Blue studio: five segments

Episode of Series “Merce Cunningham Dance Company = Cunningham Dance Foundation”.
Merce Cunningham directed and performed a number of dance works in the 1970’s that dealt specifically with the language and aesthetic of film. “Blue studio” is one of these works that Cunningham made that directly utilised filmic devices interacting with the physical human body to create a series of avant garde works that are housed within the screen. Working with film enabled Cunningham to create pieces not possible for the stage, utilising blue screen technology, animation, editing and the layering of various film stock. This approach to his work changes both the contextual and physical aspects possible in dance whilst addressing the human and physical relationship with television. “Camera space presents a challenge. It has clear limits, but it also gives opportunities of working with dance that are not available on the stage. The camera takes a fixed view, but it can be moved. There is the possibility of cutting to a second camera which can change the size of the dancer, which, to my eye, also affects the time, the rhythm of the movement…” Merce Cunningham. Reference: http://www.merce.org/filmvideo.html