Yvonne Rainer A Woman Who...: Selected Works of Yvonne Rainer DVD Box Set, 2005,1:21:00

This 2-DVD collection features five early films, a historically important dance and a recent work by media artist and choreographer Yvonne Rainer, and a documentary portrait by Charles Atlas. The collection includes a booklet featuring writings on the artist's work by Bill Horrigan, Carrie Lambert and Sally Banes, as well as a detailed biography, bibliography and videography of Yvonne Rainer. Disc One After Many a Summer Dies the Swan: Hybrid   Yvonne Rainer 2002, 31:00, U.S., color, sound Yvonne Rainer uses a series of literary excerpts concerned with the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Vienna, and sets them against a dance commissioned from her by the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation in 2000. These elements are juxtaposed in order to highlight the current state of the avant-garde - a period of art-making with all its complex relations to a prolonged historical crisis. Rainer Variations   Charles Atlas 2002, 41:30, U.S., b&w and color, sound "For me Rainer Variations is a hybrid: a weave of impressionistic portrait, found footage construction, and video sampler. Aside from formal issues, Yvonne Rainer’s knotty process of thinking, her unique brand of humor, and her engaging presence are the things that were foremost in my mind as I worked on the tape. What I hope will emerge from this process is an interrogative portrait of an artist for whom I have great respect and affection." --Charles Atlas Disc Two Trio A   Yvonne Rainer 1978, 10:30, U.S., b&w, silent, 16mm The avant-garde choreographer in her widely discussed "minimal" solo, a dance from 1965 rebelling against spectacle and decoration in dance. Hand Movie   Yvonne Rainer 1966, 5:00, U.S., b&w, silent, 8mm Close-up of a hand, the fingers of which enact a sensuous dance. Camerawork by Robert Alexander. Volleyball (Foot Film) Yvonne Rainer 1967, 10:00, U.S., b&w, silent, 16mm A volleyball is rolled into the frame and comes to rest. Two legs in sneakers, seen from the knees down, enter the frame and stand beside it. Cut to new angle, same characters and actions. Camerawork by Bud Wirtschafter. Rhode Island Red Yvonne Rainer 1968, 10:00, U.S., b&w, silent, 16mm Ten minutes in an enormous chicken coop. Camerawork by Roy Levin. Trio Film Yvonne Rainer 1968, 13:00, U.S., b&w, silent, 16mm Two nudes, a man and a woman, interact with each other and a large balloon in a white living room. Performed by Steve Paxton and Becky Arnold. Camerawork by Phill Niblock. Line Yvonne Rainer 1966, 10:00, U.S., b&w, silent, 16mm A blond woman (Susan Marshall) in white pants and shirt interacts with a moving round object and the camera. Camerawork by Phill Niblock.