SYNOPSIS

"Sex and Social Dance" illustrates the sexual attitudes implicit in Western ballroom dance, sexually segregated social dancing in the Muslim culture of Morocco, and gender distinctions in the group dances of the Cook Islanders of the Pacific. Entertaining and often amusing, it explores a serious question -- why dances that seem to be considered the height of refinement in one culture strike another culture as 'indecent'.

COMPANION BOOK

Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement, by Gerald Jonas. Published by Harry N. Abrams in association with Thirteen/WNET. $45.00

CREDITS

Producer / Directors: Ellen Hovde & Muffie Meyer
Host: Raoul Trujillo
Writers: Lora K. Myers, Ronald Blumer
Story by: Rhoda Grauer
Field Producer: Smokey Forester
Director of Photography: Tom Hurwitz, U.S.A. Christine Burrill, Morocco Richard Lerner, Cook Islands
Editor: Susan Fanshel
Associate Producer: Susan Kipp
Executive Producer: Rhoda Grauer

SYNOPSIS
When Isadora Duncan started swirling in tunics, gauze and sandals at the beginning of the 20th century, she began the modern dance movement. Individual choreographers like Katherine Dunham, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Eiko and Koma and others have completely changed the world of dance. It has become, in the Western world, a medium for personal expression. In this program, Twyla Tharp discusses these changes, and her own mix of the techniques of traditional ballet and modern dance - in her words, the worlds of "the shod and the unshod". According to Tharp, "modern dance is not less, it's more. It's everything that came before, PLUS."

COMPANION BOOK

Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement, by Gerald Jonas. Published by Harry N. Abrams in association with Thirteen/WNET. $45.00

CREDITS