Breath Made Visible

Breath Made Visible is the first feature documentary about the life and career of Anna Halprin. The film takes its audience from Halprin’s initial explorations of dance in her childhood to the experimental performances conducted on a dance deck under Californian redwood trees, through her spectacular tours in Europe, her withdrawal from the stage due to illness, and, finally, her triumphant return.Previously unreleased archival footage further extends the subject matter from a personal portrait of an artist to what is essentially the history of the socially and politically committed art of dance performance in North America. In a profoundly touching interview, the late Merce Cunningham reflects: “Anna is a prophet, a philosopher.”At the heart of the film is Anna's relationship to her husband and world renowned architect, Lawrence Halprin (Roosevelt Memorial), which allows the film to transcend the medium of dance, just as Anna’s work does, to become a universal tale about survival and expression.

REVIEWS

"An 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 Times"Packed 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 Times"A loving, energetically composed documentary treatment that makes a convincing case for her place in American cultural and social history." - New York Magazine