Blanche Evan's Film Studies of the Dance: The “Technique Problem” and the Creation of New Forms in 1930s Revolutionary Dance

This article examines Film Studies of the Dance, a dance film created in 1935 by Blanche Evan, Lionel Berman, and David Wolff. The film premiered Evan's new system of dance training, Functional Technique, to the 1930s New York revolutionary dance community. I analyze the film and Functional Tec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDance research journal Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 70 - 91
Main Author Harris, Andrea
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.04.2022
Congress on Research in Dance
Subjects
Archives & records
Artists
Collaboration
Culture
Dance techniques
Dance therapy
Dancers & choreographers
Film studies
Modern dance
Modernism
Motion pictures
Politics
Students
Teaching
Theater
New York
United States > US
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics > USSR
Functional Technique
modern dance technique
Ben Maddow
Blanche Evan
New Dance League
revolutionary dance
David Wolff
screendance
Lionel Berman
Nykino
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Summary:This article examines Film Studies of the Dance, a dance film created in 1935 by Blanche Evan, Lionel Berman, and David Wolff. The film premiered Evan's new system of dance training, Functional Technique, to the 1930s New York revolutionary dance community. I analyze the film and Functional Technique inside of the debates over technique and content that preoccupied left-wing modern dancers in this period. Ultimately, Film Studies of the Dance emerges as a collaborative attempt by Evan, Berman, and Wolff to create new approaches to dance and film that would unify form and content to further socially conscious art making.
ISSN:0149-7677
1940-509X
DOI:10.1017/S014976772200002X