Screening Merce
Jul 12, 2011
(Various directors, 1980/1985/1993, USA, Digital, 30/18/28 min)
Special introduction by Velocity's new Executive Director Tonya Lockyer
We continue our yearlong celebration of the films of Merce Cunningham with three short works that contributed to innovations in the exploration of film/video and dance.
Beach Birds For Camera
(Elliot Caplan, 1993, USA, Digital, 28 min) An adaptation of a dance work originally made for the stage that combines different shooting locations, black and white and color film and Dolby stereo sound to present dance through the visual medium of film.
Deli Commedia
(Elliot Caplan and Merce Cunningham, 1985, USA, Digital, 18 min) Conceived as a slapstick comedy, Cunningham's nod to the improvised farces of the Italian 18th Century commedia dell'arte.
Locale
(Charles Atlas, 1980, USA, Digital, 30 min) The camera movements are choreographed as precisely as those of the dancers. Three kinds of cameras were used: Steadicam, Movieola crab dolly and an Elemac dolly with a crane arm. Locale was structured in four parts based upon use of specific cameras, dancers and time.
