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 Trisha Brown,
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 Merce Cunningham
choreographer choreographer Anna Halprin and composer
workshop workshop in San Francisco 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: Judson Dance Theater
"
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 California 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 Sally Banes,
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 Minimalism. 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 Museum of Modern Art 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 George Balanchine's Agon; RoS lndexical (2007), after Vaslav Nijinsky'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 Yoko Ono 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.