Dance was Shirley Clarke’s first creative outlet of choice, and even after she discovered a new vocation in cinema she would continue to think in terms of the expressive possibilities of rhythm, choreography, and free movement. A standout in the overwhelmingly male New American Cinema Group that was coming together in New York City under Jonas Mekas in the 50s and ’60s , Clarke was also one of its great organizers and creators, helping to develop the verité style while raising difficult questions about the potentially exploitative relationship between observer and subject.