Modern dance film about about dancers as athletes?

January 24, 2013 10:48 PM

Vaguely remembering a short, classic modern dance film I was shown in a college dance history course but can't remember the title or choreographer. In it the dancers (men and women) were performing stylized versions of competitive athletic events; the overall tone was upbeat, competitive, vital, playful. I think the title may have been something like "The Athletes" or "Competitors"... Era: 70s or 80s? (It's not Leni Riefenstahl)
posted by dahliachewswell to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

I did find Gene Kelly mimicking/dancing with athletes back on NBC's Omnibus in the 1950s called "Dancing, A Man's Game". And Twyla Tharp had a sort of follow-on called Dance is a Man's Sport Too -- though I couldn't find video from it -- pairing ballet dancer Peter Martins with football player Lynn Swann. There seems to be a currently available performance known as Pucci: Sport with a similar theme. These are all covered in the book When Men Dance:Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders, but that may be simply due to critical writing being available; as well in this Men Dancing Athletically article from Gay & Lesbian Review. Then you have this 2010 Winter Olympics thingy called Athletes in Motion. Anyway, none of that looks like what you're looking for, exactgly, but may help you get further along?
posted by dhartung at 12:23 PM on January 25, 2013

Can't think of a particular movie, but this sounds like something the Judson Church Group would have done...
posted by missriss89 at 5:32 PM on January 25, 2013

Best answer: Welp, turns out it was "Contenders" by Susan Marshall, debuted in 1990 on stage and later produced for film.

Seemingly nowhere to be found on the internet, yet.
posted by dahliachewswell at 2:23 PM on January 27, 2013