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Dance
with Camera
Co-presented
by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania
As
a companion to ICA’s exhibition Dance with Camera (September
11, 2009 – March 21, 2010), this monthly series explores a crossover
between visual artists, filmmakers and dancers who make choreography
for the camera, exemplifying the ways dance has compelled artists
to record bodies moving in time and space.
Wednesday,
October 14, 2009
Under
the Influence of Busby Berkeley
Dancer
and choreographer Kriota Willberg lectures on Busby Berkeley’s
influence at the ICA, 118 S 36th Street.
followed
at 8pm by
Mass
Ornament
dir.
Natalie Bookchin, US, 2009, 7
mins, video, color
Drawing
inspiration from elaborate group routines, a popular entertainment
on stage and screen in the 1920s and 1930s, Mass Ornament
is composed of dozens of YouTube dance clips edited together
to produce a coordinated dance routine. With soundtracks from
Busby Berkeley's Gold Diggers and Leni Riefenstahl's
Triumph of the Will, Bookchin transforms homemade solo
performances into a coordinated public spectacle, updating the
phenomenon for the digital age.
and
Dames
dir.
Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley, US, 1934, 35mm, 91 mins, b/w
This
classic 30s musical comedy stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and
Joan Blondell as Broadway entertainers whose lives get turned
upside down when the moralizing campaign of a wealthy eccentric
interferes with their pursuit of love and showbiz fame. Dames
features trademark Busby Berkeley choreography and camerawork,
with large teams of chorus girls dancing in formation while
an overhead shot captures the elaborate geometrical patterns
they create. Berkeley made the camera an essential part of the
dance like never before, prompting Warner Bros. to invent the
word "cinematerpsichorean" to describe his spectacular
productions.
Wednesday,
November 18, 2009
Astaire
or Kelly?
Introduced
by Paula Marantz Cohen and Andrew J Douglas. In a short debate,
Marantz Cohen (Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel
University) represents Astaire and Douglas (Director of Education
at Bryn Mawr Film Institute and a Professorial Lecturer at Cabrini
College) takes on Kelly.
Top
Hat
dir.
Mark Sandrich, US, 1935, 35mm, 101 mins, b/w
Often
regarded as the most successful cinematic pairing of Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers, Top Hat hinges on a classic case
of mistaken identity. An American dancer Jerry Travers falls
in love with glamour girl Dale Tremont, who mistakes him to
be a philandering married man. Jerry follows Dale to Venice,
where the pair finally reconcile in the “Piccolino”, an elaborate
dance number filmed in the style of Busby Berkeley. Astaire
collaborated with Hermes Pan to choreograph the film’s celebrated
routines, performed to an original Irving Berlin soundtrack.
and
Singin’
in the Rain
dir.
Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, US, 1952, 35mm, 103 mins, color
Starring
Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, Singin’
in the Rain tops numerous critics’ lists of the best films
ever made. In this comedic portrayal of Hollywood’s transition
from silent films to “talkies”, studio executives attempt to
transform their latest silent feature to sound, but leading
lady Lina Lamont has an unbearable voice that could sink the
film. Star Don Lockwood (Kelly) conspires to dub Lina with the
voice of chorus girl Kathy Selden (Reynolds), but when Don and
Kathy fall in love, jealous Lina attempts to take credit for
Kathy’s talents.
Wednesday,
December 9,
2009
Goshogaoka
dir. Sharon Lockhart,
Japan, 1998, video, 63 mins, color
Each segment of Goshogaoka
functions like a motion study, recording different stages in
a practice session of a Japanese girls’ basketball team. The
girls stretch, jog, dribble, perform tricks, and keep count
by chanting in unison. Director Lockhart collaborated with Stephen
Galloway, then ballet director of the Frankfurt Opera, to choreograph
the girls’ elegant, synchronized movements.
