Help me remember the name and choreographer of a classic piece of modern dance.
March 21, 2012 6:32 PM Subscribe
Help me remember the name and choreographer of a classic piece of modern dance that involved incredible leaps.
This has been bugging me for days. The piece was filmed for PBS or something similar so the production values were fairly low. It was probably from the 70s and it was a company that if you had any familiarity with dance you would know the name of instantly (Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham... that famous). I think the set was just a sprung floor and back wall lit in pastel colors. The women were wearing knee-length pastel flowing dresses and I think the men were in tights (but I could be wrong). The choreography featured a lot of running at top speed and major leaps. The women would be caught by the men and swung around in their arms. I want to say it had something to do with spring. Not the Rite of Spring... that seems too dark. Possibly Vivaldi? Anybody know what piece I'm thinking of?
This has been bugging me for days. The piece was filmed for PBS or something similar so the production values were fairly low. It was probably from the 70s and it was a company that if you had any familiarity with dance you would know the name of instantly (Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham... that famous). I think the set was just a sprung floor and back wall lit in pastel colors. The women were wearing knee-length pastel flowing dresses and I think the men were in tights (but I could be wrong). The choreography featured a lot of running at top speed and major leaps. The women would be caught by the men and swung around in their arms. I want to say it had something to do with spring. Not the Rite of Spring... that seems too dark. Possibly Vivaldi? Anybody know what piece I'm thinking of?
Response by poster: Nope. The dancers were mostly, if not all white.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 6:43 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by Thin Lizzy at 6:43 PM on March 21, 2012
Twyla Tharp had some pretty vigorous pieces, but your details are a bit generic.
posted by sammyo at 6:46 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by sammyo at 6:46 PM on March 21, 2012
Yeah, I was just going to guess Twyla Tharp. If you go here, they're arranged by date.
posted by Madamina at 6:49 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by Madamina at 6:49 PM on March 21, 2012
Maybe something by Paul Taylor? There's one called Spring Rounds... but it's too recent to be what you are looking for. This link also has a chrono listing of dances with samples of music and photos.
posted by kimdog at 7:01 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by kimdog at 7:01 PM on March 21, 2012
The Catherine Wheel, by Twyla Tharp is probably a good bet. One of the albums by the Catherine Wheel (the band) has what seems to be an image of the dance on it, although it also appears to be underwater.
posted by LionIndex at 7:20 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by LionIndex at 7:20 PM on March 21, 2012
In 1980, Tharp's work first appeared on Broadway with Twyla Tharp Dance performing When We Were Very Young, followed in 1981 by The Catherine Wheel, her collaboration with David Byrne at the Winter Garden. "Wheel" was broadcast on PBS, and had its soundtrack released on LP.
Quoted from the Twyla Tharp wikipedia page.
posted by LionIndex at 7:28 PM on March 21, 2012
Quoted from the Twyla Tharp wikipedia page.
posted by LionIndex at 7:28 PM on March 21, 2012
That sounds like Paul Taylor to me...
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 7:54 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 7:54 PM on March 21, 2012
Best answer: Perhaps this section is what you were thinking of?
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 7:59 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 7:59 PM on March 21, 2012
Response by poster: I was just about to post that Paul Taylor seemed much more likely than Twyla Tharp and lo and behold, Metafilter wins again! I was thinking of part 5!
posted by Thin Lizzy at 8:02 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by Thin Lizzy at 8:02 PM on March 21, 2012
Dammit... I can't believe Esplanade slipped my mind! I knew the description was familiar, but I've seen lots of Paul Taylor and couldn't pinpoint the right one. I just watched that video a few months ago... Bettie De Jong (one of the dancers in the video) is a close family friend of my partner and our neighbor. She is still Paul Taylor's rehearsal mistress.
posted by kimdog at 10:29 AM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by kimdog at 10:29 AM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by lulu68 at 6:42 PM on March 21, 2012