Charles Atlas | Screening: Hail the New Puritan and Q&A

Join Charles Atlas at the Roxy Cinema on February 17 at 7pm for a screening of Hail the New Puritan presented by PLANK Magazine, followed by a Q&A with the artist.⁠

Exuberant and witty, Hail the New Puritan (1986) is a simulated day-in-the-life "docufantasy" starring the British dance celebrity Michael Clark. Atlas' fictive portrait of the charismatic choreographer serves as a vivid invocation of the studied decadence of the 1980s post-punk London subculture. Contriving a faux cinéma-vérité format in which to stage his stylized fiction, Atlas seamlessly integrates Clark's extraordinary dance performances into the docu-narrative flow. Focusing on Clark's flamboyantly postured eroticism and the artifice of his provocative balletic performances, Atlas posits the dance as a physical manifestation of Clark's psychology. From the surreal opening dream sequence to the final solo dance, Clark's milieu of fashion, clubs and music signifies for Atlas "a time capsule of a certain period and context in London that's now gone."

The post-film Q&A with Atlas and PLANK magazine editor Sam Korman will follow the screening. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Roxy Cinema website.