls perform exercises in strict unison while someone calls out instructions. We can see this from the odd glance to someone behind the camera, while their perfect timing suggests that there is some kind of beat or music. The girls are dressed in sensible clothes (at least by Edwardian standards), and their sashes and medallions might indicate they are winners of a contest.
Girls performing various synchronised calisthenic exercises.
All the girls are dressed in white with sashes (going over their shoulders and tied at the hip), dark stockings and white flat shoes. They also all wear a medallion on a ribbon round their necks. In all the exercises they appear to be watching, and possibly following someone off camera, as they all look slightly to one side with their eyes.
Tags
Edwardian Sports
Their attention may not always have been on the pitch or the track, but Edwardian filmmakers Mitchell and Kenyon were pioneers of filmed sport.
Sport was an increasingly booming industry in the early 20th Century. Banks of mud were gradually replaced by covered stands, filled by larger (overwhelmingly male) crowds of spectators thanks to growing leisure time. It was mostly these crowds, and the prospect of drawing them to paid screenings, that attracted Mitchell & Kenyon - which explains why their cameras were so often pointed at the terraces.
Even so, these pioneering films have left us with an evocative record of sport's emergence as the mass entertainment we know today. Over 50 sporting events feature here: mostly football and rugby, but also athletics, cricket, cycling, horse racing and rowing.
54 videos in this collection
1
Champion Athletes at Birmingham (1902)
2
Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N.Hornby (1901)
3
Everton v Liverpool (1902)
4
Calisthenics (c.1905)
5
Race for the Muratti Cup at Manchester Wheelers' Annual Meet (1901)
6
Dewsbury v Manningham (1901)
7
Ambush II at Eyrefield Lodge, The Curragh (1902)
8
Leeds Athletic and Cycling Club Carnival at Headingley (1902)
9
Burnley v Manchester United (1902)
10
Great Local Derby, Accrington v Church Cricket Match (1902)
11
Mitchell and Kenyon 149 Hull F.C. V Wigan (1902)
12
AAA Championships at Fartown, Huddersfield (1901)
13
Hull F.C. v Hull Kingston Rovers (1902)
14
Leeds Lifeboat Procession and Sports at Roundhay Park (1902)
15
Bolton v Burton United (c.1904)
16
Bradford City v Gainsborough Trinity (1903)
17
Cambridge University Sportsday (1903)
18
Crews Practicing on River Lee at Cork Regatta (1902)
19
England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)
20
Blackburn v... (1904)
21
Everton v Newcastle United (1902)
22
Everton v Newcastle United (1903)
23
Halifax v Salford (1901)
24
Hull City Football (c.1905)
25
Hunslet v Leeds (1901)
26
Moss Street v St Philips Football (1907)
27
Manchester Races (1902)
28
Northern Union Challenge Cup Final - Halifax v Salford (1903)
29
Kingston Rowing Club at Practice (1902)
30
Liverpool v Small Heath (1901)
31
Manchester to Blackpool Road Race (1903)
32
Newcastle United v Liverpool (1901)
33
Notts County v Middlesbrough (1902)
34
Oldham v Swinton (1901)
35
Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)
36
Preston North End v Notts County (1904)
37
Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1904)
38
Rotherham Town v Thornhill (1902)
39
Runcorn v St Helens (1901)
40
Salford v Batley (1901)
41
Sheffield United v Bury (1902)
42
St Helens v Swinton (1901)
43
Sunderland v Leicester Fosse (1907)
44
Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1904)
45
Trotting Match at Springfield Park, Wigan (1904)
46
Two Oared Boat Race, Sunday's Well, Cork (1902)
47
Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)
48
Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)
49
Final of International Cup at Cork Regatta (1902)
50
Warrington v St.Helens (1901)
51
Water Polo Match (c.1901)
52
Burnley Football (1903)
53
Bolton Football 2 (c.1900)
54