Series: Frames of Reference
Program: You Little Wild Heart
Date: 1981-01-01
Subject: Modern dance; Teenagers; Rock music
Copyright Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
Clip Description
This episode of "Frames of Reference" features "You Little Wild Heart"by Marta Renzi.
Marta Renzi in "You Little Wild Heart," "You Little Wild Heart" is a dramatic dance work, starring a cast of Boston-area teenaged youth. The dancers move in and out of choreographed dance and everyday movements in a variety of settings, including various streets, a metal works, and an athletic field. The program loosely follows the interaction between one young couple, a boy and a girl, who perform both tender and heated duet work. Dramatic group work with some very athletic partnering takes place in a darkened alleyway at night. Marta Renzi appears intermittently, and the work ends with the larger cast joining her in a car dealership. On the whole, the work addresses adolescent coupling and sexuality. The entire work is set to music by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which does much to set the mood.
The work in its entirety was an episode of the series "Frames of Reference." Segments were featured in other New Television Workshop specials, such as "Summer Dances."
"Frames of Reference" was a series that began circa 1978. Half-hour shows were produced to showcase commissioned and already created works. It was around this time that the focus of the Workshop shifted, to concentrate more heavily on creating works for broadcast. During its time, "Frames of Reference" was the focus of the Workshop's national arts programming effort. The series ended circa 1983.
Program Description
This episode of "Frames of Reference" features "You Little Wild Heart"by Marta Renzi.
Marta Renzi in "You Little Wild Heart," "You Little Wild Heart" is a dramatic dance work, starring a cast of Boston-area teenaged youth. The dancers move in and out of choreographed dance and everyday movements in a variety of settings, including various streets, a metal works, and an athletic field. The program loosely follows the interaction between one young couple, a boy and a girl, who perform both tender and heated duet work. Dramatic group work with some very athletic partnering takes place in a darkened alleyway at night. Marta Renzi appears intermittently, and the work ends with the larger cast joining her in a car dealership. On the whole, the work addresses adolescent coupling and sexuality. The entire work is set to music by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which does much to set the mood.
The work in its entirety was an episode of the series "Frames of Reference." Segments were featured in other New Television Workshop specials, such as "Summer Dances."
"Frames of Reference" was a series that began circa 1978. Half-hour shows were produced to showcase commissioned and already created works. It was around this time that the focus of the Workshop shifted, to concentrate more heavily on creating works for broadcast. During its time, "Frames of Reference" was the focus of the Workshop's national arts programming effort. The series ended circa 1983.
Series Description
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.
