Was television a lot more adventurous in the ’70s?
That’s just one question raised by this 1971 ATV video of dancers interpreting a set of Moog pieces, ranging from the abstract to synth-pop to the psychedelic. This would have been at the height of ‘Moog mania’, when the success of Switched On Bach led to an explosion of interest in electronic music.
It’s hard to imagine where you might see something like this today.
Check it out and share your thoughts on the ‘Moog dancers’. And if anyone has info on the music that they are dancing to, let us know!
where could we see something like this today?! oy. insert obligatory “so concerned jeff goldblum” meme: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/040/653/goldblum-quote.jpeg.
it ain’t Alvin Ailey, but I hope they had fun
How about these?
Beck “Colors” – serious coordinated modern dance
https://youtu.be/WRCA_Fo0rWA
Or roller skate dancing from Chet Faker:
https://youtu.be/hi4pzKvuEQM
And Public Service Broadcasting ‘People Let’s Dance’
https://youtu.be/T0MTqhf9xPo
I can only imagine how the Buchla dancers were like
The best place to view something like this today is in a really bad dream. Maybe if they did these improvisational dances without clothes, then that might be adventurous. This seems more period-silly than anything adventurous.
Those were obviously not improvised.
Oops,
Amazing! I think it’s music from various sources. The pretty ballad starting at 2:10 is Derek Scott – Pillow Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2K-9RLOlsU
I halfway expected H.R. Pufnstuf to wander in 🙂 Time to go adjust the meds.
Admin: Personal attack deleted (name calling).
Keep comments on topic and constructive.
Phew, what a stench! At the mid-point, little people dressed like Avengers should run on and beat them with axe handles, yelling “GIT! GIT!”
That Anglian TV ident is classic. All the regional uk idents were superb, or perhaps its my nostalgia.
TV is now a medium for elderly people, notoriously not inclined to new ideas.
The avant-garde does exist and always will, you need to know where to look for it, today you certainly won’t find it on the BBC, NBC, ABC …
Broadcast TV as a format has lost its grip thanks to streaming and stupid TikTok videos, but the production quality of top-tier TV series is higher than ever.
Could the music be Delia Derbyshire and Martin Hannett?
I’m not sure Marc but it could be LSD and mushrooms!
I agree. That was 50 years ago! Today, the big dance innovation is flexing, but you won’t see that on TV. Too confronting.
How cool, and this was on television! The camera dance is the best but nice Moog score.
Sesame Street – Moog Alphabet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y1anQwX2yI
Sesame Street – 3 striped balls & polka dot ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUb6YZctOqQ
Why don’t they have this nowadays?
The Roland Rockettes?
The Korg Kloggers?
The Teenage Engineering Tappers?
The Sequential Steppers?
Brilliant. TellyTubby vibes.
Mort Garson?
The local station on the year I was born. No wonder some of us turned out a bit strange
“Great Performances” (PBS) often has modern dance pieces, though admittedly with slightly less experimental music. The show started in 1972 and is still running today.
You won’t find modern dance on Fox or ABC, certainly, but you probably wouldn’t find Moog dancers on mainstream channels like those back in the 1970’s, either.
This could be an underground dance club from Logan’s Run. Hawt.
If you watch, the timings and rhythm of the dancers does not match the music.
I’m pretty sure someone dubbed since as your music over a pop dance show,
They replaced some regular music with this Moog soundtrack
Thanks for the feedback, Brian.
It’s unfortunate that it so challenging to assess the provenance of this type of video.
Gawd… an awful time period. To consider a synth, even an early one, merely a glorified noise maker is criminally unimaginative.
Pfft. Way better than the garbage we see nowadays.
As Dance dad this isn’t all that adventurous. .. avant garde, modernist , perhaps but it looks pretty tame compares to what I’ve seen at jr/sr high competitions, to say nothing of the college dance company, in the past 20years. Quaint trippy, 70s, but nothing really adventurous.
This is just any modern pop concert’s backline dance ensemble. Nothing special.