A Birthday in Black Paper

A work table by the garden window of a house north of London on a bright spring afternoon, on a sheet of white card a black paper silhouette, at the left a large tree with finely cut foliage, at the right a lattice arbour with a balustrade and flower vases, in the middle a couple dancing in rococo dress, the woman in a wide hooped skirt, onlookers, a lady with a fan, a kneeling man, along the lower edge a plain unbroken black band, a woman's hands with small pointed scissors trimming a last leaf, black paper snippets on the wood, behind soft a lit animation table with a camera above it.