"Dancing Deviant," a multi-media performance containing nudity and sexually explicit material, was denied funding from the Harvard Council on the Arts for Arts First Weekend.

Council members said they felt the performance, which explores sexuality, was inappropriate for the venue's wide audience.

A form letter sent by the Office for the Arts (OFA) to the producer of the performance, Dana C. Gotlieb '97, said, "the Council selected the projects which most clearly and closely fit our guidelines."

The guidelines listed for sponsorship were artistic innovation and a wide appeal among the student body. Programs initiated by organizations less than three years old were favored.

"We hope that, nonetheless, you will somehow be able to bring your good ideas to fruition," the letter concludes.

In a hand-written post-script, Myra A. Mayman, the director of the OFA, wrote, "The Council gave your application full and lengthy consideration but decided not to fund it."

"Given the broad range of audience and ages that Arts First attracts, and the casual nature of attendance," she added, "the Council thinks that Arts First isn't an appropriate forum for the play."

Despite the lack of funding, the show opened to a nearly full house last Friday in the Adams Kronauer Space.

It received alternate funding from the Undergraduate Council, the Adams House Drama Society and Open Gate, a wing of the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association.

Mark R. Talusan '97, the writer and sole performer of the show, said he believes OFA tried to place restrictions on the type of material presented in Arts First.

"It's not representative of all student arts anymore. It's a packaged event," he said. "It smacks of censorship."

Talusan, who is still listed as a member of the Arts First planning board, added that the OFA never proposed a compromise on the issue, such as asking him to include warnings about the show's explicit content on his posters.

The Arts First brochure has a symbol denoting performances suitable for children.

According to Mayman, the OFA did not censor the performance by deciding not to fund it. She said Talusan could have been included in the Arts First brochure and used the logo on his posters.

"Anybody who wants to be listed in the pamphlet can be," she said, adding that Talusan should not have assumed that his performance was banned from Arts First.

But Talusan said that is exactly what he assumed because none of the information the OFA sent to artists expressed that non-funded projects could be included in the brochure.