Dance video works to be screened Saturday

Dance film aficionados are in for a treat when assistant professor Douglas Rosenberg, an award-winning video maker, presents two new videos featuring renowned dancers Anna Halprin and Li Chiao-Ping on Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space in Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Avenue. The event, sponsored by the UW–Madison Dance and Interarts & Technology Program, is free and open to the public.

In a videodance inspired by a performance two years ago by UW–Madison alumna Anna Halprin (BA ’42), Rosenberg created a 10-minute videotape entitled “My Grandfather Dances.” It depicts the impact her grandfather’s worship in the synagogue had on her when she was young.

A recent article in The Nation says of the video, “One’s understanding of the power of dance and its ability to convey our profoundest feelings is increased tenfold in watching so eloquent a film.”

According to DanceView, “In his [Rosenberg’s] hands the crosscuttings, fades and pans became the clay out of which [this] flowing piece of poetry can stand quite apart from its subject matter.”

Rosenberg also presents “Six Solos: Li Chiao-Ping Dances,” a one-hour documentary featuring the work of dancer/choreographer Li Chiao-Ping. Produced and directed by Rosenberg, the documentary follows the making of the The Men’s Project, an evening-length show of six solo works commissioned by Li in 1996. Internationally recognized choreographers Mark Dendy, David Dorfman, Joe Goode, Daniel Nagrin, Gus Solomons Jr. and Mel Wong each worked with Li to create dances for her.

“Six Solos: Li Chiao-Ping Dances” offers an extraordinary look at the creative process by inviting viewers into rehearsal studios where meaning and subtleties of the dances are communicated by each choreographer and ultimately interpreted by the multi-talented and versatile dancer, Li Chiao-Ping. The documentary premiered on Wisconsin Public Television in January, 1999.