The New Dance Group Gala Historical Concert

Retrospective 1930s-1970s

View the Cover | Company Concert | The Program | Read the Reviews

Donald Mc Kayle is featured in this DVD, as he portrayed the powerful black experience of chain gangs in RAINBOW ROUND MY SHOULDER (1959).

Also featured are choreographers who are prominent in the dance history books, such as one of Modern Dances true mavericks, Anna Sokolow, whose dance, in this program, is LYRIC SUITE (1954). Daniel Nagrin’s extraordinary dance portrait of the swaggering STRANGE HERO (1948) is magnificently performed. Sophie Maslow, whose work is still being performed today in colleges and universities around the country, presents her joyful FOLKSAY (1942), which concludes the DVD. The diversity of artistic vistas and movement vocabularies in the GALA Concert provide an important panorama of Modern Dance in the 20th century. 160 minutes.

Company Concert

The American Dance Guild created a very special one-time concert, which is a unique historic retrospective of the Modern Dance choreographers of THE NEW DANCE GROUP from the 1930's to the 1970's. This concert of 18 recreated dances and excerpts celebrates and honors the achievements of the New Dance Group in its heyday. At the time, the choreographers of the dances featured in this DVD were a dramatic voice for social change. These choreographers came from the 1930’s tradition of idealistic artistic innovators who aimed to make dance a viable statement about the injustices of the world. This memorial concert is a testament to the dance personalities we have read about, but whose works have been largely unavailable for viewing up until now. The GALA Concert presents the original choreographers, or their artistic heirs, together with excellent professional dancers in a program of influential and compelling works. The GALA Concert was produced by the American Dance Guild in June 1993, and includes mini-interviews with the choreographers.

Program

June 11, 1993

1. SONGS (1956) part III “To each His Own”
Choreography: Mary Anthony

2.TENANT OF THE STREET (1938)
Original choreography: Eve Gentry

3. BLUES
Choreography: Ronnie Aul

4. MOURNER’S BENCH (1947) excerpt from ‘Southern Landscape’
Choreography: Talley Beatty

5. THE DESPERATE HEART (1943)
Choreography: Valerie Bettis

6. LYNCHTOWN (1936) from the suite ‘Ativisms’
Choreography: Charles Weidman

7. THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS (1944) excerpts
Choreography: Pearl Primus

8. THE FLIGHT (1947) excerpt from ‘Pursued’
Choreography: Joseph Gifford

9. SHUVI NAFSHI (1947) Return oh my soul unto thee
Choreography: Hadassah

10. TIME IS MONEY (1934)
Choreography: Jane Dudley

11. HARMONICA BREAKDOWN (1934)
Choreography: Jane Dudley

12. SIGN DANCE FOR SARAH (1979)
Choreography: Irving Burton

13. RAINBOW ROUND MY SHOULDER (1959) suite excerpt
Choreography: Donald Mc Kayle

14.THE TRANSFORMATION OF MEDUSA (1942)
Choreography: Jean Erdman

15. LYRIC SUITE (1954) duet excerpt
Choreography: Anna Sokolow

16. STRANGE HERO (1948)
Choreography: Daniel Nagrin

17. CONCERTO IN E (1979) excerpt
Choreography: Joyce Trisler

18. FOLKSAY (1942) excerpt
Choreography: Sophie Maslow

An educational 9-page brochure is enclosed in the DVD.

Reviews

The New Dance Group Gala Historical Concert
"A treasury of Dance History, highly recommended especially for public library collections.
The Midwest Book Review

"In a nutshell, it's a celebratory film that captures the essence of the influential New Dance Group choreographers."
Dance Teacher