Why Dance Matters Final

Occupation of Japan

(1945 - 1952) § Japan surrendered, and consequently ended WWII, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki § The time period that immediately followed WWII is known as "Occupied Japan" § Spearheaded by U.S. General of Army Douglas MacArthur to "revise the Japanese constitution" and de-militarize Japan § Allied powers occupied Japan continued until 1952 § Allied powers demanded Japan abolish the Meiji Constitution, and in turn, enforce the Constitution of Japan § New parliamentary-based government § Emperor began symbolic figurehead § The Empire of Japan was officially renamed Japan on May 3, 1947 § Japan lost an estimated 71,380,000 lives to WWII § Approximately 2,300,000 military deaths § An estimated 550,000 to 800,000 civilian deaths § Mass exodus during war-time Japan § Significant emigration to territories of Japanese Empire including Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria, and Karafuto, as well as to China § For example, by the end of WWII, records showed over 850,000 Japanese in Korea and more than 2 million in China § Allied powers repatriated over 6 million Japanese nationals from territories and battlefields § Occupation issued major Westernization § American music, movies, and culture imported § Likewise, Japan emerged as an exporter of culture § Kaiju (monster) movies, anime, manga (comic books) § Western fascination in martial arts § Treaty of San Francisco ended Allied Occupation on April 28, 1952 § Japan regained its sovereignty § However, it lost many of its pre-war territories including Korea, Taiwan, and Sakhalin § Long-lasting trauma with physical and psychological scarring § Extreme burn wounds and deformation § Radiation sickness, cancers, and birth defects (i.e. stillbirth and mental retardation) § PTSD § Large percentage of survivors were children § Major depression leading to large percentage of unemployment and marital decline § "Secondary Guilt" § "Operation Starvation" by U.S. Navy in 1945 § U.S. Navy dumped nearly 25,000 mines in water nearby Japan, many remaining post-war § Racism or "anti-Japanese sentiment" § Dehumanization of Japanese people and culture fueled by anti-Japanese propaganda of Allied Powers in WWII § From 1941 to 1949, Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians were interned in camps § Executive Order 9066 (1942) § From 1942 to 1945, the U.S. government interned an estimated 117,000 people of Japanese descent in isolated camps § Camps were created in desolate areas of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming § Internees were given only 2 hours to evacuate their homes and permitted few personal possessions § Several died from inadequate medical care and emotional stresses § All internees over 17 years of age were required to take a loyalty oath § Meanwhile, the FBI searched private homes of thousands of Japanese residents, particularly on the West Coast § Instigated increased racism and national paranoia of Japanese-Americans § Korematsu v. United States (1944) ruled Executive Order 9066 constitutional

Discuss the significance of Yvonne Rainer's NO Manifesto (1965) and her choreography in Trio A (1966) alongside the political agenda of the 1960s - 1970s. Please name 2 -3 historical events that coincide with the timing of Rainer's work. Please consider elements of gender, class, and war in your answer.

The New Left -refers to political movements in the 1960s - 1970s consisting of activism aimed at social reforms involving issues such as civil rights (race, feminist, sexual orientation, and disability rights) and drug policy reforms -Some viewed The New Left as a reaction to earlier Marxist and labor union movements that focused on class and economy, while others regarded the movement as a continuation of these leftist goals -Affiliated with liberal, radical, and Marxist political movements, especially among [white] college students Civil Disobedience -The leaders and actions emergent of the Civil Rights Movement for racial equality influenced new strategy and philosophy for collective response to political events, social reform and policies at that time - Civil disobedience and mass protest - Student radicalism reaching its height in 1968 Student radicalism -Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) (1960) and first-wave of student sit-ins Social activism and equality movements Happenings - to occur without premeditation § Reminiscent of Dada demonstrations New Dance -you don't need a training background -no training technique or companies -every body has potential -pedestrian gestures, everyday movement -unaesthetic costumes, nudity -theater is irrelevant Robert Dunn -written scores, lack of studio access, economical -indeterminacy, chance Judson Dance Theater - A collective of dancers, composers, and visual artists that presented original work at the Judson Memorial Church -avant-garde experimentalists that rejected the traditions and confines of modern dance practice and theory - Its foremost goal was to observe and share dance in its purist state; to reveal the beauty of ordinary movement -Many of its artists involved untrained performers and dancers The readymade -found movement--running, walking, sitting, lying down, and various tasks to be performed as authentically as possible in a new and different context Indeterminacy -the compositional approach to aleatoric music in which some aspects are deliberately left open to chance or the interpreter's free choice Anti-elitism -collaboration, dissolution of leadership roles Trio A Choreography: § Consists of one solo choreography performed simultaneously by 3 dancers at their own natural pace § All movements must be executed with an even distribution of energy § Deliberate challenge to traditional models of phrasing § Rainer attempted to eradicate any difference -or hierarchy- of movement regarding how and where a performer's energy was emphasized and expressed § Dancers were/are instructed never to make eye contact with their audience; to remain neutral and autonomous § When the choreography requires that the dancer face their audience, the eyes are closed and/or the head is in motion § Despite Rainer's proclivity for repetition, she deliberately chose not to repeat any movement in Trio A § Limbs are never fixed but always extended and/or in motion setting the body in a constant state of transition § General matter-of-fact "doing" of a thing as opposed to the "performing" of a thing Rainer and her work is best known for its abstract approach to the body. The body is a source of an infinite variety of movements. No repetition, constant state of transition, strips of lath pushed off the balcony—incidental sounds; distrust in power structures *The NO Manifesto will be recorded on the exam for reference 2 Historical Events: 1) March to the Pentagon (1967) by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam 2) Equal Rights Amendment (1971) Proposed to guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of sex

Kiki

a new subset of ball culture consisting LGBTQ youth of color § In Sara Jordenö's documentary Kiki (2016), interviewees reveal that more than half of the current New York City ballroom scene are HIV-positive § Houses still providing means to combat illness, homelessness, and violence § African Americans account for 44% of all HIV diagnoses in the U.S.

The Psychological Ballet

a drama performed in pure movement in which psychological matters determine the plot and characters of said drama § Character identity is either shaped or fully defined by an emotion and/or an emotional response to circumstance § Emphasis on interpersonal relationships § Acknowledgement of social and political pressures that inform the human experience § Realism versus romanticism § Push away from the tradition of adapting mythological and/or fiction/fairy-tale literature as narrative basis "Seriousness in dance was not new to American audiences. They had seen it in the modern dance for more than a decade. But psychological characterization within classical ballet was something else again. Tudor had turned dance technicians into actors who expressed in movement the heights and depths of human experience. Here were no decorative automatons, but individuals who had problems and passions and who suffered in their pursuit of happiness." (Selma Jeane Choen,1967) "[T]he movement is the meaning." (Tudor) "Do the steps without adornment or interpretative alternation, and they will prove expressive." (Alastair Macaulay, 2008) § Tudor was curious -and made deliberate attempts- to manage ego not only in his ballets' characters, but also in his actual performers § Sought to integrate his dancers' anxieties, insecurities, and anguish to present a real experience as opposed to the performative "You've got to get rid of the personal mannerisms to get to the character in the ballet and dancers don't want to let go. Breaking down a person isn't hard. But you cannot break them down unless you are willing to pick up the ashes right away and turn them into a Phoenix. That's the tough thing. You're terribly tempted to lay them flat and walk on them." (Tudor in an interview with Dick Cavett, 1979) § Tudor had a reputation for breaking his dancer's emotional stamina; utilized methods of humiliation via personal attacks and sexual remarks § Sought to deteriorate self-worth by triggering confusion and self-doubt § "The dancer needs to completely divorce herself from her own ego." (Tudor) § He was known to develop exercises aimed at fostering skills to address the content and access deep, psychological response § For example, he would challenge his dancers to sit in a circle and maintain eye contact with a peer, only to react without any movement § Pioneered the notion of training curricula for performance beyond dance and/or or technique § Tudor's choreography is frequently described as Freudian § Emphasis on repression of emotion and repression of sexuality § The interpersonal exchanges between the dancers are intended to reveal subconscious feelings § "The tensions and psychological aspects of his dances were rooted in a crumbling Edwardian morality and the disruption of the wars that followed. The themes that shaped his work -violence and suppressed anxiety, grief, and disturbed communities- grew out of a sense, shared by so many artists at that time, that civilization was at best a thin veneer." (Homans, 482) § Interested in the individual response -or struggle- to the hardships of the times (i.e. social injustice, war, corruption)

Arlene Croce

critic who reviewed Still/Here, refusing to see it, and labeled it as victim art

Pearl Primus (1919 - 1994)

