The Desperate heart

A modern dance solo based on a poem by John Malcolm Brinner describing the loneliness and agony resulting from the loss of a lover. A variety of camera effects and double exposures, combined with the dancing and reading by Valerie Bettis, produces an interesting experiment in modern dance film. Created, spoken and performed by Valerie Bettis; original music by Bernando Segall.

Credits

director

Valerie Bettis

producer

Walter Strate

Duration

00:09:15:00

Production places

United States

Production dates

1950

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

31917

Language

English

Subject categories

Crafts & Visual Arts → Performance art

Experimental

Experimental → Experimental films - United States

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Love

Literature → Literature

Literature → Poetry

Music & Performing Arts → Dancing

Music & Performing Arts → Modern dance

Short films

Short films → Short films - United States

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/76158--the-desperate-heart/ |title=The Desperate heart |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=24 July 2021 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

United States, 1950

Please note