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National News

by
June–July 2003, no. 252

National News

by
June–July 2003, no. 252

It is fascinating how a single photographic image can generate a whole range of thoughts and interpretations. Take Derek Biermann’s photograph of dancer Kathryn Dunn in Gideon Obarzanek’s Fast Idol. I love the sense of movement seen in the swing of the hair, and the shimmer and subtle motion of the costume. I like to imagine I can hear a jangle coming from the metallic strips of the costume. Yet others are struck by the sense of stillness in the image. The dancer’s eyes are cast down and her head is lowered, contained, as it were, in the cradle of her arms. Some find it highly unusual as a representation of the work of Obarzanek, whose choreography now looks quite different from the way it did in 1995, when Fast Idol was made. ‘Is that really from an Obarzanek work?’ they say. Fans of Dunn admire it for the way it encapsulates her dancerly qualities. Others just like it because it’s a sexy image. What will history make of it?

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