Research Catalog

Title

[Deena Burton and Skip La Plante in performance] [videorecording].

Publication

[1996]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Burton, Deena
• La Plante, Skip.
• Litwin, Ralph.
• Modzeleski, Rich.

Description

1 videodisc (NTSC) (41 min.) : sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

Two examples of Deena Burton's presentations of Javanese stories through a combination of the spoken word, music, and Javanese topeng or mask dance. Accompanied by Skip La Plante on homemade instruments, Burton plays multiple roles by donning different masks and headdresses in succession. On the telecast of Horses sing none of it, she performs an excerpt from the Javanese version of the Ramayana, the Hindu epic, playing the roles of the narrator, the hero Prince Rama, his wife Sita, the white monkey Hanuman, a grotesque female, the "eggplant giant," and Krishna. The segment includes a brief interview with host Ralph Litwin, in which Burton discusses her longtime interest in Javanese dance and the activities of the Bali-Java Dance Company, and La Plante explains and demonstrates his homemade gamelan. In the second segment, Burton presents Arjuna Wiwaha or Arjuna's wedding, a Javanese tale based on characters from the Mahabharata, the Hindu epic. In addition to topeng masks, this performance also utilizes wayang kulit or shadow puppets. Among the characters portrayed are the hero Arjuna, the demon king Niwatakawaca, the seven heavenly nymphs sent to tempt Arjuna, and a boar-headed demon. The beginning of the performance is recorded from the audience's vantage point, but subsequent shifts of camera angle make it difficult to hear and see the performers.

Series Statement

Deena Burton Collection

Subjects

• Dance
• Video
• Bali-Java Dance Theater
• Tōpéng
• Open air performances
• Dance > Indonesia > Java
• Mask dances

Genre/Form

• Dance.
• Video.

Note

• Title supplied by cataloger.

Credits (note)

• Credits for Horses sing none of it: producer, Ralph Litwin ; director, Rich Modzeleski.

Event (note)

• Horses sing none of it [excerpt] recorded in 1996.
• Arjuna Wiwaha recorded in open-air performance in a garden, location and date not identified.

Funding (note)

• Funding for the preservation and cataloging of the Deena Burton Collection was provided in part by the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

System Details (note)

• DVD.

Source (note)

• Skip La Plante.

Biography (note)

• Deena Burton, 1948-2005, was an American dancer, choreographer, and scholar of Indonesian dance. During her first trip to Indonesia in 1976-1980, she studied a variety of Indonesian dance styles. After returning to New York City, she obtained a master's degree in arts administration from Columbia University in 1982. Working with several dance, music, and theater groups, she staged both original and Indonesian choreographies, and founded her own company, Bali-Java Dance Theater. She frequently collaborated with composer Skip La Plante, whom she later married. She was among the founders of the New York Indonesian Consulate Gamelan ensemble, later called Gamelan Kusuma Laras. She was a major force behind the not-for-profit organization Arts Indonesia. At the New York Public Library, she edited the Tassilo Adam films, an invaluable collection shot in Indonesia in the 1920s, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to take the edited films to Indonesia in 1989-1990. She received a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University in 1997, writing her dissertation on Claire Holt. For a fuller biography, see: http://www.gamelan.org/deenaburton/deenabio.html.

Contents

Horses sing none of it [excerpt] (ca. 26 min.) / segment from the cable television program hosted by Ralph Litwin -- Arjuna Wiwaha = Arjuna's wedding [excerpt] (ca. 15 min.).

Call Number

*MGZIDVD 5-4371

OCLC

275471399

Title

[Deena Burton and Skip La Plante in performance] [videorecording].

Imprint

[1996]

Series

Deena Burton Collection

System Details

DVD.

Performer

Performed by Deena Burton and Skip La Plante.

Credits

Credits for Horses sing none of it: producer, Ralph Litwin ; director, Rich Modzeleski.

Event

Horses sing none of it [excerpt] recorded in 1996.

Arjuna Wiwaha recorded in open-air performance in a garden, location and date not identified.

Funding

Funding for the preservation and cataloging of the Deena Burton Collection was provided in part by the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Biography

Deena Burton, 1948-2005, was an American dancer, choreographer, and scholar of Indonesian dance. During her first trip to Indonesia in 1976-1980, she studied a variety of Indonesian dance styles. After returning to New York City, she obtained a master's degree in arts administration from Columbia University in 1982. Working with several dance, music, and theater groups, she staged both original and Indonesian choreographies, and founded her own company, Bali-Java Dance Theater. She frequently collaborated with composer Skip La Plante, whom she later married. She was among the founders of the New York Indonesian Consulate Gamelan ensemble, later called Gamelan Kusuma Laras. She was a major force behind the not-for-profit organization Arts Indonesia. At the New York Public Library, she edited the Tassilo Adam films, an invaluable collection shot in Indonesia in the 1920s, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to take the edited films to Indonesia in 1989-1990. She received a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University in 1997, writing her dissertation on Claire Holt. For a fuller biography, see: http://www.gamelan.org/deenaburton/deenabio.html.

Source

Gift; Skip La Plante.

Local Subject

Tōpéng.

Mask dances.

Open air performances.

Added Author

Burton, Deena, dancer.

La Plante, Skip. Instrumentalist

Litwin, Ralph. Producer

Litwin, Ralph. Interviewer

Modzeleski, Rich. Director

Research Call Number

*MGZIDVD 5-4371