§ American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist § Primus was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was 2 years old § Similar to Dunham, she utilized a background in anthropology, however her education focused on the dances of West Africa as opposed to its diasporic lineage in the Caribbean § In 1940, she graduated from Hunter College as a pre-medicine major in biology § While enrolled in graduate school, she went to the National Youth Administration (NYA) for assistance in finding side work § She joined the NYA dance group as an understudy § With fast and impressive progress, she was encouraged to audition for the New Dance Group upon which she won a scholarship § During her time at the New Dance Group, she researched "primitive dances" in the creation of her own original work § She referred to written articles and books, as well as visuals and materials at local museums § She debuted her first work, African Ceremonial, February 14, 1943 at the 92nd Street YMHA, alongside Strange Fruit, Rock Daniel, and Hard Times Blues § Performance was a part of the Sunday afternoon split-bill series entitled "Five Dancers" § Critical acclaim from John Martins of The New York Times, which encouraged her to pursue serious study in dance and was "entitled to a company of her own" § In June 1943, Primus performed at the Negro Freedom Rally at Madison Square Garden for an audience of 20,000 people § Primus continued with the New Dance Group, both teaching and creating § In the summer of 1944, she visited the South, spending time with approximately 70 black church congregations, as well as living and working in with cotton sharecroppers § The research she accumulated from her experiences was integrated into her choreographic work and written publications § Primus made her Broadway debut at the Belasco Theatre on October 4, 1944 § Program included African Ceremonial, Yanvaloo, Strange Fruit, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Slave Market, and Hard Time Blues § Oftentimes referred to as "dances of protest," said program highlighted the social inequities and injustices of the African American experience § For example, Strange Fruit depicted a woman's response to a lynching; Hard Time Blues addressed the hardships and inequities of sharecropping; The Negro Speaks of Rivers was based on the poetry of Langston Hughes and addressed the general ignorance of black heritage in white American society § In 1948, Primus toured her work to Fisk University and was seen by the president of the Rosenwald Foundation, Dr. Edwin Embree § Granted 18-month fellowship to Africa, where she visited the Gold Coast, Angola, Cameroons, Liberia, Senegal, and the Belgian Congo § Time overseas functioned as a cultural exchange; she would perform her dances and then study, observe, and participate in the native dances of each host § Given Nigerian nickname "Omowale" meaning "child returned home" § In 1952, Primus premiered Dark Rhythm at the American Museum of Natural History § Integrated her fellowship experiences including "Impinyuze" from the Belgian Congo, "Dance of Strength" from Sierra Leone, and Excerpts from an African Journey which included native dances from Nigeria and Liberia § In 1953, Primus studied native dances in the West Indies § Having returned to Africa several times, Primus was later named director of Liberia's Performing Arts Center in 1959 § Subsequent travels were sponsored by the Rebekah Harkness Foundation § In 1963, she and her husband opened the Primus-Borde School of Primal Dance in New York City § As a student, Primus worked with Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, Ismay Andrews, and Asadata Dafora § In 1979, Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute in New Rochelle, New York, established for the preservation of her early compositions § Offered classes in African and Caribbean dance forms, as well as ballet and modern dance techniques § Home base for dance group, Earth Theatre § In 1978, Primus received her PhD in anthropology from New York University § Served on faculty at New York University, Hunter College, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Buffalo, Iona College, Howard University, and the Five Colleges § As an anthropologist, she orchestrated several projects in Europe, Africa, and the Americas with the assistance of the Ford Foundation, United States Office of Education, New York University, Universalist Unitarian Service Committee, Julius Rosenwald Foundation, New York State Office of Education and the Council for the Arts § Primus died from diabetes on October 29, 1994

Katherine Dunham (1909 - 2006)

§ American dancer, choreographer, writer, educator, and social activist for civil rights and voice for the African American experience § Her career in dance is deemed one of the most successful in American and European theater for the 20th century § Her father, Albert Milliard Dunham, was a descendent of slaves from West Africa and Madagascar; her mother, Fanny June Dunham, was French-Canadian and Native American § Dunham initially discovered dance in high school, later enrolling in formal dance classes while majoring in anthropology at the University of Chicago § Anthropological interests reflected her curiosity for dance, music, and ceremonial practices in relationship to a culture's social and economic history § Eventually, Dunham taught dance lessons in an abandoned store while enrolled in college § There, she staged recitals for her students including the daughter of Julius Rosenwald § Received a Rosenwald Travel Fellowship from the Rosenwald Foundation in support of her Anthropology and the Dance § In 1936, she relocated to West Indies for 18-month study in ceremonial dance of African diaspora in the Caribbean, spending time in Martinique, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Haiti § Attributed to her Master's thesis, The Dances of Haiti: A Study of Their Material Aspect, Organization, Form, and Function § Focus on Vodun rituals involving dance/movement practice § While in Chicago, she developed a close relationship with Ruth Page, prima ballerina of the Chicago Opera and dance patron § First leading role in Page's West Indian ballet with the Chicago Opera, La Guiablesse (1933) § In 1931, Dunham formed Ballets Nègres, one of the first black ballet companies in the United States, at age 21 § In 1937, shortly after her return from fellowship, she was invited to participate in the New York YMHA series organized by Edna Guy § Said series was pivotal for her career, having been seen by Louis Schaeffer § Appointed dance director for the Negro Unit of the Chicago branch of the Federal Theatre Project § In 1939, she was appointed dance director of the New York Labor Stage and relocated to the New York City § With this salary, she financially supported her own dance company comprised of 9 dancers that she brought with her from Chicago § Dunham staged dance in the revue Pins and Needles 1940, produced by the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union at the Windsor Theater § During this time, she booked her own company for a Sunday show, billed as Tropics and Le Jazz hot; From Haiti to Harlem § Included performances by Archie Savage and Talley Beatty § Intended as 1-night only performance for February 18, 1940, the show ran for 10 consecutive Sundays § In 1940, the success of her revue at Windsor Theater led to an offer for Dunham and her company to be a part of the Broadway musical production of Cabin in the Sky, co-choreographed by George Balanchine § In 1941, she made her first Hollywood appearance in Star Spangled Rhythm § She choreographed and performed in feature films including Stormy Weather (1943), Casbah (1948), Pardon My Sarong (1952), Green Mansions (1959), as well as numerous foreign films § In 1943, her company opened Tropical Revue at the Martin Beck Theatre § The show's dance repertory featured Latin American and Caribbean dances, plantation dances, and American social dances § Included earlier works such as Tropics-Shore Excursion, Primitive Rhythms, Le Jazz Hot, and Plantation Dances § Included the Cakewalk, Juba, Palmer House, Pas Mala, Ballin' the Jack, and Strut § New section entitled Rites of Passage, which was oftentimes banned while on tour § In 1945, the Dunham School of Dance opened in New York City with a mission "[t]o establish a well-trained ballet group. To develop a technique that will be as important to the white man as to the Negro. To attain a status in the dance world that will give to the Negro dance-student the courage really to study, and a reason to do so. And to take our dance out of the burlesque - to make it a more dignified art." § Focus on maintaining and communicating the anthropology and ethnology of the dance and its music § Curriculum also included French language, anthropology, and play-writing § Codification of Dunham Technique § Dunham School of Dance was active until 1955 § In 1946, Dunham choreographed the critically acclaimed Le Bal Negre § In 1963 - 1964, Dunham Choreographed Aida for the Metropolitan Opera, the first black choreographer hired by the Metropolitan Opera since Winfield in 1933 § In 1965 - 66, she served as technical cultural advisor to the President and the Minister of Cultural Affairs in Dakar, Senegal, as well as serving as the U.S. specialist in Senegal's First World Festival of Negro Arts § In 1945, Dunham open the Katherine Dunham School of Dance and Theatre near Times Square § Curriculum included dance, drama, applied skills, humanities, cultural studies, and Caribbean research § Celebrity students such as Eartha Kitt, James Dean, Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine, Warren Beatty, and Marlon Brando, to name a few § In the 1960s, Dunham worked with disadvantaged youth in East St. Louis, Illinois § In partnership with Southern Illinois University, she developed a new cultural arts program involving dance, drama, martial arts, music, and humanities to be taught at the Performing Arts Training Center, where she was appointed director § In 1977, the Katherine Dunham Museum and Children's Workshop was established § Museum still contains various artifacts from Dunham's work including costumes, photographs, and manuscripts § Workshop provides children ages 6 to 12 with classes in Dunham technique, tap, jazz, and ballet § Sponsored performance series for schools and groups during Black History Month that reaches an approximate audience of 10,000 § During this same time, Dunham established the Senior Citizens for the Performing Arts § Provided group classes in conditioning and dance, as well as various cultural events § In 1979, she received the Albert Schweitzer Music Award § In 1980, she was featured by the Dance in America series in "Divine Drumbeats: Katherine Dunham and Her People" § In 1983, she was awarded the Great Cross of Honor and Merit by the government of Haiti, the highest award a non-Haitian national can receive § Also in 1983, she was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors § In 1984, she was presented with an honorary doctorate degree by Lincoln University § In 1986, she received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award; only the 6th person to have received the award at that time § In 1987, she was amongst the first of 13 honorees inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Museum of Dance § Also in 1987, she was selected for a Candace Award by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women § In 1987 - 88, the Ford Foundation invested a $100,000 grant for Dunham, along with several former company members, to collaborate with The Ailey School in the reconstruction of her classic works Shango and L'Ag'Ya § Since the majority of Dunham's choreography was created and presented during the 1930s - 1940s, there is little film and notation of her original work

Antony Tudor (1908 - 1987)

§ English ballet dancer, choreographer, and teacher credited with the creation of the "psychological ballet" § Born William John Cook into a lower-middle class, Edwardian family living in of North London § He dropped out of school at age 16, taking up clerical work at the Smithfield Meat Market § His first exposure to the ballet was a performance of Balanchine's Apollon Musagète with Les Ballets Russes in 1928 § Tudor reached out to Cyril Beaumont, owner of a ballet bookstore in the Charing Cross Road district in London, for advice on local ballet lessons § He was referred to Marie Rambert, a former dancer with Les Ballets Russes § In 1928, Tudor began rigorous training with Rambert § He played piano and worked menial tasks for Rambert in exchange for room, board, and ballet instruction § Rambert and husband ran the Mercury Theatre, a home-base for her own dance company, Ballet Rambert - the first ballet company in Britain § Mercury Theatre was attended by London's artistic and social elite § Rambert sent Tudor to a diction teacher to rid him of his cockney accent § It was during this time that he changed his name to sound more "suitably" English § Starting in 1929, he worked as her assistant for Ballet Rambert § Tudor began to choreograph and set his work on Rambert's dancers, including Jardin Aux Lilacs (1936) and Dark Elegies (1937) § Rambert exposed Tudor to the works of Kurt Joos § He was enamored by Joos' rejection traditional context/narrative § In addition to ballet, Tudor studied Ausdruckstanz § After only 1 year of training, Tudor began to perform professionally, working with Frederick Ashton (an eventual rival) and Ninette de Valois, among others § In 1938, he founded the London Ballet with members of Ballet Rambert § In 1939, Lucia Chase invited Tudor to join Ballet Theater (a.k.a. American Ballet Theatre) in New York City § Timing coincided with the onset of WWII in Europe; 2 days after Britain declared war on Germany § Tudor was a founding member of the Ballet Theater § Served as its resident choreographer for 10 years § Restaged his earlier work alongside creating new dances such as Pillar of Fire (1942) § In New York, Tudor found the perfect counterpart for Laing: Nora Kaye § After retiring from performance in 1950, he worked as the head of faculty at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School and taught at the Julliard School § Intermittently, he worked as Artistic Director for the Royal Swedish Ballet from 1963 - 1964, taught at University of California at Irvine § In 1964, Tudor gave all his possessions to the First Zen Institute of America, where he lived in a small room with only a desk and a thin mattress § Tudor passed away at age 79 § 30 of choreographies have been preserved in Labanotation § The Antony Tudor trust was established to supervise the continued staging of said choreographies

