Table of contents
From Breath
To Solo Underscores in the Office
We collect on this page a curated set of the best videos available for free online to try and provide a broader perspective of what dance is and can be. In truth, everything is always dancing: from the electron turning perpetually in its orbital devotion, to the blood in your veins faithfully keeping the beat of "you", to the earth spiralling through spacetime in vast systems of solar harmony, to the galaxies which make up the great sky, to the universe itself: always expanding in ever more maginificent movements of its own self-realisation.
TRIO A - Yvonne Rainer
This performance changed the way the audience was invited to see dance, as it stripped away all the spectacle and reduced it to what it is: movement.
Lamentations - Martha Graham
One of the mothers of modern dance. This includes an interesting interview with Martha and an excerpt from her groundbreaking solo from 1936.
Isadora Duncan
Isadora is another mother of modern dance, and there isn't a piece of hers that is more groundbreaking than any other, but this video will give you a glimpse of her life and her method, how she managed to break away with the canon of ballet within western theater.
Rosas Danst Rosas - Anna Teresa de Keersmaker
An all time personal favorite of Antonio's, Anna Teresa defined the language of mechanical repetition and imbued it with emotional intensity
L’apres midi d’un faun - Nijinsky
This performance is part of the repertory of Le Ballet Russes, which was a dance company in the beginning of the 20th century that broke many stereotypes about what is "allowed" to be seen on stage. In this particular piece, homoeroticism and fascination with the male body and its beauty are front and centre.
The Basic Neurocellular Patterns (BNP) - Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
The BNP are potential patterns of movement inherent first in the movement of fluid through the cellular membranes and then recorded and organized in the nervous system. The BNP are stimulated into existence through relationship and interaction with the environment. They are called forth based on the relative simplicity or complexity of their structure and function and the supporting and challenging conditions in the environment.
Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action - Martha Eddy
Martha Eddy uses original interviews, case studies, and practice-led research to define the origins of a new holistic field—somatic movement education & therapy—and its impact on fitness, ecology, politics, health, education and performance. Her book reveals the role the performing arts and psychology have played in informing and inspiring the historical and cultural narrative of various somatic arts, which is an approach to consciousness based in the awareness of the soma, i.e. the living body.
Birds - Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham revolutionised dance by introducing mathematical chance operation into choreography, along with his partner the composer [John Cage]. Movement phrases were constructed and then assembled by chance mechanisms and performed on stage. Many times the dancers didn't even know the costumes or the scenography until the day of the premiere. Birds is a fine example of beautiful chance.
Water Motor - Trisha Brown
Trisha utilises accumulation as a method of creating mirrors and vectors of movements that are all based in one simple movement phrase, being performed in different moments and directions. This is a perfect example of the infinite possibilities of movement perception.
Sacre du Printemps - Pina Bausch
Pina Bausch revolutionised the way we imagine dance by mixing it with theatrical gestures, creating the genre of "theater dance". Her abstract depictions of fairytales, struggles and romance are mesmerising In Sacre du Printemps, the theme of sacrifice becomes a sensorial experience to the viewer, intensified by the symbolic strength of theatre.
AI Sketches for Google - Bill T Jones
Already introduced above, this is another very interesting documentary of Google in collaboration with Bill, creating code for motion tracking from dancers!
Mimosa - Trajal Harrel
Mimosa predicted Tok Tok, by it singularity and total attention on something that happens momentarily, but also by imagining the stage as a space of immediate transport to different worlds, activated by the performer's desires.
Diagonal Worlds - Bob Fosse
An incredibly choreographed performance well worth the few minutes it takes to watch.
Embedded Vlogger - Ruth Zaporah Interview
Another video from the dance-tech archives worth exploring for yourself.