The Harvard Summer Dance Center's Tuesday night dance film series is now open to the public without admission for the first time since its inception four years ago.

Iris M. Fanger, dance critic and director of the five-year-old center, said yesterday it is "easier to show [the films] for free."

In the past, the center had to hire a policeman whenever it charged admission for the films she said. Admissions formerly varied from 50 cents to $1.

Fanger said the Summer School and the Center will absorb the extra costs this year.

She added that attendance has been so good at the film showings that "people have been turned away."

The film program began in 1973 to allow students taking the summer school dance history course a chance to see how individual dancers of the recent past actually danced.

The films, which are shown at 7:30 p.m. in the Science Center, cover many different forms of modern dance. Tonight's program includes two Doris Humphrey films, "Air for a G-String" and "Dance: Four Pioneers," and two other films.