Dance 51976

While related in technique and effect to its predecessor DANCE NINE, it serves as more of a summation of Doris Chase's varied involvements with dance and the arts. The artist employs fully the most sophisticated video technology available to manipulate forms, patterns and colors . At the same time, choreographer/dancer Kei Takei has designed her movements to blend with one of Chase's large kinetic sculptures. The delighting opening sequence shows Kei Takei actively exploring the arch-like forms which, through video feedback techniques, take on a rainbow appearance of multi-hued images. The abstracting of images is complemented by superimpositions of medium- and close-ups views of the dancer. As the piece proceeds, the dancer and the structures become increasingly bathed in coagulations of color. Soon the video effects dominate, creating their own kinetic imagery, with the generation of arch patterns replacing the actual sculptural forms as the new pictorial environment for the dancer. The intertwined pace of dance movement and optical patterning accelerates gradually, and by the end of the tape creates a dynamic kaleidoscope of human and abstract forms.