POST-MODERNISM

BY THE MIDDLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY A NEW REVOLT IN MODERN DANCE BEGAN IN REACTION TO THE TIRESOME IMITATORS OF THE EARLY PIONEERS.

THE TECHNIQUE BECAME TOO SLICK WITHOUT AN EMOTIONAL SOURCE OF THE GESTURE.

A TREND IN ALL THE ARTS WAS HAPPENING IN THE 1950’S AND 60’S.

THEY REBELLED AGAINST CONVENTIONAL STRUCTURES SUCH AS THEME AND DEVELOPMENT, CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION, OR CONTRAST AND UNITY.

THEY FOCUSED ON THE MATERIALS OF THEIR ART.

THE CONCEPT WAS AS IMPORTANT IF NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ARTWORK ITSELF.

THEORIES OF CHANCE

THEY TURNED TO EASTERN PHILOSOPHIES AND THEORIES OF CHANCE AND INDETERMINACY.

THEY WANTED TO ERASE THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN ART FORMS AND BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN ART AND LIFE.

THEY INVITED THEIR AUDIENCES TO PARTICIPATE WITH THEM IN ART EVENTS.IN MUSIC WE HEAR ELECTRONIC AND COMPUTER GENERATED SOUNDS.

IN ART WE SEE REPRESENTATIONS OF FAMILIAR OBJECTS LIKE SOUP CANS.IN THEATRE AND DANCE WE HAVE HAPPENINGS OR PERFORMANCE ART.

HAPPENINGS

THIS IS A PLANNED ACTIVITY BY ONE OR SEVERAL ARTISTS WITH ROOM FOR IMPROVISATION AND UNPLANNED OCCURRENCES.

IT EMBODIED TWO IDEAS

1. ART IS PLAY. THE PLAYER OBSERVES OR IS AWARE OF THE GAME.

2. THE ARTWORK MAY BE CONSUMED OR USED UP IN THE PROCESS OF CREATION.

HAPPENING

ANN HALPRIN HAPPENING

MERCE CUNNINGHAM

1919-

BORN IN CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON, RECEIVED HIS FIRST FORMAL DANCE AND THEATER TRAINING AT THE CORNISH SCHOOL IN SEATTLE.

FROM 1939 TO 1945, HE WAS A SOLOIST IN THE COMPANY OF MARTHA GRAHAM.

AFTER FIVE YEARS AS A SOLOIST IN THE COMPANY OF MARTHA GRAHAM, HE BEGAN CHOREOGRAPHING INDEPENDENTLY.

HE PRESENTED HIS FIRST NEW YORK SOLO CONCERT WITH JOHN CAGE IN APRIL 1944.

THEN IN 1953 HE FORMED HIS OWN COMPANY, WHOSE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY WAS CELEBRATED IN 2003.

HE IS THE OUTSTANDING DANCE ARTIST OF THE AVANT-GARDE.

MERCE CUNNINGHAM

MERCE CUNNINGHAM

1. HIS STYLE WAS FOR AND ABOUT MOVEMENT FOR MOVEMENT’S SAKE. IT PRESENTED TRAINED BODIES WITH EXPRESSIONLESS FACES MOVING IN SPACE.

2. DANCE DISPERSED WITH RECOGNIZABLE THEMES AND STRUCTURES. THE ARTISTS WORKED BY CHANCE METHODS.

3. THE ACCOMPANIMENT MIGHT BE SILENCE, MUSIC HAVING NO CONNECTION TO THE ACTION, OR WORDS UTTERED BY THE PERFORMERS THEMSELVES.

MANY AUDIENCE MEMBERS WERE ALIENATED BY THE ABSENCE OF CLEAR CONTENT, AND BY THE LACK OF CONNECTION WITH THE SOUND-SCORE ACCOMPANIMENT, WHICH FEATURED NERVE-SHATTERING VOLUME AND DISCORDANT SHRIEKS.

