CONCERT L * Ruth Emerson * Paxton {Judson Church) Narrative

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

CONCERT L * Ruth Emerson * Paxton {Judson Church) Narrative JUDSO N CONC ERT l {Judson Church) * Ruth Emerson Narrative - (also Concert 2) * Paxton Proxy * Summers Instant Chance (also Concert 2) -1c Fred Herko Once or Twice a Week * Gordo n Mannequin Dance McDowe l l February Fun Rainer Ordinary Dance Debora h Hay Ra in Fur CONCERT 2 (Judson Church) Overtu re Elizabeth Keen .. .. .. Dawning CO NC ERT 3 ( Judson Church) * Rainer We Shall Run * Paxton - Rainer Words, Words * Emerson Giraffe Bi 11 Davis Field Schneeman News paper Event CONCERT 4 (Jud son Church * Childs Pastime * Trisha Brown Lightfall Huot - Morris War * Deborah Hay City Dance Ailene Rothlein It Seemed to Me There Was Dust * Judith Dunn Index Philip Corner Ce rtain Distilling Process JUDSON pa ge 2 EVENING OF DANCE APRIL 28, 29 - 1963 (Judson Churc h) * Rainer Terra in CONCERT 5 (i n Washington D.C.) * Trisha Brown Trillium (see al so Conce rt 7) * D. Gordon Rand om Breakfast (see also 1st N.Y. Theatre Rally) Rainer Di agonal * Ra uschenberg Pelican POCKET FOLLIES (Pocket Thea tre) * Geo. Brecht Transformation Artist ,, He rko - Ma 11 e Cl eanliness Event * Morris/Johnston New Poses Plastique * McDowel l Three Pas de Deux (see also Concert 6) * Aileen Passloff Boa Constrictor Compend i um of Everybody's Remarks - James Marine * Trisha Brown ........... Excentrique Americane CONCERT 6 (Judson Ch urch ) Lucinda Chi l ds Three Pi ece * Mc Dowell Eight Pas de Deux, etc. Stackhouse - Schlighter Fauna * Bob Morris Arizona CONCERT 7 _(Judson Church ) * Pe rez Take Your Alligator With You (see also Concert 10) * Deborah Hay All Day Dance Elizabeth Keen .. Bird Poem * Schneeman Chromolodeon JUDSON page 3 CONCERT 8 (Judson Churc h) Arlene Rothlein Anot her Letter Judith Dunn Speed Limit (see also Concert 5) * Philip Corner Fl ares CONCERT 9 (Gramercy Art s Thea tre) * Sally Gross Back Country * Lucinda Childs "M inus Au di tori um II Jud ith Dunn Acapulc o (see al so Surp1us Da nc e) CONCERT 10 (Gramercy Arts Theatre) Elaine Summers Country Houses * Elizabeth Ke en Blinkers , etc. Beverly Schmidt The Seasons CONCERT 11 iGramercy Arts Theatre) Susan Kantman Animals James Tenney Dialogue (also Brian de Palma film) CONC ERT 12 (Gramercy Arts Thea tre) * James Waring. Inperceptible Elongation Al Hansen Pa rasol 4 Mari sol * Ailene Rothlein Mornis Raga With Yellow Chair (see also i! Events and Entertainments - Pocket Theatre March 16 1 64) JUD SON POETS THEATRE (Oct. 4, 1 63 Jud son Ch urch) * "What Ha ppened 11 Stein/Carmine s JU DS ON page 4 Oct. 6, 1 63 11 Afternoon 11 (Berkley Heights, N.J.) * Collaborative Event with Charles Ross * Schneemann Lateral Splay * Alex Hay Prairie * Ra i ner & Ross Room Service (see also N.Y. Theatre Rally) Luc inda Childs Egg Deal Corner Intermission Dec . 6,7 1 63 "Motorcycle" (Ju dson Chu rch Choreographer - Judith Dunn with Ch ilds, Emerson, etc. - Lighting Rauschenberg Jan. 30 1 64 CONCERT FOR NEW PLATZ NewPl atz N. Y.) Rauschenberg Shotput (see also Surplus) * Childs Cancellation Simple (see also Surplus) * Rainer At My Bod ies House (sound - Kluver) Alex Hay Colorado Plateau (see also Surplus) Deb Hay They Wi 11 SURPLUS DANCE THEATRE (Stage 73) Paxton (Flat) (see New Platz) * Morris Site (see: Events & Entertai nments & Concert 16, & N.Y. Thea t re Rally) Rainer Dialogues (see: Events & Entertainments & Concert 16, & N. Y. Theatre Ra l ly) Albert Reid Brief Glossery of Personal Movements (see also Concert 16) JUDSON pag e 5 ·CONCERT 15 (Judson Church) William Davis. Sulfurs Carl a Plank Pot Luck Judith Dunn Natural History CONCERT 16 (J ud son Church) * Fred Herko Vil 1ane 11 e * Sally Gross Conjunction * Lucinda Childs Carnation (see also N.Y. Theatre Rally) May 19, 20 1 64 - JAMES WARING DANCE CO . (Judson Church) (Double Cover to ( -- ? (Stanzas ( (Dromenon Oct . 