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VIDEO TAPE HISTORY
This library of videotapes has sixteen cassettes varying in length from half an
hour to two hours and includes thirty dance works and a few lectures. The tapes are
the only existent archival recordings of Mr. Nagrin's solo performances. Some are
in color and most are black and white, derived from l/2'' reel-to-reel tapes with
all of the limitations of that early technology. Some are evening length and some
are short pieces. They can be ordered singly, in any quantity, or the entire library
can be rented as an installation similar to the one that was shown for two weeks
at the Joyce Theatre in New York City. That installation was presented by the Dance
Collection of the New York Public Library. One complete version of the Nagrin Videotape
Library of Dances is now housed in the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library
and is also with the Dance Department of Arizona State University. Editing was made
possible by grants and contributions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Research Programs of Arizona State University, the Media Systems of A.S.U., the College
of Fine Arts, the Dance Department of A.S.U. and Whitney Alexander.
Notes on the tapes to be shown:
Solos,'48 to '67
This was filmed by Ray Garner in Idylwild, California in the summer of '67 at the
Idylwild School of Music and Art where I taught dance at the invitation of Bella
Lewitzky who was the director of the program. I had just returned from a European
tour during which time I finished the new version of BOP MAN, the third part of the
jazz suite, JAZZ: THREE WAYS. SPRING '65, a 45 minute sequence of 6 dances performed
consecutively, was filmed that same time. For reasons of exhibition time available,
it is not included in this installation. The location was a local school gymnasium.
Garner is a professional cinematographer. Only one camera was used; an Arriflex,
that recorded sound on magnetic tape. The final editing was done at the film lab
of the State University of Brockport, in New York State.
Four Films
Except for a spectacular bull fight ballet in the Bing Crosby film, "Just for
You", the four pieces in this cassette are the only films of Mr. Nagrin's performances.
The Peloponnesian War
Choreographed at the State University College at Brockport, N.Y. 1967 to '68 and
premiered there in fall of 69 and Dec of '69 in New York City at the Cubiculo. The
performance on videotape took place at the WBAI FREE MUSIC STORE, a concert series,
mostly of music. The videotaping was done by Woody and Stena Vasulka. It may have
been shot January of '69
Steps
This was videotaped by Shalom Gorewitz with music played for the tape by the music
group , Oregon. It is what I call an architectural piece performed primarily with
prosaic movement. The location was the back stairs of a handsome theatre on the campus
of Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont, where we were conducting a workshop
the summer of '72. The spaces of the steps struck me strongly and I felt we had to
do something within them.
The Edge is Also a Circle
Also shot by Shalom Gorewitz at Johnson State College, the next summer. It has a
score by Kirk Nurock. This piece is a carefully constructed improvisation which underwent
intensive rehearsal for two weeks before shooting. No sequence ever came out the
same. Close-ups were all shot immediately after what we felt was a possible good
take, with starting and finishing positions precisely matched. This time we danced
in a dining room which had a monumental size and strong down lighting. For four nights,
we came in immediately after dinner, moving table and chairs back, setting up our
few lights and worked late into the night. The last night we finished just in time
to put the tables and chairs in place and sit down to breakfast.
Changes
This is the retrospective concert which I assembled when I returned to the solo form
after the end of The Workgroup. It was first presented in 1974 at Swarthmore College
(University?) and lastly in 1984 at Wesleyan University in Middletown CT Over the
years, its content changed but not the form which consisted of not leaving the stage
but rather performing in one basic costume with minor changes, mostly of shoes and
socks. During these changes, I would pull up a chair down stage and open the time
to the audience to speak up and/or ask questions. I never "explained" any
of the dances but rather talked around the matter of making dances, seeing dances
and whatever else came up. The exchanges were rewarding and enlightening experiences
for me. At this writing I am uncertain which of several tapes or what combination
I will use. There are 3 useable tapes; Middlebury College in Vermont, Arizona State
University here in Tempe and Wesleyan University in Middletown CT
Jazz Changes
The form is similar and only one dance is carried over from Changes, Strange Hero.
The rest of the material are dances that use jazz music and/or jazz movement.
Ruminations
In this dance, I carried this form of not leaving the stage to the limit. I set up
a dressing room upstage left. Did my warmup and makeup with the curtain up, though
in the videotaped performance which is the New York premier in The Dance Gallery
there is no curtain. During the two intermissions, I built a bench and at the conclusion
of the performance either gave it to someone in the audience who indicated they wanted
it or auctioned it off for a "good cause." All decisions were made by audience
vote. I talked between pieces, literally ruminating on this and that. I once raised
$187 for a wild animal preserve someplace on the West Coast. Sometimes, nothing.
Getting Well
Three dances were premiered in this program, Getting Well, Fragments and Silence
is Golden. 1978.
The Fall
I do not dance in this at all. It is a monologue adapted from the novel, The Fall
by Albert Camus. The videotape is edited from three performances taped on successive
nights in my Broadway studio in New York City in 1979. It was performed for three
weeks the next year at The Theatre for the New City. That was never taped.
Jacaranda
I commissioned Sam Shepard to write something for me. He sent me four pages. With
his permission, I extended the material of his script to 11 pages. I danced to a
recitation of the text which had been taped and speaking from the stage at only a
few intervals. We started in '78 and it was premiered At St. Clements in New York
City in '79. This dance and Ruminations are the only times I have used a set in my
work.
Poems Off the Wall
This time, I turned to my bulletin board; to the newspaper clippings, the snapshots,
the art postcards sent me by friends and made dances about them. I start every day
by reading the newspaper, always getting deeply involved with what I find there,
so why not dance about it? On some level, this piece satisfied me more than any other.
From the first "serious" dance that I composed, Landscape with Three Figures:1859,
about John Brown, I have intermittently used the spoken word. Though I felt the need
to do this, I never was easy about how I combined speech and dance. This time I was
able to make a piece that not only combined the word and movement, but visuals, slides
and none of them made sense without the other two. This performance was taped in
my Broadway studio a year after the premier.
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