Yvonne Rainer

Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries 3 Beekman Street Beacon New York 12508 845 440 0100 www.diaart.org

201 2 2 201

, ,

1 1 pm and 3 pm

Dia:Chelsea Dia:Chelsea

Monday, Monday, May 14, 2012, 6:30 pm

12 12 pm and 2 pm

Babette Babette Mangolte on Yvonne Rainer

535 535 West 22nd Street 5th Floor New York City

related related program

1 1 pm and 3 pm

Program Program 3

Artists Artists on Artists Lecture Series at Dia:Chelsea

Program Program 2

Program Program 1

Saturday, Saturday, May 12, 2012

Saturday, Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26

Dia Dia Art Foundation presents

Saturday, Saturday, October 22, and Sunday, October 23, 2011

Yvonne Yvonne Rainer 'I! 'I!

Company Company

Satie. Satie.

which which

Richard Richard

Throughout Throughout

at at the Living

Erik Erik

workshop, workshop,

Dance Dance

Childs, and and Childs,

's 's

School School in New

Theater, Theater,

1961 1961

Dunn

Lucinda Lucinda

Dance Dance

Robert Robert Morris,

Forti, Forti,

Monte Monte Young. On her return

La La

choreographed choreographed her first solo

premiered premiered July in

Simone Simone

Quasi Quasi of Survey Some 'Minimalist'

"A "A

that that Rainer

upon upon her emergence as a choreographer the in

following following year, resulting from

a three-part a three-part dance set to the music of

Donald Donald Judd,

1968 1968 essay

The The

Three Satie Satie Three Spoons

1 1

's 's

Immediately Immediately

among among others, the influential Judson Dance

yearlong yearlong course

Rainer

was appointed by his mentor John John to the Cage teach mentor his now-legendary by appointed was

words words "thru a concern that each movement might be seen as more

in in New York.

Dunn Dunn

Paxton, Paxton,

cofounded, cofounded, with choreographers ,

Dunn's Dunn's

to to 1967.

Three Satie Satie Three Spoons,

1962 1962

Chronicled Chronicled in

Serra, and and Serra, many others who have been associated with a Minimalist aesthetic.

unadorned unadorned movements-walking, falling, running, interacting with objects-echoed

nounced nounced preference for a neutral coupled persona, with her proclivity for simple,

and and provided reciprocal influence on reigning precepts in visual art.

that that included Carl Andre,

the the decade, Rainer continued to immerse herself within a community of artists

Steven Steven

Rainer Rainer

As As choreographic Rainer's practice developed during the mid-1960s, her pro­

in in Rainer's

would would become the nucleus of New York's experimental dance vanguard from

Theater Theater Comprising Comprising isolated poses and repeating movement patterns that developed,

than than a fleeting form,"

work, work,

during during

workshop, workshop, which was loosely based on Cage's progressive teachings. It was

studios. studios.

avant-garde avant-garde composer Robert Dunn at the

choreographer choreographer and composer

workshop workshop in in 1960 guided the by improvisatory teachings of

to to New York that fall, she enrolled in a dance composition workshop led by

York York the in late 1950s, Rainer attended what would become an historic summer movement movement conventions and structure narrative the popularized by modern-dance

After After training for several years at the Martha Graham

autonomous autonomous dance language-rooted considering in the as body material object­

establishment. establishment. Inspired by her interest the Rainer in pioneered everyday, an to to the physicality of the body.

that that the emphasized nuances of task-oriented movement and brought attention

early early 1960s, Rainer distinguished herself challenging actively by the expressive

Central Central to Yvonne Rainer's renowned choreographic practice an is undeniable,

wistful wistful rebellion.

