Detailed Description
The content of this DVD is a continuous narrative broken up into three sections:
Pre-1962
This part of the film traces the initiatives that were taken to identify the problem in British dance. Proffesional dance in the 1950s was dominated by the revival of classical ballet after the war years. At the same time creative dance for boys, girls, men and women was spreading in education. The two worlds had nothing in common, one technical and perfectionist the other expressive and for all. Ballet offered no role models or appropriate further training for the emerging dancer.
The First Wave
The film follows the pioneers as they introduce American Modern Dance practice into Britain in 1962 opening up the opportunities and tensions that arose, especially at IMMarsh College of Physical Education and Dartington College of Arts.
The Second Wave
The film follows students trained at Dartington. The difficulties and opportunities of connecting education and the profession using American work are exposed. The film leaves the viewer in 1972 with two institutions poised for decades of growth, the newly established London School of Contemporary Dance and The Art of Movement Studio that would be transformed into Laban, each one taking its own attitude to the invasion of American Modern Dance.