Kazuo Ohno (1906 - 2010)

§ Grew up in northern Japan § Background as a physical education teacher at a Christian school § Began dancing at 30 years old, highly influenced by Eguchi Takaya, a student of Mary Wigman § Enlisted in 7-year service for WWII, and held as a prisoner of war by Australian forces § His experiences in combat and capture inspired his later artistic work § Once released, he returned to teaching physical education in Yokohama and established an experimental dance school on his own property in 1961 § In 1949, performed for the first time at 43 years old § In 1952, Ohno met Hijikata who began advising and performing alongside him in various projects § Despite collaborations, they maintained a long-term disagreement with regards to pre-determined choreography versus improvised movement § Hijikata's work was very prescribed § Ohno believed that a dance should not be fixed but flexible § After separating for 10 years, they reunited in 1977 for Admiring La Argentina § Homage to idol Antonia Mercé, Argentinian flamenco dancer also known as La Argentina § Tour de force solo for Ohno as choreographed by both men § Involved several onstage costume changes in a gradual transformation from the glamorous female star to himself § Toured to the U.S. and Europe, bolstering Ohno's international acclaim § New York City debut was at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1981 § My Mother (1981) § Later collaboration between Ohno and Hijikata § "The movement motifs of My Mother came from what I thought I was doing in my mother's womb. I was in her - what was I doing there?" § In the fetal position, he was dressed as he imagined his mother would have been when pregnant with him § In 1986, following Hijikata's death, his son Yoshito took the role of choreographer in many of Ohno's work § Ohno continued to perform and teach at his original studio § Performed into his nineties [from a wheelchair], touring internationally § Instead of explicitly instructing the students, Ohno would perform for them and then ask them to respond by memory and instinct

National Endowment for the Arts

§ In 1965, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was established as a part of President Johnson's "Great Society" § The Great Society aimed to end poverty, reduce crime, improve education, promote equality, and protect the environment § NEA mission to "foster the excellence, diversity, and vitality of the arts in the United States" § In 1980, President Reagan attempted to abolish the NEA § Congress interfered and stopped its elimination § In 1989, Reverend Donald Wildmon held a press conference for members of the National Arts Council § Wildmon represented the American Family Foundation, an ultra-conservative group § Wildmon's argument focused on "anti-Christian bigotry" § Referred to a NEA grant for artist Andres Serrano's Piss Christ § Piss Christ was a photograph of a crucifix submerged in a jar of Serrano's urine § Senators Jesse Helms, Williams Armstrong, and Alfonse D'Amato denounced Serrano's work § Encouraged 36 senators to sign a letter to NEA expressing their outrage • Instigated the start of a religious right anti-NEA campaign • Influential organizations included the American Family Association, 700 Club, and Eagle Forum • "[T]ax-supported trash," Pat Robertson of 700 Club • "It's just a hellish plot the destroy this nation," Sheila Walsh of 700 Club § Also in 1989, Representative Dick Armey sent letter to NEA calling for the cancellation of Robert Mapplethorpe's retrospective at the Washington Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Perfect Moment § The letter signed by 107 representatives § In 1989 - 1990, Congress passed the NEA's Appropriations Bill § Restrictions and new 12-member panel to review NEA grantmaking policies § Denies funding for projects that "produce materials in which the judgement of the NEA may be considered obscene, including but not limited to, depictions of sadomasochism, homoeroticism, the sexual exploitation of children, individuals engage in sex acts, and which do not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

Offering (2002)

§ Offering, redubbed Dancing in the Streets with the "Reclaiming the City through Dance" series was proposed prior to 9/11 § The artists reconceived the work after 9/11 as an offering to those lost and as an act of public mourning § Adapted and performed in 6 different community parks across Manhattan § Recruited a third dancer -South Asian-American dancer Lakshmi Aysola- to join the project § The mission of the project was tp create and share a public "ritual of mourning and regeneration" § Aimed to reframe mourning; "...instead of being melancholic, I suggest, it is reparative" § Creative action to address crisis and loss § Large coffin-like set with dirt and branches stripped bare to resemble bones § Dancers submerged and re-emerged as metaphorical burial and rebirth § Ground Zero was visible from some sites such as Battery Park City § None of the Offering performances took place at the actual site of 9/11 § "With the physical evidence of both the towers and public mourning -pictures, candles, flowers, teddy bears- quickly removed, however, what remained was precisely that which was missing: people and buildings. With multiple iterations of Offering taking place in parks across the city, Eiko & Koma sought to bring into focus this empty evidence of loss by creating a public mourning ritual in which people could take part in their own neighborhoods." (Candelario, 157 - 158) § "Seeing these particular images in Manhattan public parks invites the audience to question who has access to the claim of victim and who has a right to mourn, and indeed poses a link between these two roles." (Candelario, 160) § The dancers' bodies were equally site-specific § Historic and current racialization of Japanese and Muslim-Americans in American society § Hyper-visibility of brown bodies not only in post-9/11 New York City, but globally "Offering engages in a contingent joining of Asian American bodies with public sites to create a critical transnational space that mourns -and proposes the possibility of emerging from— multiple horrors of American imperialism." (Candelario, 156) "At the very least, Aysola's corpse-like presence suggests that South Asians and people of Middle Eastern descent must be acknowledge and mourned as part of the dead, not just the living victims (Candelario, 160) § Reminder of both Executive Order 9066 and the consequential Civil Liberties Act of 1988 § Monetary redress given to Japanese-Americans subjected to internment during WWII via Executive Order 9066 § Draws attention to the history of U.S. immigration and military policies § Reminds audiences about WWII governmental and vigilante racial profiling Japanese as "terrorists," and its similarities to Muslims at present § Both female dancers costumed identically and echoed each other's movement § "When Aysola and Eiko lie dead alongside one another in the soil, they bring the histories of violence against South Asian, Arab, and Japanese Americans and the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki into one shared space and time." § Koma buried female bodies and lit candles § Burial drew parallels to U.S. bombing in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki during WWII § Private tradition made a public, shared experience § Attempted to address general uncertainty of how to cope and recovery in the face of communal tragedy

"New Dance"

§ Training background was irrelevant § Modern dance was built on conventions as as elaborate as those in ballet § "Yet there was one tradition that Cunningham had never cared to break with: his dancers were experts and looked it." (Jowitt, 311) § Participating choreographers did not establish companies nor founded training techniques (at first) § Faculties of one's body (i.e. flexibility, body type) was irrelevant § Every body has potential § Technique class was to maintain the body; not to "design" the body or a dance § Pedestrian movement and every day gestures replaced formal dance vocabularies § Similar to Marcel Duchamp's "readymade," choreographers employed found movement § Running, walking, sitting, lying down, and various tasks to be performed as authentically as possible in a new and different context § Virtuosity was avoided § Costumes only for artistic purpose; emergence of the "unaesthetic" in standard classroom attire and nudity § 1960 Supreme Court decision against censorship § "In focusing on the unadorned moving body as an art object -something to be considered in terms of its volume, its mass, its nature, its spatial relation to other object-bodies- the dancers juggled another apparent contradiction." (Jowitt, 321) § The theater was irrelevant § Shift in economy and resources linked dance to galleries, lofts, churches, and public spaces more often than theaters § Inhabiting space versus dominating or preparing space § Demystifying dance, developing new audiences, and depositing the work in locations of social and political relevance § Workshops and performances functioned on a cooperative and collaborative basis § Democratization of dance and intersection with multiple art disciplines § Dancers simultaneously performed in each other's work; dissolve of leadership roles, company tradition and the company dancer § "...the dancer as an embodiment of the revolutionary spirit of the day, a sort of relief map of cultural unrest." (Jowitt, 312) § Curiosity in Eastern philosophy, art, and culture paralleled U.S. involvement in Vietnam § Choreographers drawn to martial art forms and Tai Chi § Interaction with objects § Abundance of objects from plastic, wood, fabric, water, and food echoed the lifestyle of the "Great Society "in the 1960s, whereas the average American spent 48 cents per dollar on luxuries § "Worker" versus performer; subverting theatrical time by working in real time § Raw, vulnerable, and unpolished action § The local economy of 1960s - 1970s New York City caused a great deal of downtown real estate to be available and/or affordable to artists § SoHo lofts, particularly on Broadway between Houston and Canal Streets, provided dance artists will living spaces that were large enough to serve as dual dance studios § Readily available [free] space allowed for consistent creative processes and rehearsals, resulting in a upsurge of creation and production § Relative sustainability and longevity for working artists § Provided time for thorough experimentation and incubation

Southland (1951)