19 - 21 '64 (Judson Church) A co ll ab roative Event - Judith Dunn, etc. Nov . 5 • 64 (Judson Church) Ceremony for Fred Herke Nov. 16 - 18 1 64 (Judson Chu rch) * Carolee Schneeman "Meat Joy Jan 24,25 1 65 CONCERT OF DANCE (Judson Church) Susan Kaufman Toby Armour JUDSO N page 6 March 23 - 25 RAINER & MORRIS (Judson Church) * Rainer Parts of some Sextets * Morris Waterman Switch April 20, 21 1 65 DANCE BY 5 (Judson Church) Monk Cartoon Carla Plank Speed May 1 65 1st N. Y. THEATRE RALLY (81st & Broadway) (J im Din e Natural History) * Trisha Brown Rulegame 5 Debo rah Hay Vi ct ory 14 * Rauschenberg Spri ng Training (Bob Whitman's Night Time Sky an d Shower) (Oldenbu rg 's . Wa shes) Jan. 10/12 1 66 A DANCE CONCERT OF OLD AND NEW WORKS (Judson Church) * Rainer The Mind is a Muscle Pt. I Paxton New Work Gordon Helen's Dance, Walks & Digressions April 5 ,6 11 66 CONCERT OF DANCE (Judson Church) * Monk The Beach - Portable * King Camouflage - Blow Out * Neville Move .
Recommended publications
  • What Is a Dance? in 3 Dances, Gene Friedman Attempts to Answer Just That, by Presenting Various Forms of Movement. the Film Is D
    GENE FRIEDMAN 3 Dances What is a dance? In 3 Dances, Gene Friedman attempts to answer just that, by presenting various forms of movement. The film is divided into three sections: “Public” opens with a wide aerial shot of The Museum of Modern Art’s Sculpture Garden and visitors walking about; “Party,” filmed in the basement of Judson Memorial Church, features the artists Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Robert Rauschenberg, and Steve Paxton dancing the twist and other social dances; and “Private” shows the dancer Judith Dunn warming up and rehearsing in her loft studio, accompanied by an atonal vocal score. The three “dances” encompass the range of movement employed by the artists, musicians, and choreographers associated with Judson Dance Theater. With its overlaid exposures, calibrated framing, and pairing of distinct actions, Friedman’s film captures the group’s feverish spirit. WORKSHOPS In the late 1950s and early 1960s, three educational sites were formative for the group of artists who would go on to establish Judson Dance Theater. Through inexpensive workshops and composition classes, these artists explored and developed new approaches to art making that emphasized mutual aid and art’s relationship to its surroundings. The choreographer Anna Halprin used improvisation and simple tasks to encourage her students “to deal with ourselves as people, not dancers.” Her classes took place at her home outside San Francisco, on her Dance Deck, an open-air wood platform surrounded by redwood trees that she prompted her students to use as inspiration. In New York, near Judson Memorial Church, the ballet dancer James Waring taught a class in composition that brought together different elements of a theatrical performance, much like a collage.
