The Dryden will screen Water Motor (Babette Mangolte, U.S. 1978, 7 min., 16mm), Accumulation with Talking plus Water Motor (Jonathan Demme, U.S. 1986, 11 min., digital), and Shot Backstage (Trisha Brown, 1998, 31 min., digital). On Water Motor:

"The image fades in. For two seconds Trisha Brown is there standing motionless, and she starts to dance her solo Water Motor, indeed moving as quickly as water. The movements are so fast and intricate that you feel you are missing half of it. When the dance is finished Trisha is standing motionless as in the beginning, but closer to the camera and the image fades to black. The images fades in again and Trisha doing the same dance, but this time in slow motion (shot at 48 fps) and the movement takes on a luscious quality that informs the viewer of what was missed before." — Babette Mangolte

On Accumulation with Talking plus Water Motor:

Trisha Brown's iconic solo Accumulation with Talking plus Watermotor, created in 1979, explores the virtuosity of multiple, competing tasks performed simultaneously. Filmed in Brown's studio in SoHo in 1986, Demme's film lets us watch Brown as she navigates the improvisatory structure of telling two stories and doing two dances at once, perfectly capturing her singular balance of quick wit and rigorous structure.

On Shot Backstage:

Literally shot backstage, Brown used an 8mm camera to film her company from the wings of the Teatro Principal in Valencia, Spain during a 1994 performance of For M.G.: The Movie. Brown's camera captures the dancers both onstage and in the wings, illustrating the usually unseen dimensions of the dance.

[source: George Eastman Museum calendar, 2017-Mar-13]