The Relay

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This record is featured in “National Educational Television.”
Program
The Relay
Producing Organization
WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.)
Contributing Organization
Thirteen WNET (New York, New York)
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/75-3976hj9v
NOLA Code
DALE
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Description
Program Description
This hour-long feature from WNET/13's "Dateline 13" series marks the American television premiere of Alwin Nikolais' video-dance piece "The Relay," originally broadcast on the BBC, Sunday June 27, 1971.In the first half hour, impresario Nikolais describes his intent and his aesthetics and the viewer is able to see how the ballet was conceived and made. Using the unique properties of both movie film and video electronics Nikolais creates a striking mixed media experience which comprises "total theatre." He calls this work "kinetic choreography," electronic images of movement, only made possible through the mixing of video tapes with film and the use of new lenses and new technical procedures. His dance reflects concept of life: "a cacophony of sound and light, an awareness of the multiplicity of life." "Art is an illusion," he believes. "I am not concerned with storytelling or meaning; it is more a sentiment involvement.""The Relay" as performed by Nikolais' dance troupe reflects this philosophy. It is an interplay of people, color and forms. A group of dancers - by turn furtive, frantic, cautious, lyric - are flung into space, float, dwarf and are dwarfed by their surroundings. The dancers appear, disappear and are absorbed and thrust forward by sound and color. They are elongated and squeezed, crumble and are tossed about. Two human forms become mere shadows or blobs. Mannequins and dressers, in a dynamic exchange of roles, perform a mannered and stylized ritual until they dissolve into a fluid tableau, now broken and in a heap, chaotic, now unfolding into a new pattern. The ballet ends with floating bodies in blue space."The Relay" is a production of WNET/13 New York. The executive producer for "Dateline 13" is Bob Kotlowitz. "The Relay" was produced and directed by William Fitzwater for NET/BBC TV. Created by Alwin Nikolais. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Broadcast Date
1972-06-02
Asset type
Episode
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:34:25
Credits
Creator: Nikolais, Alwin
Director: Fitzwater, William
Executive Producer: Kotlowitz, Bob
Producer: Fitzwater, William
Producing Organization: WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Thirteen - New York Public Media (WNET)
Identifier: wnet_aacip_1952 (WNET Archive)
Format: 2 inch videotape: Quad
Duration: 01:00:00?
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2411338-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2411338-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2411338-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2472160-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2472160-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2472160-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape
Generation: Master

Identifier: cpb-aacip-75-3976hj9v.mp4 (mediainfo)
Format: video/mp4
Generation: Proxy
Duration: 00:34:25
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Citations
Chicago: “The Relay,” 1972-06-02, Thirteen WNET, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 3, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-3976hj9v.
MLA: “The Relay.” 1972-06-02. Thirteen WNET, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 3, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-3976hj9v>.
APA: The Relay. Boston, MA: Thirteen WNET, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-3976hj9v