IMPORTANT WORKS

A. SUMMERSPACE

B. INTERSCAPE

C. WINTERBRANCH

D. HOW TO PASS, KICK, FALL AND RUN

E. RAINFOREST

F. BIPED

SUMMERSPACE

INTERSCAPE

HOW TO PASS, KICK, FALL, AND RUN

EVENTS

N 1964 HE STARTED A SERIES OF EVENTS.

IN THESE EVENTS STAGED FOR THE VENUE IT WAS BEING PERFORMED IN AND THE DANCERS USED CHANCE TO DECIDE WHAT MOVEMENT THEY WOULD DO (TAKEN FROM SEVERAL OF HIS PREVIOUSLY CHOREOGRAPHED WORKS) AND WHEN AND WHERE THEY WOULD DO IT.

EVENT 2002

COMPOSITIONAL STYLE

THE OUTSTANDING FEATURE OF CUNNINGHAM’S COMPOSITIONS IS THEIR ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS OF MOVEMENT AND ITS VARIATIONS.

HIS CHOREOGRAPHY IS ABOUT MOVEMENT. HE BEGINS WITH MOVING AROUND.

HE OFTEN USED MOVEMENT IDEAS. FOR EXAMPLE, VARIOUS KINDS OF FALLS OR STEPS THAT CARRY ONE THROUGH SPACE, OR VARIOUS WAYS PEOPLE COULD BE TOGETHER BY SUPPORTING EACH OTHER OR HANGING ON TO EACH OTHER OR BE ATTACHED WITHOUT HOLDING.

PHILOSOPHY

HE USED CHANCE TO DEVELOP HIS MATERIAL AND AS A WAY OF FREEING HIS IMAGINATION FROM ITS OWN CLICHÉS.

HE BELIEVED THE SOUNDS, MOVEMENTS, AND DECOR ARE MADE SEPARATELY. THEY ARE THREE SEPARATE ENTITIES THAT ARE ALLOWED TO COEXIST.

HIS DANCES OFTEN PRODUCE AN EFFECT BUT HE DOESN’T PLAN IT SPECIFICALLY.MERCE WANTS YOU TO MAKE OF THE EXPERIENCE WHATEVER YOU WILL.

HIS PIONEERING WORK IN VIDEO AND FILM ENLARGED THE POSSIBILITIES OF CHOREOGRAPHY FOR THE CAMERA.

HE HAS BEEN EXTENDING THE FRONTIERS OF CHOREOGRAPHY FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, MOST RECENTLY WITH HIS USE OF THE COMPUTER PROGRAM, LIFE FORMS.

ALWIN NIKOLAIS1910-1993

NIKOLAIS WAS NOT ONLY A CHOREOGRAPHER BUT A BRILLIANT ALL AROUND THEATRE ARTIST WITH A BACKGROUND IN STAGECRAFT, MUSIC, AND PUPPETRY.

HIS STYLE RESEMBLES CUNNINGHAM’S IN THAT ITS CONTENT LIES IN THE ART FORM ITSELF, RATHER THAN IN DRAMATIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR EMOTIONAL STATEMENTS.

HE TOOK DANCE CLASSES AT A WIGMAN SCHOOL. HE STUDIED WITH HANYA HOLM AT BENNINGTON COLLEGE. HE BECAME HER ASSISTANT AND THEN HEAD OF THE DANCE DEPT. AT HENRY ST. PLAYHOUSE.

IT WAS AT HENRY STREET THAT NIKOLAIS BEGAN TO DEVELOP HIS OWN WORLD OF ABSTRACT DANCE THEATRE, PORTRAYING MAN AS PART OF A TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, AND STARTED HIS COMPANY.

ALWIN NIKOLAIS

COLLABORATION

IT WAS AT HENRY STREET PLAYHOUSE THAT NIKOLAIS WAS JOINED BY MURRAY LOUIS, WHO WAS TO BECOME A DRIVING FORCE IN THE PLAYHOUSE COMPANY, NIKOLAIS' LEADING DANCER, AND LONGTIME COLLABORATOR.