    [Show full text]
  • Judson Dance Theater: the Work Is Never Done
    Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done The Museum of Modern Art, New York September 16, 2018-February 03, 2019 MoMA, 11w53, On View, 2nd Floor, Atrium MoMA, 11w53, On View, 2nd Floor, Contemporary Galleries Gallery 0: Atrium Complete Charles Atlas video installation checklist can be found in the brochure Posters CAROL SUMMERS Poster for Elaine Summers’ Fantastic Gardens 1964 Exhibition copy 24 × 36" (61 × 91.4 cm) Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library, GIft of Elaine Summers Gallery 0: Atrium Posters Poster for an Evening of Dance 1963 Exhibition copy Yvonne Rainer Papers, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Gallery 0: Atrium Posters Poster for Concert of Dance #13, Judson Memorial Church, New York (November 19– 20, 1963) 1963 11 × 8 1/2" (28 × 21.6 cm) Judson Memorial Church Archive, Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University Libraries Gallery 0: Atrium Posters Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done Gallery 0: Atrium Posters Poster for Concert of Dance #5, America on Wheels, Washington, DC (May 9, 1963) 1963 8 1/2 × 11" (21.6 × 28 cm) Judson Memorial Church Archive, Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University Libraries Gallery 0: Atrium Posters Poster for Steve Paxton’s Afternoon (a forest concert), 101 Appletree Row, Berkeley Heights, New Jersey (October 6, 1963) 1963 8 1/2 × 11" (21.6 × 28 cm) Judson Memorial Church Archive, Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University Libraries Gallery 0: Atrium Posters Flyer for
    [Show full text]
  • Letters from Yvonne Rainer, Meredith Monk, Kenneth King
    Letters from Yvonne Rainer, Meredith Monk, Kenneth King In her New Yorker column of June 30 temporary American dance, perform- dance critic Arlene Croce claimed that ance art and theatre - and critics who R.E.: Robert Wilson "as a writer and director have a historical grasp of the overlapping of esoteric visionary plays and as a performance and art worlds - has con- teacher of movement has been the biggest tributed to the confusion in the perform- influence, after Cunningham, on chore- ance world. Critics and audiences alike ographers working today." Croce disre- have trouble deciding who's influencing CROCE garded the early work of Yvonne Rainer, who these days. Some of those artists Kenneth King, Meredith Monk, Lucinda angry enough to respond to Croce in Childs. and the Judson Dance Theatre. print have forwarded their letters to LIVE for publication. The absence of accurate histories of con- The Editors Dear Arlene: other than a sequence of one-man/woman epiphanies. Things are May I add my two-cents plain to the brouhaha accruing from your always more complicated than that. True, Cunningham/Cage were article of June 30? Insofar as Kenneth King has done so admirable doing their thing 30 years ago. But why was their influence a job (and one with which I largely concur) on the Monk-King-- in the dance world not felt in any visible degree until 1960? Clear- Dean-Wilson-Glass connections, let me confine my remarks to my ly it required a convergence of a number of people from different own peers. For this purpose I am enclosing a crudely drawn-and areas of art-making to manifest the ideas that in the intervening vastly oversimplified-genealogy chart which adds several 10 years had lain fallow.
    [Show full text]
  • The Archeology of ''Street Dance'' by Lucinda Childs
    The archeology of ”Street Dance” by Lucinda Childs Julie Perrin To cite this version: Julie Perrin. The archeology of ”Street Dance” by Lucinda Childs. Danza e ricerca. Laboratorio di studi, scritture, visioni, Dipartimento delle Arti, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, 2019, pp.93-109. 10.6092/issn.2036-1599/10294. hal-02455404 HAL Id: hal-02455404 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02455404 Submitted on 26 Jan 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Julie Perrin The archeology of Street Dance by Lucinda Childs The document is not the fortunate tool of a history that is primarily and fundamentally memory; history is one way in which a society recognizes and develops a mass of documentation with which it is inextricably linked. Michel Foucault 1 The six-minute choreography takes place in front of Wells Fargo History Museum in Philadelphia. Two dancers, Janet Pilla and Michele Tantoco, wearing shorts and a brightly colored top, are clearly addressing an audience using strong mimicry, smiles, poses or large movements. They seem like gra- ceful, athletic and cheerful receptionists. We can hear the audience laugh, probably positioned on the 1st floor of the opposite building.