Yvonne Rainer Rainer Yvonne

) )

f) f)

7 7

J J

field field

DANCES DANCES

phrasing phrasing

character character

movement movement

spatial spatial

human human scale

performance performance

quality quality of parts

or or discrete events

"found" "found"

fully-extended fully-extended body

neutral neutral performance

in the in the Quantitatively

A,' A,' 1968

task task or tasklike activity

development development and climax

Trio Trio

repetition repetition

singular singular action, event, or tone

Tendencies Tendencies

variation: variation: rhythm, shape, dynamics

the the virtuosic movement feat and the

variety: variety: phrases and the

energy energy equality and

substitute substitute

eliminate eliminate or minimize

Quasi Quasi of Survey Some 'Minimalist'

"A "A

and and detail

of of the artist's hand

illusionism illusionism

role role

complexity complexity

Minimal Minimal Dance Activity Midst the Plethora, or an Analysis of

-Yvonne -Yvonne Rainer,

7. 7. human scale

1 . . factory 1 fabrication

6. 6. simplicity

5. 5. literalness

2. 2. unitary forms, modules

7. 7. monumentality

4. 4. nonreferential forms

1. 1. 3. 3. uninterrupted surface

6. 6.

5. 5.

2. 2. hierarchical relationship of parts

4. 4. figure reference

3. 3. texture OBJECTS OBJECTS

1962-

, ,

1995. 1995.

65-76. 65-76.

ed. Gregory Gregory ed.

, ,

pp. pp.

Minimal Minimal Art: A

1981 ), ), 1981

Cambridge, Cambridge, MA: MIT

(1999-2011 (1999-2011 ),

(2011 (2011 each ), of

Baltimore, Baltimore, John MD: Hopkins

(Summer (Summer

3 3

Body: Body:

"

17 17

.

s s

no. no.

no. no. 17 (Summer 1981), 67. p.

Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology A Art: Critical Minimal

Trio A A Pressured Trio

" " in

Democracy'

,

October, October,

or or An Analysis of Trio A," in

, ,

October, October,

London, London, UK: Afterall Books, 2007.

: Essays, Interviews, Interviews, Essays, : Scripts.

Cambridge, Cambridge, MA: MIT 2006. Press,

.. ..

Assisted Assisted Good Living: Sports 2

Muscle. Muscle.

a a

Being Being Watched: Rainer and Yvonne the 1960s.

ed. Gregory ed. Gregory Battcock. Berkeley: University of Press,

1999. 1999.

As As Rainer aptly wrote in 1981, can't "I beguile myself into

The Mind Mind The Is

. .

(2008), (2008), and

Feelings Feelings Are Facts.

A A Woman Who .

ography ography

i

(Durham: (Durham: Duke University Press 1993), p. 15.

Press, 2008. 2008. Press,

University University Press,

Critical Critical Anthology,

Minimal Minimal Dance Activity Midst the Plethora

1964 1964

Battcock Battcock (Berkeley: University of California Press 1995), 267. p.

Activity Activity Midst the Plethora, or an Analysis of Trio A

Lambert-Beatty, Lambert-Beatty, Carrie.

Rainer, Yvonne. Yvonne. Rainer,

Wood, Wood, Catherine. Rainer, Yvonne. Yvonne. Rainer,

Rainer, Yvonne. Yvonne. "A Rainer, Quasi Survey of Some 'Minimalist' Tendencies in the Quantitatively

Rainer, Yvonne. Yvonne. "Looking Rainer, Myself in the Mouth,'

1. 1. Yvonne "Notebook," Rainer, quoted in ,

selected selected bibl

3. 3. Yvonne "Looking Rainer, Myself in the Mouth,"

2. 2. Yvonne "A Quasi Survey of Rainer, Some 'Minimalist' Tendencies in the Quantitatively Minimal Dance

Kelly Kelly Curatorial Kivland, Associate, Dia Art Foundation

notes notes

career career in dance

early early choreographic work, as well as consider the contemporary effects of her

given given the opportunity to revisit the historical precedence of Yvonne Rainer's thinking thinking that the world has not been the same since

art art practice 960s. beyond the With each 1 program of selected works, we are

an an artist for revered her impact on dance and illuminates her influence on visual

Spiraling Down Down Spiraling

This This presentation of past and present performances simultaneously celebrates

since since her return to dance in 2000, including

which which will be performed alongside older compositions.

works, works, the program will feature recent compositions choreographed by Rainer

an an

1966), 1966),

( (

(1972), (1972),

Following Following

The The

. .

2 2

Trio A A Trio

Chair/Pillow, Chair/Pillow,

. .

1961) 1961) and

Performance Demonstration Demonstration Performance

( (

Lives Lives of Performers

1963), 1963), and

( (

(1969). (1969). addition In to the earlier

. one one . is a neutral doer."

.

