More YouTube, sorry.
Young Ethan's first education about the surreal via television: Sesame Street. Stage two: Doctor Who. Stage three: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Stage four: Alive from Off Center.
I re-watched an old VHS tape of Alive from Off Center many times in high school. I don't know who participated, but vividly recall a lonely high-voiced male singer in the rain and a "dance" wherein a woman hurled herself at an unresponding standing man. (I think she was trying to get him to dance with her.)
Unfortunately that episode is not on YouTube; if you have it, please put it up!
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However, YouTube does have two great dances from Alive from Off Center. Nine Person Ball Passing is by Charles Moulton. Stunned, I sent it along to my old boss Mark Morris, who wrote back:
I can't remember who wrote the Casio score, but I've always loved it. In the version you sent me, the performers are the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company.
The only thing I don't like about the piece is that, in performance, the dancers all have spare balls in their waistbands so that, if they lose a ball, they can keep going. I've always found that to be a "dance" cop-out instead of a real "sport" handicap. At one point, long ago, I considered buying the piece for my own company. Charlie now choreographs for Hollywood movies. He is a nice guy.
The Casio score is by A. Leroy. Definitely Kyle Gann territory!
I don't remember seeing Nine Person Precision Ball Passing as a high-schooler, but I certainly saw Michael Clark's New Puritan Dances, which I thought was great - and I still do! Talk about your high-80's punk...
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A close friend informed me of the recent Beyoncé masterpiece, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)." I am in stricken awe. Of course there is a detailed Wikipedia entry, this is 2009.
