the feeling that you get when your eyes are wide open
July 5, 2022 3:07 AM   Subscribe

Twyla Tharp and David Byrne's The Catherine Wheel is a dance piece about unhappy families, striving for perfection, war, and other things. (Includes a full recording of the stage production after a 13 minute introduction.)

Also, a review [NYT] of the production from 1981.
posted by eotvos (8 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
That blows my personal record for having to tell people 'video starts [x amount of time] in'. (45 seconds.)
posted by BiggerJ at 3:54 AM on July 5, 2022 [1 favorite]


Blows it out of the water, rather.
posted by BiggerJ at 5:55 AM on July 5, 2022


I only know the album, and I knew it was a dance piece with Twyla Tharp. I generally don't read articles about dance. Are dance reviews often that opaque?
posted by SoberHighland at 7:30 AM on July 5, 2022 [1 favorite]


Some of the songs from this (Light Bath, His Wife Refused, The Red House, My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks), Big Business, What A Day That Was, Poison, Cloud Chamber) were second only to Byrne's 'Music for the Knee Plays' (for R. Wilson's CIVIL warS) as an absolute obsession of mine for years. (Both still strike a very singular nerve/bone whenever I hear them; thanks for an excuse to reimmerge in them.)
posted by progosk at 8:38 AM on July 5, 2022 [4 favorites]


Recall wanting to see this badly. It was peak avant garde ballet, ABT did traditional Swan Lake, NYCB was totally establishment, Joffrey did cool stuff (Deuce Coupe by Tharp had kids spray painting the backdrop as it was raised during the performance) The modern companies (Martha Graham, Limon) were cutting edge in the 60's.

It seemed like Tharp was taking it to the next level. A small company of top dancers (no corp de ballet filler), she taught Barishkanov how to dance cool. Tharp's dances are fun, relaxed, fast. I had trouble watching that video but I would like to see Catherine Wheel. Here is version without effects. .. would be so much better in theater.
posted by sammyo at 11:00 AM on July 5, 2022 [2 favorites]


Laaaaaa - I learned the Dinosaur section of this in a modern-dance seminar in college, with the wonderful Katie Glasner, who had the class learn pieces from Laban notation, from (*this*) video, and from a guest choreographer. Ade (the third track, I think?) is a heart-deep song for me, the sound of sweeping around my room with big, loose movements and just letting shit go. Thank you for sharing!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:44 PM on July 5, 2022 [2 favorites]


One of my favourite albums but I've never seen the dance piece. Thanks!
posted by mikelynch at 12:04 AM on July 6, 2022


Wow, sammyo, your version is much better than mine. Thanks! (I love the album but had no idea there was video of the dance until now.) I still wish there were fewer closeups and we just got a fixed camera with a full view of the stage. But, I guess the film crew wouldn't feel like they'd done anything creative.
second only to Byrne's 'Music for the Knee Plays
Definitely on my top 3 desert island discs. Also the source for all the custom ringtones on my phone.
Are dance reviews often that opaque?
I don't know anything about dance reviews. But, I suspect there's a reason "dancing about architecture" is such a popular quote. In this case at least the dance has a real narrative that you can talk about with words.
posted by eotvos at 2:52 AM on July 6, 2022 [2 favorites]


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