Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Aquarius: Dressage in Central Park

I always loved this 1979 movie production of the musical Hair. Years before I became introduced to dressage I was intrigued by this segment of the movie and the dancing horses (skip to the 3 minute mark if you're impatient). Take this dressage sequence add two hottie male leads (Treat Williams and John Savage), and Twyla Tharp's fluid choreography -- how can you go wrong?



Anyone care to guess on the breed of the horses?


16 comments:

  1. Iberian of some sort.... Lipa, Lusi, Anda?

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  2. The "dancing" horses look like PRE horses, but then there is a shot of horses trotting down a lane - clearly different animals. Perhaps TB, or appendix or grade?

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  3. I think that the horses doing dressage are definitely an Iberian breed. Don't know which one though.

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  4. Lippazanner (sp?) or Lusitano (white), and Fresian (blk)? Glorious!

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  5. The saddle horses look like a nice tall roan appy, a cob mix (white) and a rather unremarkable chestnut TB. My 2 cents! That vocal performance is staggering - total goosebumps - played the clip many times. Thanks for the reminder of just how great Hair is - Netflix, hello?

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  7. This is about the movie, not the horses. I always found it hysterical that the movie was made in 1979, over a decade from when the scandalous musical made it's Off Broadway debut.
    Disco had come and gone by then. Remember, July 12, 1979 was the day Disco died. "Hair" was positively main stream by 1979. "Punk" was what parents feared. "God Save the Queen, The fascist regime. They made you a moron. Potential H-bomb" was far more terrifying than "Harmony and understanding,Sympathy and trust abounding.No more falsehoods or derisions."

    Ronnie Raygun, voodoo economics and crack were just around the corner...

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  8. I'll vote Andalusians too. Spanish for sure.

    The hacking horses might well be TB or TB crosses, but it's really hard to guess for sure.

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  9. Andalusians. Not heavy enough to be friesians. Lusitanos tend to be more lean. Those look like thick, baroque andalusians.

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  10. That was too funny. I loved the mirroring of people and horses.

    I am going to go with Lipizzaners for the dancers. A dark Lipizzaner is possible and supposed to be good luck.

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  11. Wow, I'd forgotten all about that part in the video (most unusual for me to forget about anything to do with horses, too *grin*). An excellent blast from the past!

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  12. I love this! I'm going with Scarlett's guesses. If you asked me right now I'd just say "Breed: Gorgeous".

    Dancing is amazing.

    Scary that I recognized some of my former clothing.

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  13. I vote Andalusian for the dancing horses. TB for the hunters.

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  14. Andalusians were my first thought as well.

    Thanks for sharing the clip - dressage and Twyla Tharp choreography are two of my favorite things. :)

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