IN 1951, LOUIS WAS APPOINTED ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR TO NIKOLAIS AND BECAME A PARTNER IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE AESTHETIC AND PEDAGOGIC THEORY, WHICH TODAY IS KNOWN AS THE NIKOLAIS/LOUIS TECHNIQUE.

THE MURRAY LOUIS DANCE COMPANY WAS FOUNDED IN 1953.

ALWIN NIKOLAIS MURRAY LOUIS

ALWIN NIKOLAIS

NIKOLAIS REDEFINED DANCE, AS THE ART OF MOTION WHICH, LEFT ON ITS OWN MERITS, BECOMES THE MESSAGE AS WELL AS THE MEDIUM.

NIKOLAIS PLANNED, CONTROLLED, AND CREATED ALL THE ELEMENTS OF HIS PIECES MORE THAN ANY OTHER CHOREOGRAPHER.

HE CREATED EVERYTHING: THE THEME, THE MOVEMENT, THE ELECTRONIC SCORE, THE LIGHTING, AND THE DESIGNS FOR PROPS AND COSTUMES.

HE HAS PERSONALLY TRAINED ALL HIS DANCERS AS DID CUNNINGHAM. HIS DANCERS BECAME UNISEX INSTRUMENTS LOST BEHIND THE MASKS, TUBES, AND MATERIALS THAT COVERED THEM.

HE APPROACHED HIS WORK LIKE A SCIENCE FICTION WRITER. HE SET UP THE ENVIRONMENT THEN EXPERIMENTED WITH THE MOVEMENT POSSIBILITIES.

IMPORTANT WORKS

A. MASKS, PROPS AND MOBILES

B. KALEIDOSCOPE

C. TENSILE INVOLVEMENT

D. CRUCIBLE

E. ALLEGORY

F. SANCTUM

MASKS, PROPS, AND MOBILES

KALEIDOSCOPEMURRAY LOUIS 3RD FROM LEFT

TENSILE INVOLVEMENT

CRUCIBLE

ALLEGORY

SANCTUM

NIKOLAIS

HE HAS BEEN HIGHLY PRAISED FOR HIS ORIGINALITY. OTHERS HAVE CRITICIZED HIM FOR DEHUMANIZING THE ART OF DANCE.

HE WANTS AUDIENCES TO WATCH HIS DANCES LIKE THEY MIGHT LISTEN TO MUSIC, TO ENJOY THE SIGHT OF MOTION AND LET IT CREATE WITHIN THEM THEIR OWN REFERENCES AND UNDERSTANDINGS.

JUDSON CHURCH

ROBERT DUNN STARTED A DANCE COMPOSITION CLASS AT CUNNINGHAM’S STUDIO. HE GAVE CONCERTS WITH HIS STUDENTS AT THE JUDSON CHURCH WHICH BECAME KNOWN AS THE JUDSON DANCE THEATRE.

THE GROUP OF ARTISTS THAT FORMED JUDSON DANCE THEATER ARE CONSIDERED THE FOUNDERS OF POSTMODERN DANCE. THE CHOREOGRAPHERS WERE UNITED IN THEIR REJECTION OF TRADITIONAL FORM AND TECHNIQUE, OF NARRATIVE AND OVERT THEATRICALITY, ALTHOUGH THEY CHOSE DIFFERENT WAYS OF EXPRESSING THEIR RADICALISM.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF JUDSON DANCE THEATER WAS THE COLLABORATION OF VISUAL ARTISTS (SUCH AS ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG) AND COMPOSERS WHO ALSO MADE CHOREOGRAPHY.

