Accent on the Offbeat.

Sony's Accent on the Offbeat, which was aired last spring on PBS, is an excellent documentary of the 1993 collaboration between jazz composer-trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and choreographer Peter Martins, which resulted in the ballet Jazz (Six Syncopated Movements). For those who know something about the musical needs of choreographers and dancers and the workings of jazz musicians, the tension that develops during this creative process is not unpredictable. But it keeps the video lively. It is also realistic: Martins needs a score, the dancers need specific counts, and the musicians, improvisers par excellence, are not used to being tied down. The video seems to be more sympathetic to Marsalis, who increasingly realizes that collaboration with a choreographer means fitting the music to the dancers' needs. His alarming naivete reminds us how the workings of dancers are akin to a mysterious cult of which even the most worldly musicians may be ignorant. The enthusiastic, supportive comments of New York City Ballet dancers and Marsalis's musicians inform the video, as do extended passages of dancing and an interview on PBS's Charlie Rose. The complete thirty-minute ballet is shown at the conclusion of the hour-long documentary. Available at fine video retailers or from Sony Classical Film & Video; call [phone] or fax [phone].

Another spring airing on PBS was the documentary, Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed, shown on the American Masters series. It included early footage of Graham dancing which had not previously been available. The biographical information and chronology of her life, as well as excerpts from her Notebooks, will be of less importance to those in the profession, who have already immersed themselves in written material, than will these choice film clips. "Is there more?" is the immediate question after watching a moment of Graham holding the chalice in Deaths and Entrances. Segments from Heretic, Frontier, and "Every Soul Is a Circus" are thrilling, however brief. It would have helped to know the dates the films were made, as well as the date of each dance's creation. This video also marks the first time that Graham's former husband and partner, Erick Hawkins, speaks publicly about their relationship. While the video appears to overemphasize her relationships with Louis Horst and Hawkins, they were critical forces in her most fertile decades--the 1930s and 1940s. Ultimately, the video confirms that Graham was her own artist. Available from Kultur Video; call [phone].