A ’Tough’ Dance [1902]

From either side of a white, apparently outdoors, setting enter a man and woman, both wearing ragged street clothes and caps. As they approach center stage, the man grabs the woman’s arm and pulls her to him, then slaps her. Still holding her arm, the man and his partner cockily strut towards the camera. The man grabs the woman in a crouched, bear-hug type of hold and they perform a rough little dance that almost seems a parody of a waltz. In a jerky type of jitterbug, the man twirls the woman out of his hold and back again, a movement which is repeated often within their spinning dance. They finally fall to the ground, still clutching each other, and roll around.