ARTISTS OF JUDSON DANCE THEATRE

A. TRISHA BROWN

B. LUCINDA CHILDS

C. DAVID GORDON

D. MEREDITH MONK

E. STEVE PAXTON

F. YVONNE RAINER

TRISHA BROWN

LUCINDA CHILDS

MEREDITH MONK

STEVE PAXTON

YVONNE RAINER

JUDSON DANCE THEATRE

THE MEMBERS OF THE JUDSON DANCE THEATER WERE BOTH TRAINED DANCERS, AS WELL AS, UNTRAINED VISUAL ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, POETS, AND EVEN FILMMAKERS.

THE JUDSON DANCE THEATER COLLECTIVE LASTED FROM 1962-1964 AND MANY OF THE DANCERS WENT ON TO FORM THEIR OWN COMPANIES.

PAUL TAYLOR

1930-

HE WAS A SWIMMER AND STUDENT OF PAINTING AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY IN THE LATE 1940S UNTIL HE DISCOVERED DANCE, WHICH HE BEGAN STUDYING AT JUILLIARD. 

BY 1954 HE HAD ASSEMBLED A SMALL COMPANY OF DANCERS AND WAS MAKING HIS OWN WORKS. 

A COMMANDING PERFORMER DESPITE HIS LATE START, HE JOINED THE MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY IN 1955 FOR THE FIRST OF SEVEN SEASONS AS SOLOIST WHILE CONTINUING TO CHOREOGRAPH ON HIS OWN TROUPE. 

IN 1959 HE DANCED WITH NEW YORK CITY BALLET AS A GUEST ARTIST.

PAUL TAYLOR

PAUL TAYLOR

IN THE 1950’S HIS WORK WAS SO CUTTING-EDGE THAT IT SENT CONFUSED AUDIENCE MEMBERS FLOCKING TO THE EXITS, AND MARTHA GRAHAM DUBBED HIM THE “NAUGHTY BOY” OF DANCE. 

HE CONTINUES TO OFFER COGENT OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE’S COMPLEXITIES WHILE TACKLING SOME OF SOCIETY’S THORNIEST ISSUES. 

HIS WORKS RANGE FROM LYRICAL PIECES THAT REFLECT MUSIC TO COLLECTIONS OF BIZARRE AND GRUESOME IMAGES OF BEHAVIOR. HE HAS ALSO MADE SOME OF THE MOST ROMANTIC DANCES EVER PUT ON STAGE, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE FUNNIEST.

FIFTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER HE MADE HIS FIRST WORK, HE HAS A COLLECTION OF 130 DANCES PERFORMED BY HIS OWN CELEBRATED COMPANY.

IMPORTANT WORKS

AUREOLE 1962A LOVELY, LYRICAL PIECE WHICH EXPRESSES THE MUSIC OF HANDEL. ALMOST LIKE A BALANCHINE BALLET EXCEPT FOR THE UNCONVENTIONAL USE OF CURVED BODY SHAPES, GROUP FORMATIONS AND TRANSITIONS.

SCUDORAMA 1963A PORTRAIT OF UNREALIZED LIFE WITH IMAGES OF DANTE’S PURGATORY. HUMANS SLITHER ACROSS THE GROUND, DRAGGING THEMSELVES AND OTHERS.

ESPLANADE 1975INSPIRED BY A GIRL RUNNING FOR A BUS IT DOESN’T HAVE A SINGLE DANCE STEP IN IT, ONLY WALKING, RUNNING, ROLLING, SLIDING, HOPPING, JUMPING.

POLARIS, 1976HE REPEATED THE ENTIRE DANCE TO ANOTHER MUSICAL SCORE TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONSCIOUS EFFECT OF TEMPO CHANGES ON SPACE AND DYNAMICS, OF DIFFERENT LIGHTING, OF EACH DANCER IN A PART.

AUREOLE

PAUL TAYLOR IN SCUDORAMA

ESPLANADE

POLARIS

TWYLA THARP

1942-

THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE CHOREOGRAPHER DUE TO HER WORK IN BALLET, MODERN, BROADWAY, AND TV.

SHE BUILT ON CUNNINGHAM’S APPROACH, PRESENTING BODIES MOVING IN INFINITE VARIATIONS THROUGH TIME AND SPACE.