Rosas danst
Rosas
dir. Thierry de Mey,
Belgium, 1997, video, 57 mins, color, Dutch w/ English subtitles
In the early 1980s, Belgian
choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s created her masterpiece
Rosas danst Rosas in close collaboration with composers Thierry
De Mey and Peter Vermeersch. Fifteen years later, de Mey filmed
the stunningly expressionistic dance performed by the second
generation of Keersmaeker’s Rosas dance company. Rosas danst
Rosas was awarded the Grand Prix International Video Danse
in 1997 and the special prize of the Jury of the International
Festival of Film and New Media on Art in Athens in 1998.
Water Motor
dir. Babette Mangolte,
US, 1978, video, 8 mins, b/w
Filmed in two parts, Water Motor
(a solo by famed choreographer Trisha Brown) was captured in
“real time” at 24 frames per second and at half-speed (aka slow
motion). For the second part, Brown’s movements appear elongated
in time, the slowed frame rate making visible what was previously
inaccessible to the naked eye. As director Mangolte describes,
“the movement takes on a luscious quality that informs the viewer
of what was missed before.”
Solo
dir. Thomas Lovell
Balogh, France/UK, 1997,video, 7 mins, b/w
Solo features
an electric performance by choreographer William Forsythe, beginning
with a close-up on the balletic movements of his feet, scanning
up his frame and then finally zooming out to capture his frenetic
movements across a starkly lit stage. The dance is accompanied
by an atonal violin composition by Thom Willems and occasional
direction from an off-camera male voice. Solo premiered
at the 1997 Whitney Biennial.
Wednesday,
January 13, 2010
All That Jazz
dir. Bob Fosse, US,
1979, 35mm, 123 mins, color
Roy Scheider stars in
this musical biopic as womanizing, alcoholic choreographer Joe
Gideon (a stand-in for director Fosse). As Gideon struggles
to cast dancers for his latest Broadway show, he must keep his
tumultuous romantic life, his health and his personal demons
in check. The dance sequences are a testament to Fosse’s skill
as a choreographer and director, with editing and camerawork
that transform classic routines into riveting filmdance.
preceded by
A Study in Choreography
for Camera
dir. Maya Deren,
US, 1945, video, 2 mins, b/w
In this groundbreaking
avant-garde film, dancer Talley Beatty performed a highly condensed
dance sequence in a variety of settings, from a forest, to a
sitting room and a sculpture-filled courtyard. Deren directed
the camera as if it were a dancer, expertly using cuts, varying
film speeds and backwards motion to create a dance that could
only exist on film. This work is considered one of the first
key filmdances, and has since influenced generations of artists
and filmmakers.
Dance in the
Sun
dir. Shirley Clarke,
US, 1953, video, 6 mins, b/w
For her first film,
Shirley Clarke drew from her background in dance to adapt the
choreography of Daniel Nagrin specifically for the medium. The
camera follows Nagrin as he moves between an interior studio
and the beach. Clarke’s careful attention to choreographic detail
and continuity editing creates a fluid exchange between dance
and camera. The New York Dance Film Society selected it as the
best dance film of the year.
BREAKAWAY
dir. Bruce Conner,
US, 1966, video, 5 mins, color
Often called a “proto-music
video” for its combination of pop music, exuberant dancing and
masterful editing, BREAKAWAY captures the ecstatic
spirit of the 60s. Featuring a young Antonia Christina Basilotta
(singer-choreographer Toni Basil) as she twirls, leaps and shakes
to the title track, a Motown-esque single she released earlier
that year.
From an Island
Summer
dir. Charles Atlas,
US, 1983-84, video, 13 mins, color
Since the 1970s, Charles
Atlas has collaborated with renowned choreographers, most notably
Merce Cunningham, to create video dances. From an Island
Summer follows choreographer Karole Armitage and dancers
as they perform two energetic pieces, one set in Coney Island
and the other in a rehearsal studio then emerging onto Times
Square. In both sequences, the reactions of the passersby are
captured and incorporated into the performance to form an integral
part of the dance.
Thursday,
February 4, 2010
Douglas Crimp
on Andy Warhol’s Paul Swan
Presented in collaboration
with the Philadelphia Dance Projects and Cinema Studies Program
at the University of Pennsylvania
Art History professor
and author Douglas Crimp speaks on Andy Warhol’s Paul Swan.
