Breath Made Visible
Directed by Ruedi Gerber
AUDIENCE AWARD
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
2009, 80 min
For the last seven decades, Anna Halprin, the American dance pioneer, has redefined our notions of modern art by exploring one question in her work: What is important in life? The search for that answer has ushered in such revolutionary experimentation in theater, music, and performance that it's reach extends beyond the arts and into our cultural conscious. Anna has not only succeeded in fusing art and life but has developed a new mindset: one that hails the vitality of existence and debunks the 'limitations of age.'
Press
Dance MagazineBest 2010 Documentary Film
Interview of Anna Halprin, Houston Chronicle
Nancy Wozny, Houston ChronicleGerber captures Halprin's life and work with grace and reverence.
Michael Wade Simpson, Santa Fe New Mexican[an] extraodinary respect shown by the filmmaker for aging and its artistic ramifications as manifest in the body, mind, and spirit of one remarkable woman. 4 chiles.
Valentina Tapia, Tiny Mix TapesA perfect space for her continuing legacy to move and breathe.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles TimesAn admiring documentary portrait of Anna Halprin, a woman so remarkable it is hard to fit her into the confines of a film, let alone a sentence.
La Dance ExaminersAn interesting contemplation about what it means to live an artistic life.
Spirituality & PracticeExquisite and engrossing
Seattle TimesA vivid and haunting portrait
Campus CircleA simple and profound statement about the power of art to heal and transform our lives.
Wendy Perron, Dance MagazineSeeing this film—with its whimsy, warmth, affection, and humor—one comes away with a sense of Anna Halprin as a national treasure.
New York TimesPacked with illuminating interviews and lyrical movement, “Breath Made Visible” portrays a woman with angels in her feet and innovation in her blood. Long may she rock.
New York MagazineA loving, energetically composed documentary treatment that makes a convincing case for her place in American cultural and social history.
Filmjournal.comAn excellent introduction to post-modern dance and to an iconic American artist.
This Week In New YorkHalprin clearly cherishes every moment of her life, just as audiences will cherish every moment of BREATH MADE VISIBLE.
Time Out New YorkA fascinating testimonial to the healing age- defying powers of both [Anna Halprin's] art and artistry.
Chicago ReaderA fascinating history of postmodern dance as seen through the the life of one of its innovators.
Julie Bloom, The New York Times,It's hard to overestimate the influence the dancer and choreographer Anna Halprin has had on New York dance, even though she has made a point of staying far from the city [...].
San Francisco Chronicle[...] stirring, magnificently edited
Pacific SunFeature: The dancer from the Dance
San Francisco Bay Guardian[...] a portrait of an anything but conventional woman, artist and thinker.
San Francisco WeeklyIt's no small feat to make a legend life-size and accessible without despelling her greatness and mystique, yet Gerber pulls off a delicate tightrope act with relaxed ease.
Dennis Harvey, VarietyEngaging. Illustrative. The quintessential Left Coast choreographer Anna Halprin has helped push the boundaries of modern dance.
Leba Hertz, San Francisco ChronicleA fascinating subject
The New York TimesMs. Halprin becomes quite as rich a subject for film as Ms.Monk: another odd face, another wonderfully calm (though ardently enthusiastic) and open talker, another (and senior) artist who responds to both politics and scenery.
BackstageAn intelligent, beautifully photographed, smartly edited film [...]. Gerber's film reveals not only the important artistic influences Halprin had on such distinghuished artists as Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, and Yvonne Rainer, but also what a groundbreaking force Halprin was in political and other cultural arenas.