Choreographed by Katherine Dunham Commissioned by the Symphony of Chile with an orchestral arrangement of African American spirituals, blues, and popular American music § Dramatic ballet focused on the century-long history of lynching in America § The opening scene portrayed black field hands singing and dancing in front of a Southern mansion § Following this scene, a white man attacks his lover and leaves her unconscious § When field hands reenter, the white woman falsely accuses one of the black men of rape and cries "*****!"; only spoken word since prologue § The accused man is beaten, carried offstage to infer being burned and lynched by a mob § The ballet concludes with the body of the accused man swung back onto the stage, hung by his neck from a branch on the magnolia tree § Dunham only received one published review by a Communist newspaper in Santiago, whereas every newspaper in Chile was dependent on America for newsprint and were under threat § Having been popularized by white audiences as a "glamorous entertainer," Southland was perceived as uncharacteristic of Dunham, revealing the ignorance of her segregated white audiences with regards to current politics and events § Dunham and her company were forced to leave Chile within days after its debut performance; Southland was not performed again on its South American tour § In 1952, Dunham revived the work for the company's upcoming season in Paris § She informed the American embassy of her intentions, and consequently told that they trusted she "...wouldn't do anything to upset the American position in the rest of the world" § Southland was performed for the second time at the Palais de Chaillot on January 9, 1953, receiving extreme bipartisan reaction § "Katherine Dunham has changed since those wonderful evenings in Paris...What has happened to the anthropologist we once admired?" (Le Monde, 1953) § Southland was never again performed § It was revealed that her company members were not enthusiastic about the work; wanted to embrace the distance tour provided them from the United States and its injustices § From 1936 - 1946, there were 43 lynchings reported in predominately southern dates and yet unprosecuted § 15-year old Willie James Howard on Suwannee River, Florida (1944) § Two married couples (George W. and Mae Murray Dorsey, and Roger and Dorothy Malcom) in Walton County, Georgia (1946); "Moore's Ford Lynchings" § WWII efforts against fascism and the Nazi regime highlighted the hypocrisy of the United States racism § Southland was created before the lynching of Emmett Till (1955), as well as the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) Sit-In Movement (1960), Freedom Riders (1961), Selma to Montgomery March (1965), and overall Civil Rights Movement (1954 - 1968) § 1940s - 1950s art espousing social protest provoked suspicion and repression, rather "[i]t was a time when dissent itself seemed illegitimate, subversive, un- American," and was oftentimes categorized as unpatriotic during the Red Scare § However, the history of the 1950s is [still] oftentimes thwarted, referred to as the most utopian era in the Western world since the start of WWI § U.S. State Department denied Dunham future support and subsidy for international touring after her performance of Southland in Paris § Following into the 1950s - 1960s, Dunham was blacklisted from embassy events and cultural engagements, as well as various state theaters around the world § In 1956, she received an invitation to tour to the Chinese Opera by the People's Republic of China § Her request to tour to China was refused by the embassy, unless she was willing to forfeit her passport and pay $10,000 in fines per dancer § Meanwhile, various state-sponsored artists such as Alvin Ailey and Duke Ellington received government funding for extensive touring to Europe and the Middle East § Financially bankrupt, the Katherine Dunham Dance Company gave its last performance at the Apollo Theatre in 1965 § Due to resistance of federal funding, Dunham was oftentimes responsible for independently supporting a touring company of 30 - 40 dancers, musicians, and technicians § The Katherine Dunham Dance Company sustained for nearly 30 years, the only self-supported African American dance company of its time § The company performed in 33 countries in Europe, North Africa, South America, Australia, and East Asia § Dunham choreographed more than 90 dances § Throughout her career, she was branded as a double-image: "the hottest thing" on Broadway versus "an intelligent anthropologist to note" § Newspaper headlines would refer to her "Schoolmarm Turned Siren," "High Priestess of Jive," "Cool Scientists or Sultry Performer?" § Legendary pioneer of cultural heritage and restoration for African lineage in the Caribbean and North America § American dance pioneer of a intercultural modern dance technique with a codified vocabulary § "[A] person who dances should know why they dance, and to do so, they must have an historical background." § In 1992, at age 83, Dunham went on a highly publicized 47-day hunger strike to protest the discriminatory foreign policy against Haitian refugees § On May 21, 2006, Dunham passed away in her sleep from natural causes just one month before her 97th birthday

Trio A (1966)

Choreography and direction by Yvonne Rainer Premiered on January 10, 1966 at Judson Memorial Church Original cast of Yvonne Rainer, David Gordon, Steve Paxton Approximately 4 minutes and 30 seconds initially served as a the first section of an evening-length work entitled The Mind is a Muscle § Consists of one solo choreography performed simultaneously by 3 dancers at their own natural pace § All movements must be executed with an even distribution of energy § Deliberate challenge to traditional models of phrasing § Rainer attempted to eradicate any difference -or hierarchy- of movement regarding how and where a performer's energy was emphasized and expressed § Dancers were/are instructed never to make eye contact with their audience; to remain neutral and autonomous § When the choreography requires that the dancer face their audience, the eyes are closed and/or the head is in motion § Despite Rainer's proclivity for repetition, she deliberately chose not to repeat any movement in Trio A § Limbs are never fixed but always extended and/or in motion setting the body in a constant state of transition § "One could view the entire solo as a single phrase." (Johnston, 67) § Details and diversity of its collage and/or eclectic nature are "assimilated by a smooth unaccented continuity rendering some illusion of sameness to the whole thing." (Johnston, 66) § Push against idiosyncratic or emotive gestures, and towards varied movement § Deliberate, minimal effort § General matter-of-fact "doing" of a thing as opposed to the "performing" of a thing § Despite identical scores, the dance emphasized individual difference due to individual interpretation § At its premiere at Judson, Alex Hay pushed strips of lath off of the balcony to create an eventual pile at one side of the performance § Incidental sounds of their fall created sound accompaniment § One of Rainer's most notable choreographies, still commissioned and performed by prominent dancers today

Discuss the social and political significance of the underground Harlem ballroom circuit and development of vogue during the 1980s - early 1990s in New York City. Please be able to name 2 - 3 historical events and the 3 different styles of vogue dance. Please consider elements of race, gender, and class in your answer.

Reaganism -Large tax cut included the elimination of decades-long social programs -Racial divide, Classist divide, Sex and gender prejudices, Fundamentalist religions v. liberal beliefs systems The AIDS Crisis -Unfairly targeted and stigmatized homosexuality; fueled nationwide homophobia -Serious discrimination for both HIV-positive and negative gay men in employment, housing, compulsory HIV testing (without consent and/or confidentiality), quarantine, loss of property rights, healthcare, and social services -the impact of fear on the public Silence at the top -President Reagan was silent on AIDS until the end of his second term, upon which he spoke at the Third International Conference on AIDS on May 31, 1987 § At this point, already 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS and 20,849 had deceased - In 1983, The Federal Response to AIDS, a congressional subcommittee, released a report criticizing the federal government for insufficient funding in AIDS research and surveillance AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power -an interactional advocacy group working to impact the lives of people with AIDS and the AIDS pandemic § Action for legislation, policy-making, medical research, and treatment -demonstrations for increased research and better access to experimental drugs -what bodies coming together can do, activism Houses -alternative families and safe spaces for queer youth, predominately queer youth of color House gender categories -4 categories of gender exist in a house: (1) butch queens, (2) femme queens, (3) butches, (4) women Personal to community significance of ball culture - Harlem ballroom scene became a safe haven for the black and Latino/a queer communities -Grapples with themes of race, gender, and sexual orientation in society How are the 3 styles of vogue dance socially and politically significant to gender identity and expression at that time? -3 distinct styles: (1) Old Way (pre-1990); (2) New Way (post-1990); (3) Vogue Fem (circa 1995) (1) Old Way: duel between rival performers in which one rival must "pin" its opponent to win § Pinning requires trapping the opponent so they cannot dance any longer, while the winner is still dancing (2)New Way: "click" (limb contortions) and "arm control" (hand and wrist illusions which can include tutting and locking) (3) Vogue Fem: exaggerated feminine movement ranging from "dramatics" (stunts and tricks) to "soft" (graceful flow) § Duckwalk: squatting on the heels and kicking the feet out as the dancer moves forward § Catwalk: exaggerated feminine walk to emulate a fashion runway § Spins and Dips: turns and drops to the floor on musical climax/beat § "Hands" and "Floorwork" are also judged in ball competitions -performing the other as opposed to being the other -the compact inspiring movement, hieroglyphic, angular, rigid 2 historical events: 1) In 1983, "The Denver Principles" introduced at the National AIDS Forum in Denver § Request to be called "people living with AIDS" and not "AIDS victims"§ Request to be present at policy-making events and to be treated with dignity 2) On September 14, 1989, ACT UP infiltrated the New York Stock Exchange § Demonstrators chained themselves to the VIP balcony in protest of the high costs for AZT, the only approved AIDS treatment drug at that time

Double V Campaign

§ 2 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Pittsburgh Courier -the most widely read newspapers amongst African Americans at that time, with a circulation of more than 200,000- published a 2-sided campaign; 1) urging African Africans to join the war effort, 2) while urging readers to call upon their government to make the equal rights amendments to the Constitution real for every citizen § Prompted by letter from James G. Thompson published in its January 31, 1942 issue, entitled "Should I sacrifice to Live 'Half American?'" § Double victory for African Americans fighting for freedom overseas and at home § Courier published editorials, telling personal stories of discrimination during enlistment § Conversely, the publication included an American flag with every subscription and encouraged readers to purchase way bonds § Weekly photo of a "Double V Girl," with 2 fingers in the shape of a V § Over 2.5 million African Americans registered for the WII draft; 1 million served § United States Armed Forces remained segregated in WWII § Red Cross segregated blood donors § Tuskegee Airmen: African American air combat units formed by the United States Army § 15,000 combat sorties, winning 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, 8 Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stairs § 761st Tank Battalion and 425nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion § Golden Thirteen: first African American commissioned and warrant officers in the Navy § Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., first African American to command a U.S. warship and serve as an admiral § African American women contributed to the war effort by working in war production industries, government offices, and armed forces § African American women were oftentimes assigned precarious factory work § In airplane assembly plants, black women worked in "dope rooms" that were filled with toxic fumes; meanwhile, white women were assigned to well-ventilated sewing rooms § In 1941, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) changed its enlistment policies, permitting women to enlist § 40 African American women permitted to join the first officer training class § Segregated training, living and eating quarters § Initial graduates worked in 4 predominate fields: baking, clerical, driving, medical § WAAC legislation did not state women as integral to the army, and therefore, unprotected by Army regulations and/or the Articles of War § Stateside, enlisted men and women received the same basic pay rate § Overseas, women could not receive overseas deployment pay and were ineligible for government life insurance § If killed, a female officer's family could not collect customary death gratuity § Navy permitted African American women to join starting in 1945, resulting in 4 African American women serving in WWII § Blue discharges, or "blue tickets," were abused by superior white officers § Unclassified discharges § In 1948, President Truman officially desegregation all armed forces in Executive Order 9981