An important critic in the development of postmodern art theory,
Douglas Crimp is the Fanny Knapp Allen Professor of Art History
and Professor of Visual and Cultural Studies at the University
of Rochester in New York.
followed by
Paul Swan
dir. Andy Warhol,
US, 1965, 66 mins, video, b/w
Once hailed as “the most
beautiful man in the world,” dancer, actor and artist Paul Swan
was in his eighties when Andy Warhol filmed him performing his
trademark dance To Heroes Slain. Warhol keeps the camera running
as the elderly dancer struggles with his costume and battles
stage fright. The resulting footage reflects Warhol’s deep fascination
with “camp,” outmoded cultural products and icons embodied by
a figure like Swan, who refused to let go of his reputation
as a world-famous Adonis even as his fame, appearance and physical
abilities were in decline.
Wednesday,
February 17, 2010
Blood Wedding
- Bodas de Sangre
dir. Carlos Saura,
France/Spain, 1981, 35mm, 72 mins, color, Spanish w/ English
subtitles
This visually stunning
film presents a flamenco adaptation of Blood Wedding,
a tragic play by Spanish poet and dramatist Federico Garcia
Lorca. Combining a strikingly minimalist aesthetic with gripping
camerawork, director Saura showcases the choreography of Spanish
flamenco luminaries Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos, alongside
Gades’ company of dancers. Blood Wedding is the first
film in Saura’s “Flamenco Trilogy,” followed by Carmen
(1983) and El Amor Brujo (1986).
preceded by
Martha Graham:
A Dancer’s World
dir. Peter Glushanok,
US, 1957, video, 31 mins, b/w
Originally produced for
public television, A Dancer’s World is a portrait of
legendary modern dancer, choreographer and teacher Martha Graham.
Narration is provided by Graham as she describes her philosophy
and introduces members of her company, who illustrate her trademark
techniques. Described as “one of the most beautiful dance films
ever made” by dance historian John Mueller, A Dancer’s World
paved the way for future dance-on-film by demonstrating that
the camera can complement, rather than compromise, the choreographer’s
art.
Nine Variations
on a Dance Theme
dir. Hilary Harris,
US, 1966, video, 13 mins, b/w
This prize-winning film
captures dancer Bettie de Jong as she performs a single, simple
dance phrase over and over. Harris shot de Jong from a variety
of different camera angles during twenty-five sessions over
the course of a year, and then edited the sequences together
into nine variations.
Hand Movie
dir. Yvonne Rainer,
US, 1966, video, 5 mins, b/w
Rainer’s first film was
shot by fellow dancer William Davis while she was confined to
a hospital bed, recovering from major surgery and unable to
dance. The resulting five minutes of footage is a sustained
close-up shot of Rainer’s hand against a grey background as
it stretches and contracts, bends and points, performing the
kinds of everyday, quotidian movements that characterize her
pioneering minimalist choreography.
Transport
dir. Amy Greenfield,
US, 1971, video, 6 mins, color and b/w
Transport speaks
to the visual vocabulary of its era as Greenfield transforms
the most prevalent imagery of the time into dance movement –
news footage of the Vietnam War, protesters going limp while
being arrested and America’s recent moon landings and expanded
space travel. In this short film, limp bodies are constantly
hoisted into the air, creating a rhythm of dead weight and buoyancy.
Inside Eyes
dir. James Byrne
and Victoria Marks, US, 1987, video, 10 mins, color
In the 1970s, James
Byrne developed a distinctive method of producing video dance,
in which the camera became embodied by participating alongside
the ancers themselves. For Inside Eyes, Byrne and Victoria
Marks collaborated on choreography in which an “animated” camera
swoops and dives almost violently amongst the dancers, who in
turn use their hands and bodies to collide with the camera lens.
