Making Dances: Seven Post-Modern Choreographers
Oct 01, 1980 | IMDB 0
89 min Watch NowDocumentary
Made in 1980, this film explores the contemporary dance scene through the work of seven New York-based choreographers. They discuss the nature of dance and the evolution of their own work. Filmed at rehearsals, performances, and during interviews, the film is a unique primary source. The artistic roots of these seven artists can be found in Martha Graham's concern with modern life as a subject for dance and in Merce Cunningham's emphasis on the nature of movement. In the 1960s, the interaction of art forms generated choreographic innovations. Especially influential was John Cage, whose radical ideas served as a point of departure for much of the new choreography. Each of the choreographers in Making Dances draws inspiration from the Graham/Cunningham tradition, yet each makes a highly distinctive statement. Structure, movement in non-fictive time and space, and the nature of movement itself are recurring themes.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Moving Together
Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed
Pina
Tonite Let's All Make Love in London
The Light Fantastic
Genius on the Wrong Coast
Bobbi Jene
Like It Is
The Making of G.O.L.D. ft. the Outsiders
A Dancer's World
The Universal Language
We Are A Conversation
Ingmar Bergman Through the Choreographer's Eye
Plató
Gallant Indies
Dance Rebels: A Story of Modern Dance
Palucca
One Day Pina Asked...
Plutocracy I: Divide and Rule
Appalachian Spring
SIMILAR MOVIES
Moving Together
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2023
Moving Together is a celebratory love letter to music and dance that brims with kinetic life and energy. This documentary explores the intricate collaboration between dancers and musicians, moving seamlessly between Flamenco, Modern, and New Orleans Second Line.Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed
IMDB 5.7 | May , 1994
Released on DVD as part of The Criterion Collection's "Martha Graham: Dance on Film" collection.Pina
IMDB 7.3 | Feb , 2011
Pina is a feature-length dance film in 3D with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, featuring the unique and inspiring art of the great German choreographer, who died in the summer of 2009.Tonite Let's All Make Love in London
IMDB 2.8 | Sep , 1967
Peter Whitehead’s disjointed Swinging London documentary, subtitled “A Pop Concerto,” comprises a number of different “movements,” each depicting a different theme underscored by music: A early version of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” plays behind some arty nightclub scenes, while Chris Farlowe’s rendition of the Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time” accompanies a young woman’s description of London nightlife and the vacuousness of her own existence. In another segment, the Marquess of Kensington (Robert Wace) croons the nostalgic “Changing of the Guard” to shots of Buckingham Palace’s changing of the guard, and recording act Vashti are seen at work in the studio. Sandwiched between are clips of Mick Jagger (discussing revolution), Andrew Loog Oldham (discussing his future) – and Julie Christie, Michael Caine, Lee Marvin, and novelist Edna O’Brien (each discussing sex). The best part is footage of the riot that interrupted the Stones’ 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert.The Light Fantastic
IMDB 3 | Dec , 1960
While most of Ken Russell's documentaries for the BBC's Monitor arts strand focused on a single creative figure, he would also occasionally make more wide-ranging surveys of the state of a particular art. The Light Fantastic (BBC, tx. 18/12/1960) was written and presented by Ron Hitchins, a Cockney barrow boy who has long been interested in a great many dance forms, and who has recently taken up Spanish dancing. Hitchins participates in some of the dance sequences, but his main contribution is an enthusiastic commentary that helps personalise what could have been simply a disparate collection of dance footage. He's not shy about expressing likes and dislikes, being none too keen on ballroom dancing (too choreographed), rock'n'roll (too monotonous) and Morris dancing (just doesn't like it), though anything genuinely spontaneous gets a thumbs up, even if it's a room full of people dressed in black swaying to the sound of a gong.Genius on the Wrong Coast
IMDB 0 | Nov , 1993
Portrait of Lester Horton, a Los Angeles-based dancer, choreographer and teacher who trained many world-reknowned dancers and built the first American theater devoted permanently to dance. Former students and friends, including Bella Lewitzky, Alvin Ailey, and Carmen de Lavallade, help create a picture of Horton through interviews. Includes numerous dance excerpts.Bobbi Jene
