Hail the New Puritan

Hail the New Puritan
Directed by	Charles Atlas
Produced by	Jolyon Wimhurst
Starring	Michael Clark, Leigh Bowery, Mark E. Smith, Brix Smith
Edited by	Charles Atlas
Music by	The Fall, Glenn Branca, Bruce Gilbert, Jeffrey Hinton
Distributed by	Electronic Arts Intermix
Running time	85 minutes
Country	England
Language	English

Hail the New Puritan is a fictionalized documentary about the British dancer and choreographer Michael Clark. It was directed by Charles Atlas. Production design is by Leigh Bowery, who appears in the opening scene. (Bowery's friends and assistants Sue Tilley and Nicola Bateman, later Nicola Bowery, also appear.) Much of the music is by The Fall, and Mark E. Smith and Brix Smith appear in a mock interview with Clark. Additional music is provided by Glenn Branca, Bruce Gilbert (of Wire), and Jeffrey Hinton.

Using a faux-cinéma vérité style, Atlas follows a fictionalized day in Clark's life as he and his Company prepare for a performance of New Puritans (1984). The Company at that time included Gaby Agis, Leslie Bryant, Matthew Hawkins, Julie Hood, and Ellen van Schuylenburch.

The film was broadcast on 21 May 1986 on BBC's "Dance on Four" program (on Channel Four). It is distributed on DVD and VHS by Electronic Arts Intermix.

External Links

• IMDB entry
• Electronic Arts Intermix page
• Big Other article (2010)
• HTMLGIANT article (20 February 2012)
• Movie Moxie review (10 April 2008)