    [Show full text]
  • Thesis Pages
    SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... Collaboration, Movement, Projection: The Interdisciplinary Structure of Lucinda Childs’s Dance, 1979 A Thesis Presented by Jennifer Hasher Goldstein to The Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Art History and Criticism Stony Brook University May 2010 Copyright by Jennifer Hasher Goldstein 2010 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Jennifer Hasher Goldstein We, the thesis committee for the above candidate for the Master of Arts degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this thesis. Andrew V. Uroskie – Thesis Advisor Assistant Professor, Department of Art Zabet Patterson – Second Reader Assistant Professor, Department of Art This thesis is accepted by the Graduate School Lawrence Martin Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Thesis Collaboration, Movement, Projection: The Interdisciplinary Structure of Lucinda Childs’s Dance, 1979 by Jennifer Hasher Goldstein Master of Arts in Art History and Criticism Stony Brook University 2010 In 1979, postmodern choreographer Lucinda Childs, minimalist composer Philip Glass, and minimalist artist Sol LeWitt combined their disparate mediums to create a collaborative, multimedia performance titled, simply, Dance. To date, this interdisciplinary
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Released for Review Purposes Only. Not for Publication Or Wide Distribution
    JUDSON Giampaolo Bianconi is Thomas J. Lax is Associate Julia Robinson is Associate In the early 1960s, an assembly of choreographers, visual artists, composers, and Curatorial Assistant in the Curator in the Department of Professor of Modern and filmmakers made use of a church in New York’s Greenwich Village to present Judson Dance Theater The Work Is Never Done Department of Media and Media and Performance Art Contemporary Art at New performances that redefined the kinds of movement that could be understood as Performance Art at MoMA. at MoMA. York University. She is the dance—performances that Village Voice critic Jill Johnston would declare the most editor of the October Files exciting in a generation. The group was Judson Dance Theater, its name borrowed Harry C. H. Choi is a Twelve- Victor “Viv” Liu was a volume John Cage (2011) from Judson Memorial Church, the socially engaged Protestant congregation Month Intern in the Department Seasonal Intern in the and the author of a forthcom- that hosted the dancers’ open workshops. The Judson artists emphasized new DANCE of Media and Performance Art Department of Media and ing book on George Brecht. compositional methods meant to strip dance of its theatrical conventions and fore- at MoMA. Performance Art at MoMA. Robinson is an active curator. grounded “ordinary” movements—gestures more likely to be seen on the street or at home. Although Judson Dance Theater would last only a few years, the artists affili- Vivian A. Crockett is the Jenny Harris is Curatorial Gloria Sutton is Associate ated with it, including Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Philip Corner, Bill Dixon, Judith 2017–18 Andrew W.
    [Show full text]
  • For a Brief Period in the Early 1960S, a Group of Choreographers, Visual
    For a brief period in the early 1960s, a group of choreographers, visual artists, composers, and filmmakers made use of a local church to present performances that Village Voice critic Jill Johnston declared the most exciting new developments in dance in a generation. Redefining the kinds of movement that could count as dance, the Judson participants—Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Philip Corner, Bill Dixon, Judith Dunn, David Gordon, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Fred Herko, Robert Morris, Steve Paxton, Rudy Perez, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, Carolee Schneemann, and Elaine Summers, among others—would go on to profoundly shape all fields of art in the second half of the 20th century. Taking its name from the Judson Memorial Church, a socially engaged Protestant congregation in New York’s Greenwich Village, Judson Dance Theater was organized as a series of open workshops from which its participants developed performances. Together, the artists challenged traditional understandings of choreography, expanding dance in ways that reconsidered its place in the world. They employed new compositional methods to strip dance of its theatrical conventions, incorporating “ordinary” movements—gestures typical of the street or home, for example, rather than a stage—into their work, along with games, simple tasks, and social dances to infuse their pieces with a sense of spontaneity. Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done highlights the ongoing significance of the history of Judson Dance Theater, beginning with the workshops and classes led by Anna Halprin, Robert Ellis Dunn, and James Waring and exploring the influence of other figures working downtown such as Simone Forti and Andy Warhol, as well as venues for collective action like Judson Gallery and the Living Theatre.