Judson Dance Theater (1962-64)

§ A collective of dancers, composers, and visual artists that presented original work at the Judson Memorial Church between 1962 and 1964 § Stemming out of Robert Dunn's composition class § Participating artists were considered avant-garde experimentalists that rejected the traditions and confines of modern dance practice and theory § Its foremost goal was to observe and share dance in its purist state; to reveal the beauty of ordinary movement § Many of its artists involved untrained performers and dancers § Integration of folk dance, meditation, martial arts, and pedestrian movement in choreographies § As a result, theatrical elements such as narrative and plot, costume, scenery, and formal dance technique was eliminated from process and production § Soon following the first "Concert of Dance," Elaine Summers organized "A Concert of Dance 2" in Woodstock as an artists' summer colony § 7 years prior to the music festival § Dunn decided not to continue with his composition class that fall, and as as a result, Rainer and Paxton organized group meetings § The first meeting was at Rainer's shared studio on St. Mark's Place followed by weekly meetings in the basement gymnasium at Judson § These weekly meetings were intended for the artists to share works in progress and to receive peer feedback § During this time, Judson Memorial Church was a place for community and collaboration between artists of multiple disciplines including composers, dancers, filmmakers, and writers § By January 1963, the workshop group had accumulated enough developed material to arrange for 2 concerts: Concerts 3 and 4 § Emphasis on presenting new compositional devices, structures, and theories "...with the aim of periodically presenting the work of dancers, composers, and various non-dancers working with ideas related to dance. The methods of composition of the works in this series range from the traditional ones which predetermine all elements of a piece to those which establish a situation, environment, or basic set of instructions governing one or more aspects of a work -thus allowing details and continuity to become manifest in a spontaneous or indeterminate manner. It is hoped that the contents of this series will not so much reflect a single point of view as convey a spirit of inquiry into the nature of new possibilities" (1963) § Concert 5 held in a roller skating rink in Washington D.C., where Rauschenberg built his entire dance, Pelican (1963), on site § Carolyn Brown danced en pointe as partnered by two male dancers on roller skates § The dancers performed in various locations around the enormous rink, encouraging its audience to be mobile and adjust their perspective with their own free will § Concert 13 was set in, on and/or around a sculpture by Charles Ross § Concert 14 (final showing before workshop disbanded) was rooted in pure improvisation "Its cooperative nature as an alternative-producing institution was a conscious assault on the hierarchical nature not only of academic ballet but also, more directly, of the American modern dance community as it evolved by the late 1950s." (Banes, 350) (1) Identity of a dance (2) Definition of dance (3) Nature of technique § Resistance to formulae "[N]ot only any movement or any body, but also any method is permitted." (Banes, 350) § Radical juxtaposition § Collage, or eclecticism § Roots in Dadaism § Rule games § Interlocking instructions for a group § "Reading" a space as a score § Executing tasks and/or managing objects § General push away from "cult of imitation" § In the round set-up provided new freedom and agency for audiences § During its 2 year existence, the Judson Dance Theater produced nearly 200 dances § The artists and works resultant of the Judson Dance Theater heavily influenced either the creation and/or practice of contact improvisation and dance for camera § After the workshop disbanded, dance performances continued to be produced at Judson Memorial Church on an individual basis § A "second generation" of Judson artists oftentimes showed their work at the church, including Meredith Monk, Kenneth King, and Phoebe Neville § Starting in 1979, The Center for Movement Research (a.k.a. Movement Research) in New York City organized its first public, open performance series reminiscent of the Judson Dance Theater § Presently, the organization hosts free weekly work-in-progress performances in the sanctuary space at Judson; Monday nights § Up until the early 2000s, these weekly events would be followed by an open-level contact improvisation jam in the Judson gymnasium

Kyle Abraham/Pavement (2012)

§ American modern dancer and choreographer § Bessie Award, Princess Grace Award, Jerome Foundation, MacArthur Fellowship, and United States Artists Fellow recipient § Studied dance at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, later earning his BFA from SUNY Purchase and MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts § Abraham performed with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, David Dorfman Dance, Nathan Trice/Rituals, Dance Alloy, Attack Theatre, and The Kevin Wynn Collection § In 2006, he founded Abraham.In.Motion following the completion of his Master's degree § Inventing Pookie Jenkins, A Ramp to Paradise, The Realest MC, The Watershed, and Dearest Home, among others § Commissioned by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2012) and Wendy Whelan's Restless Creature (2013) Premiered on November 1, 2012 at Harlem Stage in New York City Cast of 6 dancers; 5 male dancers and 1 female dancer § Re-imagination of W.E.B. Du Bois's Souls of Black Folks and John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood as set on a basketball court in Abraham's hometown, Pittsburgh § Musical score is a montage of a wide variety of music ranging from Bach, Handel, Jacques Brel, and Sam Cooke, with punctuated dialogue from Boyz n the Hood, including "My mama say, 'A bullet don't have no name on it.'" § Themes of violence, pain, love, fear, and vigilance § The act of perpetual running and falling, and its exhaustion, serves as a literal and metaphorical subtext; finale with stacks of bodies facing downwards and hands behind backs § Gestures of handcuffs emerge throughout the work as not only a symbol of arrest, but of the exhaustion of its absurdity and "helplessness" whereas "[t]hese boys don't have a chance." (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker 2017) § Set from the perspective of a group of friends struggling to maintain whilst witnessing their community torn apart by racially targeted violence and poverty "Men call the shadow prejudice, and learnedly explain it as a natural defense of culture against barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime, the 'higher' against the 'lower' races." (W.E.B. Du Bois) "In 1991, I was fourteen and entering the ninth grade at Schenley High School in the historic Hill District of Pittsburgh. That same year, John Singleton's film, Boyz N The Hood was released. For me, the film depicted an idealize "Gangsta Boheme" laying aim to the state of the Black American male at the end of the 20th century. Twenty years later and more than ten years into the 21st century, I am focused on investigating the state of Black America and a history therein. Reimagined as a dance work and now set in Pittsburgh's historically black neighborhoods, Homewood and the Hill District, Pavement aims to create a strong emotional chronology of a culture conflicted with a history plagued by discrimination, genocide, and a constant quest for a lottery ticket weighted in freedom. As two rivaling neighborhoods, their histories run parallel. Both experienced a cultural shift in the 1950s when jazz legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington performed at local theaters and Billy Strayhorn spent most of his teenage years. Over a century later, those same theaters are now dilapidated. And the streets that once strived on family run businesses and a thriving jazz scene now show the sad effects of gang violence and crack cocaine." (Kyle Abraham)

Merce Cunningham (1919 - 2009)

§ American modern dancer, choreographer, and teacher notable for his frequent interdisciplinary collaborations that impacted the avant-garde dance and movement, alike § Radical approach to space, time, and technology § Born in Centralia, Washington were he enrolled in children's tap classes with local instructor, Mrs. Maude Barrett § Drawn to precise timing and rhythm work in tap; the start of a life-long relationship with sound and musicality § In 1937 - 1939, Cunningham studied acting at the Cornish School in Seattle § Found specific text and blocking in drama to be too concrete and limiting § Preferred the ambiguity of modern dance and exploratory nature § Studied with Bonnie Bird, former dance for Martha Graham § During this time, Cunningham spent 2 summers at Mills College where the Bennington Festival effectively transplanted § Male dancers were in high demand - regardless of technical skill- and Cunningham was asked to join both the Humphrey-Weidman and Graham companies § In 1939, Cunningham relocated to New York City to perform with the Martha Graham Dance Company § He worked as a soloist with the company for over 6 years § At Graham's advice, he studied with Balanchine at the School of American Ballet while working for Graham § Cunningham integrated his experiences in Balanchine's ballet class with components of Graham and tap in the creation of his own modern dance technique: § Upright torso § Translation of Graham's contraction to the "Cunningham curve," with an emphasis on the curve of the whole spine as opposed to the lower spine/pelvis § Ballet leg and foot vocabulary § Cunningham used ballet's épaulement (steady, forward-facing hips while the upper body moved) combined with various twists and bends, allowing the feet to move faster § Though he provided equal time and role assignment to both male and female dancers, partnering was reminiscent of Balanchine with some abstract manipulation of women § In 1944, Cunningham presented his first solo concert with composer John Cage who would eventually become his life partner and frequent collaborator § In 1953, Cunningham was hired as resident faculty at Black Mountain College for the summer § There, he formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company § Alongside being its choreographer and director, Cunningham was an active dancer in the company until the early 1990s § In 1963, Cunningham and Cage created the first performance work for the Walker Art Center, and in doing so, established a 25-year collaboration with the museum § In 1964, the company made its first international tour to Europe and Asia § From 1971 - 2012, the company was based in the Westbeth Artists Community in the West Village § Cunningham died of natural causes at age 90 § He choreographed over 200 dance and 800 "Events" in his lifetime § Cunningham used "non-representational" choreography founded on pure movement § No particular historical narrative, emotion/affectation, or moral message § Cunningham did not believe that a dance required a beginning, middle or end § Equalized the stage space § Traditional notions of "front" and "center" were eliminated; dance did not need to be frontally oriented § Efficiency § Audiences had individual agency to select perspective and focal spots/moments § All choreographies were created with the intention of being viewed from all sides and were frequently rehearsed as such § Randomness and arbitrariness were constructive and essential elements because they reflect real life § In collaboration with Cage, he employed principles of I Ching to determine the sequence of dance movements and phrases, and qualitative elements per performance § Cunningham and Cage used stochastic, or random, procedures to generate movement and larger phrases, abandoning traditions of narrative and form § Oftentimes, the dancers were not informed of the sequence in dance until the night of a performance § Both contended that a dance and its music should not be intentionally coordinated with one another § Similar to Cage, Cunningham valued creative process over final product/production § After Cage's death in 1992, his position as music director was succeeded by David Tudor who continued to work with indeterminacy § In later repertory, MCDC commissioned work from contemporary musicians and bands including Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and Sonic Youth § Lifelong passion for exploration and innovation made him a leader in applying technology to the arts § Starting in the 1970s, Cunningham explored dance on film especially with Charles Atlas § In 1991, he began exploring the use and potential of motion capture with dancers in an ongoing collaboration with digital artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar

Robert Dunn (1928-1996)

§ American musician and composer also known for leading classes in dance composition and contributing to the birth of postmodern dance in the 1960s § Dunn was exposed to dance as a child and even had an early career as a tap dancer § He was a student of music composition and theory at the New England Conservatory § Followed by studies in dance at Boston Conservatory where he also taught percussion for dancers § It was there that Dunn began working with Merce Cunningham § Starting in 1958, Dunn collaborated with Cunningham for performances in Boston and New York City § He relocated to New York City to work as a piano accompanist at the Cunningham Studio § Attended John Cage's classes on music composition at the New School for Social Research § As a dance and dance composition teacher, Dunn applied many of Cage's principles in music to his own pedagogy § Investigated and challenged structure, form, method, and materials § Encouraged students to experiment with technique, phrasing, musicality, and logic in an effort to reveal something new or overlooked § Dunn focused on chance scores and methods of indeterminacy as inspired by Cage § Encouraged students to write as an active and integral part of their creative processes § Students were frequently encouraged to graph their scores as a visual, similar to Cage's Fontana Mix § Emphasis on inscribing dance; inscribing a dance on the bodies of the dancers and on the body of theater § Written scores were also practical and economical; lack of studio access, affordability, and/or resources § Scores were intended to undermine habit, artifice, premeditation "By planning the dance in a written or drawn manner, you have a very clear view of the dance and its possibilities." (Dunn) § As a result, many movements were created out of improvisation § Many assignments were collaborative; "semi-independent" working situations § Dunn's original class consisted of only 5 students: Paulus Berenson, Marni Mahaffay, Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Yvonne Rainer § By the completion of its second year, the class expanded to include Trisha Brown, Judith Dunn, Ruth Emerson, Alex Hay, Deborah Day, Fred Herko, etc. § Class consisted of dancers alongside visual artists, musicians, writers, theater directors, and filmmakers § In 1962, Rainer, Paxton, and Emerson approached Reverend Al Carmines at the Judson Memorial Church to see if they could perform their dances there § At that time, the church was already providing space for theater and visual artists such as Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, and Robert Whitman § Judson Poets' Theater § Judson Art Gallery § On July 6, 1962, Dunn had his class perform their own compositional work at the Judson Memorial Church located on Washington Square Park § This performance is widely regarded as the start of a new era in modern dance: postmodernism § Non-traditional methods in both choreography and performance, specifically involving improvisation § 3.5 hours of 23 dances by 14 choreographers including William Davis, Ruth Emerson, David Gordon, Alex and Deborah Hay, Fred Herko, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, and Elaine Summers

The Denver Principles

§ In 1983, introduced at the National AIDS Forum in Denver § Request to be called "people living with AIDS" and not "AIDS victims" § Request to be present at policy-making events and to be treated with dignity

Post-WWII Race Relations in U.S.

§ Second Great Migration (1940 - 1970) with more than 5 million African Americans leaving violence and segregation in the South § Benefits form the GI bill supported a population and housing boom in post-WWII United States § It is estimated that 4 million babies were born each year during the 1950s, i.e. the "baby boom" § Economic demands of post-war boom, combined with the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, led to conflicts in jobs, housing, and education § Federal Housing Administration reinforced segregation and restricted opportunities to African Americans § Redlining and discrimination in sales, financing, and homeowners insurance § Many African Americans were victims of fraud, losing their homes to foreclosures throughout the 1930s and 1940s § 1954: Supreme Court outlaws segregation in public schools in Brown v. Board of Education § 1955: 14-year old Emmett Till kidnapped and murdered in Money, Mississippi § All-white jury acquitted murders; murderers publicly confessed § From 1882-1968, the NAACP reported 4,743 lynchings in the United States, 3,446 targeting black persons (72.7%) § 1955: Reverend George Lee fatally shot after attempting to register to vote in Belzoni, Mississippi § 1955: Voting rights activist Lamar Smith murdered in Brookhaven, Mississippi § 1955 - 1957: Bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by black seamstress Rosa Parks § Under leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. § 1956: King's house is bombed § 1956: 26-year old, pregnant Rosa Jordan shot while riding a desegregated bus in Montgomery § Supreme Court ruled segregated system unconstitutional § 1956: Civil rights activist Revered Fred Shuttlesworth's home is bombed by the KKK § 1957: Civil Rights Act of 1957 signed by President Eisenhower, with an emphasis on voting rights § 1957: Little Rock High School Integration § Arkansas Governors Faubus mobilized the National Guard in an effort to prevent 9 African American students from integrating the high school § After failed negotiations, President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and order 1,000 troops from the United States Army 101st Airborne Division to oversee the integration § 1957: Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom § Over 30,000 demonstrators from more than 30 states gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the 3rd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education ruling § Organized by A. Philipe Randolph and included Martin Luther King, Jr.'s first national address § 1957: E. Franklin Frazier published Black Bourgeoisie, a socioeconomic study of the African American color caste system in the U.S. § 1960: Sit-In Movement § Initiated by Greensboro Four, students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, asking for service at "whites only" lunch counter of local Woolworth's; plan was to commit to daily sit-in until Woolworth's desegregated § On the second day, more than 20 black students from various campus groups joined the sit-in § By the fourth day, more than 300 people participated § Within a week, students in various colleges in North Carolina, as well as in out of states cities such as Richmond, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Jackson joined the movement § Over 70,000 participated in the movement § 1960: Civil Rights Act of 1960 signed by President Eisenhower § 1961: President Kennedy issues Executive Order 10925, "Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and initiating affirmative action § 1961: Freedom Rides begin in Washington, D.C., sparking violent resistance in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama § President Kennedy deploys federal marshals to protect protestors § 1962: President Kennedy signs legislation curbing discrimination in federal housing and housing loans § 1963: James Baldwin published The Fire Next Time, addresses the national resistance to the Civil Rights Movement § 1963: Mississippi NAACP Secretary Medgar Evans assassinated at his home § 1963: March on Washington with 250,000 protests and Martin Luther King, Jr. § Legendary "I Have a Dream" speech § 1963: KKK bombs the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing 4 children § 1964: Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson § 1964: Martin Luther King, Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize § 1965: Malcom X is assassinated § 1965: Martin Luther King, Jr. leads march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in support of black voter registration § 1965: President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act § 1965: Watts Riot in Los Angeles, California; most deadly race riot since 1943 with 34 deaths and 1,032 injuries § 1966: Black Panther Party founded § 1967: President Johnson appoints Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court; first black justice § 1967: Newark Riot, resulting in 20 deaths § 1967: Detroit Riot, or "12th Street Riot," becoming the most violent and destructive riot in United States history with 43 deaths, 342 injuries, and nearly 1,400 buildings burned § 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated § Riots in over 100 cities nationwide § 1969: The National Black Economic Development Conference meets in New York and presents its "Black Manifesto" § 1969: President Nixon issues Executive Order 11478, extending affirmative action to all federal government agencies and jobs § 1980: Police beating of Arthur McDuffie in Miami, Florida § 4 police officers acquitted after beating 33-year old African American motorcyclist into fatal coma § 1981: Michael Donald lynched by KKK in Mobile, Alabama § 1983: James Cody tortured by Chicago police § 1986: Anti-Drug Abuse Act creating 100 to 1 disparity § Admission of African Americans to federal prison spiked, as well as increase in sentence lengths (49% longer than white sentences, on average) § 1986: 23-year old Michael Griffith chased and killed by white mob on Howard Beach, New York § 1987: McCleskey v. Kemp, Supreme Court uploads death penalty despite racial bias § 1989: Central Park Five arrest for rape § Police coercion for false confessions § 1989: 16-year old Yusef Hawkins murdered by white mob in Brooklyn, New York § 1991: Rodney King beating and consequential riots in Los Angeles, California § African American taxi driver victim of police brutality caught on camera § Jury failed to reach verdict for 1 of 3 officers charged § 6 days of rioting that led to 53 deaths and 2,373 injuries § 1995: Million Man March § 2005: United States Senate finally issues formal apology for failure to pass anti-lynching legislation § 2005: Millions More March § 2009: Barack Obama sworn into office as the 44th President of the United States § 2009: Interracial couple Beth Humphrey and Keith Bardwell are denied marriage license in Hammond, Louisiana § 2012: George Zimmerman kills Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida § Zimmerman is acquitted in 2013 § 2013: President Obama is elected for second term § 2013: Black Lives Matter movement begins § Demonstrations against deaths of African Americans killed by police action including Philando Castile, Joseph Mann, Terence Crutcher, Anthony Hill, Meagan Hockaday, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, William Chapman, Jonathan Sanders, Samuel DuBose, Jerry McDole, Corey Jones, and Jamar Clark, among others § 2014: Police officer Darren Wilson kills Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; "Hands up, don't shoot" § 2014: Eric Garner is killed by a police chokehold in Staten Island, New York § 2015: Shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, kills 9 African Americans § 2015: Sandra Bland traffic stop arrest and death § #SayHerName social movement to raise awareness for black female victims of police brutality and anti-black violence in the United States § 2016: NFL protests starting with Colin Kaepernick § 2017: "Unite the Right" rally organized by white supremacists and KKK in Charlottesville, Virginia