Thursday,
March 4, 2010
Motion Pictures
’10
Curated by Philadelphia
Dance Projects
Beyond the Mainstream
US, 1980, video, 59 mins, color
Beyond the Mainstream, a legendary episode from PBS’s
Great Performances: Dance in America, features performances
by members of the postmodern Judson Dance Theater including
Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown and David
Gordon, along with two artists caught up in the spiritual quest
of the times, Laura Dean and Kei Takei. The documentary offers
a rare view of Paxton and Nelson and early contactors in action,
and includes Rainer’s iconic "Trio A," and Brown’s seminal company
which in 1980 featured Lisa Kraus and Eva Karczag.
followed at 7:30pm
Everywhere +
Annual Shorts Program
Dancer/Choreographer
Kate Watson-Wallace in person
Selected from the 2010
Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center in New York, this
program features clever, poetic and animated dance videos from
around the world, including a preview of Everywhere by local
choreographer Kate Watson-Wallace. Everywhere is an online dance
experience with two main components: a virtual dance contest
which takes place on the internet via the video sharing website
Vimeo; and a new work created in collaboration with the online
audience. Watson-Wallace will be on hand to discuss the project’s
concept, demonstrate the ebsite and preview preliminary video
entries.
Wednesday,
March 17, 2010
The Red Shoes
dirs. Michael Powell
and Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1948, 35mm, 133 mins, color
With Art @
International House Opening
Receptions of PAFA and InLiquid Art + Design Video Installation
- Selected Portraits by David S Kessler
Starring Moira Shearer
as a prima ballerina torn between her love for dance and her
love for a man, this influential film combines narrative drama
with stunningly filmed dance performances. Both film and the
ballet within are roughly based on a Hans Christian Andersen
fairytale in which a girl puts on a pair of cursed red ballet
slippers and forced to dance until she dies. Recently restored
to its original Technicolor glory, The Red Shoes premiered
at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival to widespread acclaim.
preceded by
Clinic of Stumble
dirs. Sidney Peterson
and Hy Hirsch, US, 1947, 16mm, 13 mins, color
Called "an astonishing
little dance film because the film and the ballet are indivisible
– neither could exist without the other," Clinic of Stumble
is composed entirely of layered images: three women dance, ride
on old-fashioned children’s scooters, and read magazines. The
dreamlike spatial environment is achieved by the repetition
of at least two superimposed frames, as well as through slow
motion. The evocative, hypnotic movement was choreographed by
Marian Van Tuyl.
Thanatopsis
dir. Ed Emshwiller,
US, 1962, 16mm, 5 mins, b/w
In Thanatopsis,
Emshwiller created the choreography for dancer Becky Arnold
through in-camera editing. By superimposing multiple exposures
of the same gesture onto a single frame, her movements appear
blurred and pulsating. As she tightens her orbit around an eerily
still, seated man, Arnold’s spectral form emerges as an "Angel
of Death," her deafening chainsaw-like buzzing threatening to
drown out the rhythmic sound of the man’s heartbeat, as if to
signal his imminent end.
Pas de Deux
dir. Norman McLaren,
Canada, 1968, 35mm, 13 mins, b/w
In this groundbreaking
film, several phases of a single movement in a ballet performance
are captured by the camera within the same frame, transforming
the dance into a graceful cinematic motion study. Pas de
Deux belongs to a longstanding concern shared by modern
art and science over the graphic representation of time and
movement in space; think back to the late 19 th century photographic
motion studies of Eadward Muybridge and Jules Etienne Marey.
Still, the specific relationship between dance and cinematic
representation is intrinsic to McLaren’s work, as he described:
"For me, cinema is a form of dance."
Beehive
dirs. Frank Moore
and Jim Self, US, 1985, video, 15 mins, color
Beehive is a
rarely-seen dance film choreographed by Jim Self, a former soloist
in Merce Cunningham’s company, and designed by painter Frank
Moore, who conceived the film’s neon, Dr Caligari-esque
sets and costumes. The story revolves around a clumsy drone
bee who mistakenly enables a fellow worker to be transformed
into a queen. Moore and Self, both active in the 1980s East
Village arts scene, first performed this playful collaborative
work at the renowned Kitchen performance space in 1983, and
spent the next two years producing the film version, which won
a Bessie Award for Best Dance Film in 1985.
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