    [Show full text]
  • Spaces of Performance: by Rachel Meade Smith Considering Event, Agency and Routine1
    Spaces of performance: by rachel meade smith Considering Event, Agency and Routine1 This selection of entries threads together diverse takes on the space of performance, including notable mo- ments and individuals within traditional performance design (scenography), and spatial and social concepts related to diverse notions of “performativity.” The topic of performance is broadly defined in this work, encompassing interpretations relating to live arts, social and political performance. By putting in conver- sation these alternately explicit and implicit notions of performance, I propose that space and design are distinct actors in both traditional performance and the performance of everyday life and everyday agency. This proposition begs the question of how designers can implement performative thinking towards creating experiences of engagement, agency, and an interactive public life. I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theater to be engaged. —Peter Brook, The Empty Space PLOT(S) 014 issue 2 ADOLPHE APPIA Swiss scenographer Adolphe Appia is heralded as one of the first practitioners to critically consider design’s agency in staged performance. Rejecting the over- ly spectacular and 3D illusory sets that had dominated popular theater since the Renaissance, Appia proposed a modernist paradigm wherein design attended to the relation between actors’ movements, light, and sound, as opposed to the goal of realist representation. Working with famed compos- er Richard Wagner, Appia’s designs aligned with the ideal of gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art.
    [Show full text]
  • JAMES WARING - Wait Inna Larry Richardson Dance Gallery Lobby - After David’S Sole Solo Concert
    David Gordon ‘70s ARCHIVEOGRAPHY - Part 3 1 #1 1973 - VALDA SETTERFIELD and JAMES WARING - wait inna Larry Richardson Dance Gallery lobby - after David’s sole solo concert - FRIEND AND MENTOR - JAMES WARING - DIES OF LUNG CANCER - DECEMBER 2, 1975. David Gordon ‘70s ARCHIVEOGRAPHY - Part 3 2 é çcollages by James Waring ê ç Composer John Herbert McDowell visits Jimmy. #1 Inna ‘60s n’’70s - Jimmy Waring lives at 131 Avenue A. Valda’s and David’s 1st apartment. Moves in when they move out. Jimmy babysits once’n claims - Valda says - he teaches baby Ain Gordon to say yogurt - and Max Ernst. #2 David hears Jimmy ain’t well. Finds reasons to not visit. Ain’t been in the Avenue A apartment - since they moved out. Braver Valda calls’n makes a date - for them to visit Jimmy together. ç Jimmy’s inna living room - in fronta - my old cork wall - David says - surrounded by old postcards n’photosa pretty boys’n art objects. #1 Jimmy holds a mug in his fine fingers and coughs gently. Spits bits of phlegm once in a while. And sniffs the old sniff. David babbles on quietly’n self consciously about art’n artists. People they both know‘n knew - and who’s doing upcoming what. No mention is made of Jimmy’s illness - David says. Then they say goodbye. David Gordon ‘70s ARCHIVEOGRAPHY - Part 3 3 #2 David’n Valda go back 1 more time to 131 Avenue A - before the city confiscates alla Jimmy’s belongings. We gather’n pack up - David says - old postcards - antique ribbons’n beaded’n handsewn objets.
    [Show full text]
  • A Conversation with David Vaughan by Rebecca Hadley
    Fall2012 Ballet Review From the Fall 2012 issue of Ballet Review A Conversation with David Vaughan by Rebecca Hadley Cover Photograph by Costas: Karl Paquette in Giselle at Lincoln Center Festival 2012. 4 Moscow – Clement Crisp 5 Wolfsburg – Darrell Wilkins 7 Chicago – Leigh Witchel 9 Birmingham – David Mead 11 New York – Harris Green 12 London – Leigh Witchel 15 New York – Don Daniels 17 Paris – Clement Crisp 18 Toronto – Gary Smith 19 St. Petersburg – Kevin Ng 78 21 New York – Sandra Genter 22 Budapest & Vienna – Leigh Witchel Tim Scholl 26 Serenade: From Giselle to Georgia Joel Lobenthal 36 L’École de la Danse Rebecca Hadley 48 A Conversation with David Va ughan 26 Ballet Review 40.3 Fall 2012 Jay Rogoff 56 Two Weeks in Another Town Editor and Designer: Marvin Hoshino Carla DeFord Managing Editor: 65 A Conversation with Maina Gielgud Roberta Hellman Senior Editor: Janet Mansfield Soares Don Daniels 68 An Ocean Apart Associate Editor: Joel Lobenthal Ian Spencer Bell 56 Associate Editor: 76 Running Upstairs Larry Kaplan Jeffrey Gantz Copy Editor: 78 Pathway to Success Barbara Palfy Photographers: Joel Lobenthal Tom Brazil 84 A Conversation with Karl Paquette Costas Associates: 91 London Reporter – Clement Crisp Peter Anastos Robert Gres kovic 94 First Position – Jeffrey Gantz George Jackson 94 Music on Disc – George Dorris Elizabeth Kendall 68 Paul Parish Nancy Reynolds James Sutton David Vaughan Edward Willinger Cover Photograph by Costas: Karl Paquette in Giselle Sarah C. Woodcock at Lincoln Center Festival 2012. A Conversation with cided that we should do something. What I was doing was the first time, as far as I know, that David Vaughan anyone did that on a regular basis with a dance company.