SHE ALSO ABSORBED THE AVANT-GARDE EXPERIMENTS AT JUDSON CHURCH AND BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE.

TWYLA THARP

TWYLA THARP

1942-

SHE STUDIED MUSIC AND DANCE FROM CHILDHOOD AND FINE ART AT BARNARD COLLEGE.

SHE THEN STUDIED ALL FORMS OF DANCE TECHNIQUE. SHE STUDIED WITH GRAHAM, CUNNINGHAM, NIKOLAIS, BALLET, AND JAZZ.

SHE JOINED PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY FOR A YEAR THEN STRUCK OUT ON HER OWN IN 1965.

SHE STARTED OUT WITH MINIMALIST MOVEMENT PIECES THEN STARTED CREATING DANCES THAT REQUIRED GREAT VIRTUOSITY.

SHE FAVORED BALLET AND JAZZ TECHNIQUE AND HER PERSONAL STYLE COMBINED THEIR STRENGTHS.

THARP STYLE

HER STYLE IS HIGH-VOLTAGE AND ENDLESSLY FASCINATING AND EXCITING FOR THE AUDIENCE TO WATCH.SHE USES A WIDE RANGE OF ACCOMPANIMENT FROM SILENCE TO HAYDN TO JELLY ROLL MORTON.

HER STYLE FLOWS YET THE DANCERS GO OFF BALANCE, TWITCH, JERK, GLIDE, AND SLUMP INTO REPOSE.

SHE DESIGNS EACH COMPOSITION TO WORK OUT A PROBLEM TO TEST THE LIMITS OF A STRUCTURAL CONCEPT.

IMPORTANT WORKS

A. THE ONE HUNDREDS 1970

B. DEUCE COUPE 1973

C. SUE’S LEG 1975

D. PUSH COMES TO SHOVE 1976

E. THE CATHERINE WHEEL 1981

F. IN THE UPPER ROOM 1987

THE ONE HUNDREDS

DEUCE COUPE

TWYLA THARP IN SUE’S LEG

BARYSHNIKOV IN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE

THE CATHERINE WHEELGOLDEN SECTION

IN THE UPPER ROOM

BROADWAY & VIDEO

FOR BROADWAY SHE CHOREOGRAPHED HAIR, SINGING IN THE RAIN, AND MOVIN’ OUT.

SHE IS ALSO INTERESTED IN VIDEO. SHE MADE MAKING TELEVISION DANCE IN 1977.

SHE WAS INTERESTED IN USING CAMERA TECHNIQUES TO CREATE A NEW WAY TO VIEW DANCE.

SHE JOINED ABT IN 1988 AS ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE AND RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER.

PILOBOLUS

A GROUP OF 6 DANCERS WHO CREATE WORKS COLLECTIVELY. IT STARTED OUT WITH 4 STUDENTS OF ALISON CHASE AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE IN 1970-71.

THE KEY TO PILOBOLUS TECHNIQUE IS LINKAGE, A NEW WAY OF LINKING BODIES AND STRENGTH OF ARMS AND TORSO.IT QUICKLY BECAME RENOWNED THE WORLD OVER FOR ITS IMAGINATIVE AND ATHLETIC EXPLORATION OF CREATIVE COLLABORATION.

NEARLY 40 YEARS LATER, IT HAS EVOLVED INTO A PIONEERING AMERICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE 21ST CENTURY.

PILOBOLUS

CONCERT DANCE TODAY

IN THE PRESENT DANCE ARTISTS DRAW FREELY ON ALL THE TRADITIONS THAT HAVE DEVELOPED THROUGH THE CENTURIES.

WESTERN DANCE ART TODAY IS EVER CHANGING. IT’S A CHAMELEON THAT REFUSES TO BE FIXED IN PLACE.

LABELS LIKE BALLET, MODERN DANCE, MODERN BALLET, AND AVANT-GARDE ARE NO LONGER USEFUL.