Asadata Dafora Horton (1890 - 1965)

§ Originally from Sierra Leone, he relocated to New York City in 1929 § With a background in music, he is credited with being among the first to introduce African drumming music as a concert art form § Used the surname ______ which was the family name of his great-grandfather's slave owners Choreographer Kykunkor

Lar Lubovitch/Concerto 6 22 (1986)

§ Performed in October 1987 for the Dancing for Life benefit at New York State Theater § Garnered attention for its male duet performed by Sylvain Lafortune and Rick Michalek § Emotive yet technical, athletic movement however wearing matching, non-descript pedestrian clothing § Mutual support, sometimes reminiscent of a pas de deux, however equally shared (role reversal) § Lubovitch quoted on his motivation, saying "because so many dancers have been stricken with AIDS, something the dance world doesn't own up to...I felt that I wanted to show a version of male love on a platonic and high-minded level, to show the dignity of men who love each other as friends, that all men do have another man in their lives that they love so dearly, not in a homosexual relationship, but just all men." § Rave reviews from critics however no one names AIDS § Otis Stuart of Dance Magazine writes "even the valiant tact pervading Dancing for Life cracked for just a moment. As the two men moved through their series of quiet encounters -unfettered by fears or fallacies, letting meanings fall where they might- the images of comfort and communion, of sustenance and support trumpeted a legacy of hope." § Gere described the event as "a brand of repression, a controlled transaction between performers and audience, a transaction swollen with meaning but determined not to speak, certainly not about eros or sex." (16) § Gere addresses the bias of its audience reactions as a "a secret, clouded, sage, 'chaste' viewing of homosocial friendship; and a deeply erotic, highly sexualized homosexual reading, strongly infected in the direction of AIDS. In creating a duet about two men who love, give solace to, and care for one another, Lubovitch managed to construct the AIDS era's most durable danced anthem, a performance positing gay male relationships as characterized by 'chaste' love yet subject to an erotic viewing at the same time." (17) § "I assert this to validate gay spectatorship, to request that those who read this text think hard about what it is that makes us see "AIDS" on the stage at all, and to encourage those who write about choreography and corporeality to declare openly and without embarrassment the homoeroticism inherent in so many dances of our time...In short, the creator of a dance may control the representation of eros and mourning in his work, by shaping the choreographic imagery. But he cannot control his own status as a signifier and therefore cannot foreclose the spectator from associating the work with AIDS." (19 - 20) mutually supportive, platonic, symmetry, they switch who is the most supportive, technical, the body as strong

Street Action (1970)

§ Created and performed in protest of the Cambodian invasion by U.S. forces in 1970 § Consisted of 3 columns of people wearing black armbands § Dancers slowly swayed from side to side with heads lowered while mobilizing through the streets of downtown Manhattan

Juxtapose the early practice of butoh in Tatsumi Hijikata's Kinjiki (Forbidden Colors) (1959) to the contemporary derivative of butoh in Eiko & Koma's Offering (2002). Consider elements of race, gender, and war in your answer.

Butoh -informed by devastation of WWII, inspired by German expressionism, rejection of prewar culture that didn't address the trauma of the war, retaliation against government -Eroticism, Sex, Death, Social criticism Ankoko Butoh -"dance of darkness" § Considered shocking and sexually perverse for the time - Regular themes included displays of homosexuality, acts of cross-dressing, and depictions of human deformity How was "Kinjiki" unique for its time? -duet of two male dancers, explored homosexuality which was taboo, were shirtless How did it differ from pre-WWII dance/ performance in Japan? - Post-war Japanese artists staunchly rejected pre-war culture and artistic forms; sought newfound identity, genre, and/or response to current state -Equal push away from Japanese tradition as well as Western styles of ballet and modern dance -Focused on use of lower body for movement -Similarity to slow meditative Noh dance, but no use of masks -Kabuki- use of white face makeup, gender-bending, cross-dressing -exaggerated facial expressions, interdisciplinary What was the impact of the war? -Highly influenced by the physical, environmental, and psychological devastation of WWII pinned alongside fierce resistance to Westernization - Created in reaction to the residual damage of WWII on its cities and the psychological damage on its people -Created in retaliation to the government both past and present - Recovery from global humiliation and an attempt "[t]o rebel against a failed society." -The objective of butoh was "anti-traditional... seeking to erase the heavy imprint of Japan's strict society and offering unprecedented freedom of artistic expression. What did the performance consist of? -duet b/w Hijikata and Yoshito Ohno, live chicken presented as a gesture of love and courtship, squeezed between thighs--symbol of silencing/choking or sodomy, no musical score, performance was cut short before they could finish it Who was its audience? - performed at the All-Japan Art Dance Association Conference. Triggered a rift amongst the dance community; outraged conventionalists versus the avant-garde in support of Hijikata -Ankoko butoh attracted progressive-minded audiences OFFERING: Ground Zeros -a location on the surface of the earth above or below the explosion of a nuclear bomb § The Manhattan Project, and bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were amongst the first to use the term § On September 11, 2001, AP National Writer Jerry Schwartz redefined "ground zero" by writing, "Emergency vehicles flooded into lower Manhattan. No one knew what happened; the towers, target of a terrorist bombing in 1993, seemed to be ground zero once again." § Government and media quickly followed suit, naming the area damaged by the 9/11 attacks as Ground Zero § Heavy debate over the inaccuracy of the terminology, as well as the historic irony § Mayor Bloomberg urged the city, journalists, and American public to move past said naming § Eiko has particularly focused her recent solo work on "ground zeros" impacted by destruction -both natural and manmade- since Offering § Tragedy and violence, regardless of its cause, creates trauma and uncertainty amongst people § Her work aims at encouraging audiences to be comfortable with uncomfortable exposure and vulnerability, and to stay connected and engaged with their land and communities Memory § Burial drew parallels to U.S. bombing in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki during WWII § Private tradition made a public, shared experience § Attempted to address general uncertainty of how to cope and recovery in the face of communal tragedy Consistent Themes -reactions to trauma, war -WWII -no public outrage to Offering, a place of reparation What was significant about the staging(s) of "Offering"? -Adapted and performed in 6 different community parks across Manhattan What did the performance consist of? -Large coffin-like set with dirt and branches stripped bare to resemble bones -Dancers submerged and re-emerged as metaphorical burial and rebirth -Both female dancers costumed identically and echoed each other's movement - Koma buried female bodies and lit candles -No explicit reference of 9/11 -Simple process of burial and survival What was the significance of the social and political climate in NYC at that time? - The artists reconceived the work after 9/11 as an offering to those lost and as an act of public mourning § "Reparative acts are not necessarily about mending a rupture, nor about 'getting over' something but acknowledging that much of life is lived in fragments, and figuring out a way to do so." (Candelario, 165) § Offering did not deny the tragedy that occurred but sought to strategically deal with its impact and the consequential effects, particularly racism § It was intended as a "political doing," whereby "'providing options and alternatives for rethinking our conditions of existence through reparative practice.' So by dancing a loss, Eiko & Koma suggest a way of moving through it." § At that time, there were no official monuments or memorials The choice of performers? The political commentary of said bodies? -Recruited a third dancer -South Asian-American dancer Lakshmi Aysola- to join the project -The dancers' bodies were equally site-specific -Historic and current racialization of Japanese and Muslim-Americans in American society -Hyper-visibility of brown bodies not only in post-9/11 New York City, but globally § Reminder of both Executive Order 9066 and the consequential Civil Liberties Act of 1988 § Monetary redress given to Japanese-Americans subjected to internment during WWII via Executive Order 9066 § Draws attention to the history of U.S. immigration and military policies § Reminds audiences about WWII governmental and vigilante racial profiling Japanese as "terrorists," and its similarities to Muslims at present -"When Aysola and Eiko lie dead alongside one another in the soil, they bring the histories of violence against South Asian, Arab, and Japanese Americans and the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki into one shared space and time." Would the work had been as impactful if it had been presented prior to 9/11? Why or why not? -I think it would be impactful in a different way--the dancers bodies would still bring with them the connotations of immigration and racial profiling in the US, but the specific time in reference to the mourning of 9/11 might be replaced with mourning for any other recent event be it personal or historical -it still engages with the same theme, but might not be as resonant to a large community as the communal witnessing of and aftermath of 9/11 had on a global level Who was its audience? -The public -The performances demanded time of its audiences; pause and contemplation Butoh- seeking to erase tradition, "the space between", grotesque imagery Eiko & Koma were influenced by Kazuo Ohno; free performances for the public; slow, nuanced movement lengthy duration, relates to the natural world; a shared ritual of mourning

Echoing of Trumpets (1963)

Choreography by Antony Tudor Premiered on September 28, 1963 at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm § Created in memory of Lidice, a Czechoslovakian village destroyed by the Nazis in 1942 § Metaphorical for all communities with either a history or present risk of impact and victimization of war § Inspired by Tudor's first memories of his own family's evacuation during WWI and his concerns regarding present-day war (Vietnam) § The ballet depicts all village men having been killed with only its women left amongst the ruins § Enemy soldiers arrive on scene § Soldiers kill a found, surviving lover of one of the village women § The women take revenge by seducing one of the soldiers and strangling him with a scarf § When discovered, the women are raped and murdered by the officers § The performance of its characters is deliberately cold and expressionless § "At the end, a lone and exhausted woman watches, hand to her waist and back to the audience, as the few survivors limp off the stage." (Homans 480) § Even in the final scene, there is no emotion nor hysteria; "only stretchers to cart off the dead and a few desolate gestures, such as a woman cradling a friend's head in her hands "_____________ is the only ballet I know ever successfully to convey something of the human cost of war. It is harsh and deliberate, slow and spare, a disciplined accumulation of images that resonate and linger as Tudor builds a picture -shocking in its sustained lyricism- of horror but also of humanity." (Homans, 481) -the danger of war, tragedy of a village destroyed by the Nazis -for a more social elite audience

Biped (1999)

Premiered on April 23, 1999 at the University of California at Berkeley § Exploration between the possibility of animation technology and motion capture § Digital artists Eshkar and Kaiser collaborated with Cunningham who choreographed 75 phrases for 2 dancers to be translated into digital images § Animated images included abstract patterns (i.e. vertical and horizontal lines, dots, and clusters) to were projected onto a scrim at the front of the stage § Live performances took place behind the scrim § Cunningham also utilized DanceForms, a computer software for the actual movement generation for his choreography non-intuitive sets of movement

In many ways, Pina Bausch's contributions to tanztheater and Ohad Naharin's contributions to contemporary Israeli dance are responses to the residual effects of WWII and a revival of German Ausdruckstanz. Compare and contrast the signature movement and staging of both choreographers using Café (1978) and Virus (2002) as examples.

