Slow Dance at Lincoln Center in 2007
For a dancer, there may be nothing more intimidating than watching yourself on video, except maybe watching yourself on slow-motion video. Perhaps the subjects of David Michalek’s film installation Slow Dancing have never dared to view the final results. More likely, the artist chose dancers like Bill T. Jones, Alexei Ratmansky and Wendy Whelan for a reason: They are stunning down to the most minute detail.
Currently on display outdoors at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Slow Dancing features three giant video screens showing some of the world’s top dancers performing at ultra-slow speeds. Each of the 46 clips is only about five seconds long in real time, but has been slowed down to last about 10 minutes. That’s so slow, the images look like still photographs at first glance. You’ve never witnessed technique with such clarity before.
The touring installation has previously been set up on the Lincoln Center plaza in New York City. It is free and open for public viewing at Yale through next Tuesday, September 16.
The Slow Dance screens being set up at Yale
Slow Dancing by David Michalek from Moving Portrait on Vimeo.
