Review Of "Hanya: Portrait Of A Pioneer" By N. Mason Hauser

Document Type

Film Review

Publication Date

11-1-1988

Published In

Choice

Abstract

This first video available on Holm and her work serves as a good introduction to her American career (it was released in 1984 as a film). Essentially an illustrated biographical sketch, it chronicles Holm's development as a teacher and a choreographer working in modern concert dance and on the Broadway stage from the 1930s to the present. Informal interviews with Holm and with former students and associates--Harold Lang, Murray Louis, Alwin Nikolais, and Martha Hill among them--add up to an informative portrait. Her Broadway choreography is well represented by rehearsal and performance sequences from Kiss Me Kate, My Fair Lady, and Camelot. Useful relationships are evident when this tape is viewed in conjunction with the film on Holm's mentor Mary Wigman, When the Fire Dances Between Two Poles (1983). W. Sorell's Hanya Holm (CH, Dec '69) can serve as a supplementary text. Visual and sound qualities are clear and direct; captions identify interviews and choreographic segments. An important addition.

Comments

This work is freely available courtesy of Choice Reviews. The review has been reproduced in full in the abstract field.

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