(1969), (1969), which when performed at the

a a deftly constructed repeating, dance of non

We We Shall Run

(1966), (1966), along with the eleven-minute work

Three Sa tie tie Spoons Three Sa

Trio A, A, Trio

1962), 1962),

(1969), (1969), with live movement. Within the following

( (

Line Line

The The retrospective selected program, the by artist, presents key

. .

(1963), (1963), task-directed a dance in which a group of people run in

Continuous Continuous Project-Altered Daily

The The is Mind a Muscle

Three Three Seascapes

Continuous Continuous Project-Altered Daily

excerpt excerpt from

making making much of Rainer's early performance work for available new audiences in

as as well as umentation, umentation, including the celebrated images by photographers Babette Mangolte

works works from the 1960s, including

Rainer's Rainer's departure from dance, much of her choreographic work from the 1960s and and Peter Moore, and in short fragments of Rainer's films We We Shall Run

Rainer's Rainer's own short-film

The The Yvonne Rainer retrospective at Dia:Beacon marks a significant milestone in

and and early 1970s remained obscured existing memory, only in photographic doc­

the the United States

and and soon after she decided to part ways with dance, inaugurating a nearly

By By the late 1960s, Rainer's performance work began to incorporate multimedia and and

(1968), (1968), in which performers dance in front of a projection of still photography, length length work thirty-year thirty-year hiatus from live performance in sole pursuit of making films

elements, as evidenced in the two evening-length works works the two in evening-length evidenced as elements, incongruous incongruous gestures that eventually constituted the first section of the evening­ Whitney Whitney Museum of American Art in 1970, intermixed projected films, including

Her Her seminal five-minute work two two Rainer years, made her first feature-length film,

remarkably remarkably evident in the succession of works she created during these years.

reevaluated reevaluated in that action, or what one does, is more interesting and important

parallel parallel Rainer sets forth between visual art and experimental dance during

pared-down pared-down "literalness" of . Later in she her forthrightly essay, the the performance of colloquial movement.

various various yet defined floor patterns, apply a mode of composition that reconsiders

addressed addressed her thoughts on dance, stating "the artifice of performance has been

an an Analysis of Trio A," Rainer directly aligned "tasklike" choreography with the this this time and their common interests the in simplicity of "what one does" was

than than the exhibition of character and attitude . Tendencies Tendencies the in Quantitatively Minimal Dance Activity Midst the or Plethora, biography

Yvonne Rainer was born in San Francisco in 1 934. She trained as a dancer in New York at the Martha Graham Dance School and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and began to choreograph in 1960. She was a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, a movement that began in 1962 and proved to be a vital force in redefining dance for the following decades. Starting in 1968, Rainer began to integrate short films into her live performances and, by 1975, had made a com­ plete transition to filmmaking. She has since completed seven experimental feature films, and, in 1997, retrospectives of Rainer's films were held at the San Francisco and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.

In 2000, Rainer returned to dance with a commission by the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation for the White Oak Dance Project titled, After Many a Summer Dies the Swan (2000). Most recently, she choreographed AG lndexical, with a Little Help from H.M. (2006), a reinterpretation of 's Agon; RoS lndexical (2007), after 's Rite of Spring; and Spiraling Down (2008), a medita­ tion on soccer, aging, and war. In 2010, Yvonne Rainer: Dance and Film, the first major European survey of Rainer's work was presented at the Tramway in Glasgow,

Scotland. A premiere collection of Yvonne Rainer's poetry, Poems is newly released by Badlands Unlimited (2011): http://www.badlandsunlimited.com

Rainer is the recipient of numerous awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships ( 1969, 1988), three Rockefeller Fellowships ( 1988, 1990, and 1996), a MacArthur Fellowship (1990-95), and a Wexner Prize (1995) . She currently lives and works in California and New York.

This program is made possible by and Dia's Commissioning Committee: Jill and Peter Kraus, Leslie and Mac McOuown, and Liz Gerring Radke and Kirk J August Radke. Special thanks to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Front Cover: Yvonne Rainer, TrioA, 1966. Performed as part of 'This is the story of a woman who ... ,' Theater for the New City, New York, 1973. Photo: © Babette Mangolte (All Rights of Reproduction Reserved). Courtesy of Broadway 1602 , New York.