Maya Deren, Choreographed for Camera

Mark Durant, Professor, Visual Arts; Dresher Center Fall 2020 Residential Faculty Research Fellow

Maya Deren (1917-1961) is a towering figure in the history of avant-garde film of the 20th century. In addition to the handful of exquisite films she made in the 1940s and 50s, she almost single-handedly developed an audience for experimental film. During her relatively short life, she worked and collaborated with some of the most vital artists, writers, and intellectuals of her generation, including Marcel Duchamp, Katherine Dunham, Anaïs Nin, John Cage, and Gregory Bateson.