    [Show full text]
  • Andy Warhol, Fred Herko, and Dance
    Real PRofessionals? Andy Warhol, Fred Herko, and Dance Paisid Aramphongphan f all the Judson Dance Theater dancers, Andy Warhol was “absolutely fasci- nated with” Fred Herko, the relatively unknown Judsonite who jumped out Oof a window to his death in 1964.1 Prior to Herko’s untimely death, Warhol had captured his dance on film. Recently preserved and made available for public screening, Jill and Freddy Dancing (4 minutes, silent, black & white) is a gem of a short. It brings together Herko and the Village Voice dance critic and Judson Dance Theater champion Jill Johnston, showing their dancing on a New York rooftop, antici- pating the rooftop dances of Trisha Brown a decade later. From above, the camera shows the rectangular shape of their dancing space that, cordoned off with railings reminiscent of the ballet barre, is like an outdoor dance studio. The film starts with Johnston, tall and slim in a long dress, with long hair, standing on a chair close to the middle of the frame. She unwinds her arms and sways her hips in a rhythmic motion. Herko, slim, muscular, shirtless and in tights, enters from the left with a regal bearing. He dances around her, executing precise balletic turns and arresting jumps. Johnston holds her own as Herko goes all out. Later they dance opposite one another, feeding off each other’s movement. His torso erect throughout, Herko is formal as he approaches her, taking deliberate long steps with arms raised high in the balletic fourth and fifth positions. Johnston faces him and responds to his movement, sometimes mirroring him but deliberately adding her own looser twist, at times seemingly drunk.
    [Show full text]
  • An Historical Perspective on Lucinda Childs' Calico Mingling
    arts Article Towards an Embodied Abstraction: An Historical Perspective on Lucinda Childs’ Calico Mingling (1973) Lou Forster 1,2 1 Centre de Recherche sur les Arts et le Langage, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 75006 Paris, France; [email protected] 2 Institut National D’histoire de L’art, 75002 Paris, France Abstract: In the 1970s, choreographer Lucinda Childs developed a reductive form of abstraction based on graphic representations of her dance material, walking, and a specific approach towards its embodiment. If her work has been described through the prism of minimalism, this case study on Calico Mingling (1973) proposes a different perspective. Based on newly available archival documents in Lucinda Childs’s papers, it traces how track drawing, the planimetric representation of path across the floor, intersected with minimalist aesthetics. On the other hand, it elucidates Childs’s distinctive use of literacy in order to embody abstraction. In this respect, the choreographer’s approach to both dance company and dance technique converge at different influences, in particular modernism and minimalism, two parallel histories which have been typically separated or opposed. Keywords: reading; abstraction; minimalism; technique; collaboration; embodiment; geometric abstraction; modernism 1. Introduction On the 7 December 1973, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, four women Citation: Forster, Lou. 2021. performed Calico Mingling, the latest group piece by Lucinda Childs. The soles of white Towards an Embodied Abstraction: sneakers, belonging to Susan Brody, Judy Padow, Janice Paul and Childs, resonated on the An Historical Perspective on Lucinda wood floor of the Madison Avenue, building with a sustained tempo.
    [Show full text]