Looking Back at Dance

From Connie Lester, Redfern:

Norton Owen, director of preservation at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and Maura Keefe, resident scholar there, will present the lecture, “Looking Back at Dance” on Thursday, September 10, at 7 p.m. in Alumni Recital Hall. The lecture will be a lively video-illustrated discussion drawing on decades of rare footage from the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival archives, and it will make connections to the upcoming dance performances in the Redfern Arts Center’s 2009-10 Visiting Artists Series. Admission is free and open to the public.

In addition to the lecture, “Dance on Film: An Interactive Touring Kiosk” will be on campus. This touring installation features video clips of dance performances over the past 75 years at Jacob’s Pillow, each approximately one minute long and accompanied by descriptive text. The video clips feature modern dance pioneering figures including Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis, José Limón, and Merce Cunningham, and contemporaries including Tero Saarinen, Black Grace, Doug Varone, Judith Jamison, and many others. Choices may be made according to name, genre (ballet, modern, non-Western, etc.), or era. Viewers may also test their knowledge with a fun guessing function. The kiosk can be enjoyed by individuals or groups and will be free and available to the public September 10 through October 1, Monday through Friday, 12 to 4 p.m., in the lobby of the Redfern Arts Center. For more information call William Seigh, 8-2150.