A sophisticated example of the creative possibilities of videodance. This truly collaborative work is based on an idea developed out of Doris Chase's earlier films of dance with sculpture. But in this instance, the Rutt/Etra video synthesizer was used to generate animated patterns assembling arches which were edited into the whole. Dancer Gus Solomons Jr, (formerly of the Merce Cunningham Dance Co.), timed out for himself a series of sprightly movement phrases based on the rhythmic structure of the kinetic designs. His dance sequence was videotaped with special effects which multiplied and colorized his image, together with the dance of the arches to produce a fascinating movement collage -- a rhythmically synchronized duet of dancer and abstract kinetic patterns. As it develops, the visual duet of DANCE NINE becomes an appropriate analogy for the partnership between the video artist and the dancer in the creative process itself.
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