Summary

• The central character, Ruby Tuesday, is an enigma. She appears in a long red dress, no shoes, hair flowing freely. She could be a child of the 1960’s – a hippy. Her movements in the first half of the dance consists of runs, leaps, turns, travelling across the stage using straight and circular patterns. The feeling is one of freedom.
• ‘Paint It Black’ is primarily a solo for a man, but a woman performs it, joined on stage by four men who perform simple dance routines in unison or pairs, giving the impression of a conventional vocal backing group.
• The choreography for the woman in ‘Paint It Black’ is typical of Bruce’s style, with a low centre of gravity and flowing movement.
• The choreography for ‘Paint It Black’ emphasizes yearning arabesques and off-balance, turning movements which propel the dance along.
• The wearing of red in ‘Paint It Black’ hints at passion.
• During the dance in ‘Paint It Black’, the soloist fiddles with her hair, picks something from the ground, and twists her arms and hands, echoing gestures from the mad scene in Giselle.
• Towards the end of the dance in ‘Paint It Black’, the soloist throws herself into the men’s arms and they manipulate her in more twists and turns, developing the material she previously performed on her own.
• The mood suddenly changes mid-way when the males enter dressed in black. Who or what do the males represent? Her dancing changes. What is this transition?

  ● Are the males undertakers – is she dead?

  ● Has she gone insane?

  ● Was she insane and returned to sanity?

  ● Did she cease her hippy ways and return to society? Bruce leaves the interpretation to us.