Re: Historical Perspectives

Todiane4@aol.com
Wed, 18 Jun 1997 14:11:08 -0400 (EDT)

Hi,
Mark wrote
>I was inspired by the post talking about the history of >technology in
>typography, and it made me wonder if we could all, being an >erudite group
>as it were, contribute to a larger historical perspective on >the use of
>media in dance.

I'll get back to you soon re: Astral Convertible. In the meantime, well, I
can think of a couple choreographic forays into combining video/film and
dance that I didn't admire... Unfortunately, I cannot remember the titles,but
I do know the choreopgraphers and dates--Mathilde Monnier's 1996 creation
about the insane asylum and Wim Vandekeybus' late1993 piece that had the
(psedo, I hope) electrical wires strung across the stage. Anyone know the
titles? The film/video in these pieces I just basically found not too
interesting and a distraction rather than an enhancement.
On a more enthousiastic note, I have seen more than one Pina Bausch work that
makes use of video/film which satisfied me deeply--one being her 1996 work
"Danzon." Did anyone else see those fish? I liked that a lot.
Herve Robbe made a piece called (darn--can't find my program--I'll have to
get back to you on that one,too) in 94 or 95 which opened with a beautiful
video. I didn't think it came together with the whole piece so much
necessarily but it was aesthetically pleasurable.
Other choreographers to check out are Jean-Claude Gallotta who has worked
extensively w/ film and the Brussels gang (Rosas, Michelle Anne de Mey, W.
Vandekeybus) and thir collaborations with vidographer/composer Thierry de
Mey.