Program This episode of "New Television" features Burt Barr''s "Aeros."
Barr''s behind-the-scenes look at the Trisha Brown Dance Company, features dancers going through sections of the dance in live performance and in technical rehearsals, some of which are shown in slow motion. The movement of the dance itself is sparse and the stage is lit with lights hung from exposed scaffolding. At one point, Trisha Brown performs a solo in a black leotard with a projector on her back. Projected behind her is the 1966 film "Homemade," which features Brown in an identical costume, performing identical movements. The Company, while in Moscow, speaks with the help of a translator at a tea or luncheon. Trisha Brown and Robert Rauschenberg discuss the failures and successes of the work on stage. The interior and exterior of a theater are cleaned and prepared. When performing "Aeros" the dancers wear silver-gray unitards with gauze-like skirt attachments.
Series The New Television Workshop originated at WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1974 to support the creation and development of experimental video art. This experimental programming included dance, drama, music, performance and visual arts on video and film. As early as 1968, WGBH was committed to the development of video art through residency programs, with artists such as Nam June Paik, and the "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" project. Many of these early works (pre-1974) were broadcast both locally and nationally.
As an umbrella for arts related programming, the Workshop included "Artist's Showcase, " "Frames of Reference, " "Dance for Camera, " "Poetry Breaks," and "New Television," as well as acquired arts programming. Individual works were created for "Visions," a series produced by WNET (New York), and "Alive From Off Center," a series produced by KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis). The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was co-founded by the Workshop and Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in the 1980's, to commission works by video artists. In 1993 the Workshop ceased production at WGBH.
