STK-ID 76782

FI12779.001 MEDIAEVAL STORY July 1966 35mm Positive 200 feet. This is a dance shot with the same lighting as Pas de deux with Vincent Warren and Margaret Mercier. McLaren was having difficulty at that time conveying to choreographer Ludmilla Chiriaeff exactly what he was after. She felt that a mediaeval dance she had conceived would be a good candidate for his technique. So, to satisfy Mme Chiriaeff, Norman decided to shoot it, but, of course, not use it. In this manner, he was able then to turn Mme Chiriaeff to his goals. This may seem a rather negative view of Mme Chiriaeff; but it is not intended to be that. She would come to understand Norman’s intention which was to make a film using dance, not a film recording of a dance. It would be a dance that could only exist in the film medium. Mme Chiriaeff told me that when one worked with McLaren, one entered “Norman’s Land”, a lovely pun, which expressed well the step one had to take to work satisfactorily with McLaren.

Détails

Extrait du film
Norman McLaren's Archives and Personal Files
Collection
Collection McLaren