IMDB 5.5 | Sep , 2017
A love story, portraying the dilemmas and inevitable consequences of ambition. It is a film about a woman's fight for independence, a woman trying to succeed with her own art in the extremely competitive world of dance.Like It Is
IMDB 4.8 | Jul , 1968
This documentary on the "youth movement" of the late 1960s focuses on the hippie pot smoking/free love culture in the San Francisco Bay area.The Making of G.O.L.D. ft. the Outsiders
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2014
A mockumentary focusing on an art school frat's attempt at recording a music video for their latest party anthem with unwanted dancers and an unruly director.A Dancer's World
IMDB 6 | Dec , 1957
A glimpse into the world and methodology of dancer Martha Graham.The Universal Language
IMDB 6 | Oct , 2011
The Universal Language is a new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green (The Weather Underground). This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word “Esperanto” means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.We Are A Conversation
IMDB 9 | Apr , 2026
We are a conversation is a 2014 documentary directed by Alexis karpouzos and Spyros rasidakis and written by Alexis karpouzos exploring the unity of humanity, featuring poets from around the world, whose lives have been dedicated to explore the mysteries of life and existence.Ingmar Bergman Through the Choreographer's Eye
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2016
Four of Sweden's most innovative choreographers travel to Ingmar Bergman's home on Fårö to explore and get inspired. The result is a unique contemporary dance film.The renowned Swedish choreographers Alexander Ekman, Pär Isberg, Pontus Lidberg and Joakim Stephenson, with principal dancers Jenny Nilson, Nathalie Nordquist, Oscar Salomonsson and Nadja Sellrup from the Royal Swedish Ballet, interpret Ingmar Bergman through four unique dance performances reflecting on human relations and intense feelings. The dances are linked together with images of the epic natural beauty of Fårö and Bergman's poetic home Hammars, including the voice of the master himself - Ingmar Bergman - revealing his thoughts about movements and music.Plató
IMDB 10 | Nov , 2022
Gallant Indies
IMDB 7.4 | Jun , 2021
Stéphane Lissner, director of the Paris Opera, entrusts the staging of the opera-ballet Les Indes galantes to the visual artist Clément Cogitore. Based on the experience of his short film Les Indes galantes, the artist updates Jean-Philippe Rameau's baroque masterpiece (1735) by bringing together lyric song and urban dance. The choreography is entrusted to Bintou Dembélé who supervises dancers from krump, popping, voguing or even experimental hip hop. From rehearsals to the Premiere, Philippe Béziat films the meeting of urban dancers with the lyric institution and invites the spectator to share a human and artistic experience.Dance Rebels: A Story of Modern Dance
IMDB 7 | Dec , 2015
The mavericks whose radical ideas created modern dance in the 20th century.Palucca
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1972
Palucca follows the legendary Dresden dancer and dance teacher Gret Palucca (1902–1993) as she introduces her students to dance as an art form. It also features excerpts from her solo performances, with which she significantly influenced the visual language of modern expressive dance starting in the 1920s.One Day Pina Asked...
IMDB 5.6 | Jul , 1989
Chantal Akerman followed famous Choreographer Pina Bausch and her company of dancers, The Tanzteater Wuppertal, for five weeks while they were on tour in Germany, Italy and France. Her objective was to capture Pina Bausch's unparalleled art not only on stage by behind the scenes.Plutocracy I: Divide and Rule
IMDB 10 | Nov , 2015
History of US labor movements and their suppression. It includes sections on the American Constitution; the Civil War draft riots; Reconstruction; Industrialization; the evolution of the police; the robber barons; early American labor unions; and major mid-to-late 19th Century labor events including the uprising of 1877, the Haymarket Affair, the Homestead strike and the New Orleans General Strike. The introduction examines the West Virginian coal wars of the early 20th Century, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain.Appalachian Spring
IMDB 4.9 | Jan , 1959
A filmed version of Aaron Copland's most famous ballet, with its original star, who also choreographed.