Psychology [and the psychological ballet] -The field of psychology grew alongside WWI and WWII -Focus on the psychological impacts of war particularly on veteran soldiers -Freudian psychoanalysis and the "hysterical woman" -drama performed in pure movement in which psychological matters determine the plot and characters of said drama -Character identity is either shaped or fully defined by an emotion and/or an emotional response to circumstance -Emphasis on interpersonal relationships -Acknowledgement of social and political pressures that inform the human experience -Realism versus romanticism -Push away from the tradition of adapting mythological and/or fiction/fairy-tale literature as narrative basis Reconstruction of post-WWII Germany -Berlin Wall -Marshall Plan, or "European Recovery Program" invested $13 billion into revitalizing the economy in Western Europe -Starting in 1945, city and state theaters were restored in West Germany -Cities were provided resources to establish and run theater, opera, symphony, ballet, and visual art centers -Post-war art trends included Socialist realism, Neo-expressionism, and Conceptualism -Addressing post-war trauma and devastation; heightened awareness and candid dialogue about social issues in the arts -Attempting to make sense of the tragic history -especially amongst upcoming generations- while carrying feelings of shame and blame - "Secondary Guilt" and fear Ausdruckstanz -German Expressionist dance in Weimar Germany and 1920s Vienna - Kurt Joos, Rudolf Laban, and Mary Wigman -was revived in the tanztheater § WWII refugees included students of Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, Rudolf von Laban, and Mary Wigman § Resulted in the production of local concert dancers, movement choirs, kibbutz events, and folk dance trends § Revival of Ausdruckstanz after its corrupt use by Nazi Regime, and in particular, its portrayal in the 1936 Olympic Games § Convergence of Western dance traditions with indigenous dance traditions, and in response to (1) kibbutz culture espousing a liberation of the body, (2) political and social unrest leading to regular exposure of violence and war to the body § "[A] split from the past, the building of a new society and a new attitude toward the body, the emancipation of women, a new approach to movement and space, and, in the case of Zionism, the creation of a 'new Jew,' spiritually and physical connected to the land." (Aldor, 82) Tragicomedy -the comic with the tragic -theater of the absurd -Embraces existentialism and questioned what happens when human existence has no meaning nor purpose -Relative to movements of surrealism and Dadaism -Reaction to the devastation and psychological impact of wartime -Performance of the disintegration of communication -The logical is inherently linked to the illogical and the irrational Tanztheater - meaning "dance theater," stems from concepts and aesthetics of audruckstanz - Expressionist dance blended with drama and artifacts of everyday living § Characteristically interdisciplinary - Artifice of performance for effective purpose - Politics of performance and the seen body -Critically -and candidly- addressing the objectification and commodification of the dancing body - Era of critical thought and the normalizing of psychology -Era of consumerism - Era of political and social recovery as met with tension and divide - Audience or voyeur? Acknowledging stereotype, profiling, and habits of exhibitionism in Western society Tanztheater Wuppertal -initial choreography for operas--As opposed to following a linear narrative, she approached each work and choreographed its movements as metaphor "By all means necessary" -do whatever it takes however long it takes to make it resonate -Reoccurrence is a statement of psychological stamina, and its exhaustion is intended to reveal something more or new -test of stamina, exhaust the image until it becomes something new - Adopted use of everyday objects, gestures, tasks and pedestrian movements, and spoken conversation relevant to the work British Mandate of Palestine and history of Israel -Balfour Declaration of 1917 § Lord Balfour sent a public letter to Lord Rothschild (a.k.a. Baron de Rothschild) stating that the British Government was in favor of Palestine serving as "a national home for the Jewish people" § New national borders were drawn between Great Britain and France, giving Great Britain control of Palestine -Jews immigrated to Palestine from Russia and Eastern Europe Israeli-Palestinian Conflict § During WWII, Jewish refugees illegally entered Palestine § 110,000 Jewish refugees entered Palestine by the end of WWII § In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine proposed "an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem" § In 1947 - 48, civil war between Jewish and Arab communities § Between 1948 - 1958, the population of Israel rose from 800,000 to 2 million § Immigrants were predominately refugees and housed in temporary camps § The Israeli-Palestine Conflict still continues with key issues including mutual recognition, borders, security, water rights, and control of Jerusalem § Western Wall § Military service is mandatory for Israeli citizens (2 years) § Firsthand exposure to war by default § Psychological impact versus nationalism Kibbutz -utopian communal settlements, response to being persecuted and discrimination, zionism -no hierarchy, egalitarian -secular, elimination of gender roles Batsheva Dance Company -Started by Bethsabee de Rothschild, who studied with Martha Graham then became her primary patron, she relocated to Israel and funded the arts there, brought Graham over to start a company, shift away from the folk dance tradition Gaga -Research-based movement language, serves to heighten sensation and imagination for (1) a greater sense of form, (2) eliminating habits, and (3) revealing something new and/or stepping outside comfortable limits § Also, rooted in the belief that movement can be healing § Accessible to all levels and abilities What was the significance of stage design in both works? The use of walls/boundaries? The definition of space (i.e. personal versus public)? -Cafe: stage is randomly strewn with an over-abundance of café chairs and tables across the entire set. The overall set design is functional; there is a door located upstage right that leads to a second revolving door, as well as 2 more doors on either side. Trace of emotions reman visible. Highly personal experiences in the public sphere of the cafe setting. The dancers unable to perform successful relationships-esp in the pair section, loyalty, self-sacrifice, adultery -Virus: blackboard wall that confines the dancers; New and varied ideas of how to identify with said new home and new State § Geography versus history of "place" § Space, in and of itself, has political, social, and personal meaning § Grappling with mixed pasts, including the trauma of Holocaust survivors § Cultural commentary is inherent to the bodies of its performers § Bodies that live the everyday realities of the social and political climate of the State § Bodies as inherent sites of resistance, borderlessness, ongoing threat to lives What was the significance of metaphor in both works? How was said metaphor reflective of the physical and psychological condition of its nation, city, civilian? -Cafe: Commentary on the workings and failings of interpersonal relationships; physical and emotional presence versus absence shared between 2 people § Interplay of hyper-physical, vulnerable imagery and dialogue of dark subconscious; the unspoken or unacted upon § Metaphorical catharsis. Inspired by her childhood memories of observing her parents at work in their café both during and immediately following the end of WWII in Germany. The absurdity of politics -Virus: Literal and metaphorical blockage by walls and/or limitations § Dancers are dressed in beige leotards that also cover their hands, yet another wall/confine Discuss the use and treatment of vulnerability in said works -Cafe: the individuality of the company members, vulnerability, imperfection of the body, personal, subject experiences of the dancers and audience, realism, highly emotional, performing with eyes closed, exhaustion, susceptibility to harm -Virus: § "The text that is read now is a reminder of our obsessive, quite successful efforts to overlook reality, forget the pain and the fact of being human among other humans, not only 'us' but 'them' as well...we should be screaming at ourselves..." § At the end, the figure states, "You, Ladies and Gentlemen, elected dignitaries and preachers of culture, you, brethren and sister, you are human just like us...We thank you. Good evening." Virus movement: is particularly inward, intimate, and small versus explosive and frustrating § "[T]he movement is like the space between the words in which sighs and whispers can be overheard." (Aldor, 92) § Its intent is emotionally and psychologically driven Bausch- The initial idea is pushed until it takes on metaphoric value; It is not clear whether this female character exists in reality or is the subconscious of the other 2 female characters Gaga- eliminating habits, and revealing something new and/or stepping outside comfortable limits, moving through memory and experience Naharin- § Flexible and dramatic spines reminiscent of Graham's contraction, Deep, grounded lunges allowing for emphasis on pelvis, also reminiscent of Graham technique, Explosive athleticism, Social commentary of resilient bodies; strength versus "beauty", Care of nuance, Trained his company dancers without traditional use of mirror; emphasis on experience rather than form; tested the limits of the body; Movement is particularly inward, intimate, and small versus explosive and frustrating; borders/boundaries a consistent theme in identification—finding a home after displacement from war. West Bank-being stuck inside walls. For both the dancers confront the audience

Hora

-circle dances started in Ancient Greece then migrated East -associated with religion--important for collective support, moral under severe oppression, became a shared tradition -don't need a particular skill set, walking patterns § is a circle dance originating in the Balkans with roots in the dance traditions of Albania (valle), Bosnia (kolo), Bulgaria (horo), Greece (χορός), § The name is derivative of Greek χορός, meaning "dance", a term that is thought to have been synonymous of "circle" § Terminology such as "hora" and "oro" also evident in Slavic languages, meaning "round" and "to celebrate" § When Christianity forcibly replaced pagan belief systems, the hora began to affiliate with Christian holidays and celebratory occasions § Well into 20th century Romania, it was customary for the hora to be danced both in secular settings (i.e. town squares, outdoor spaces), as well as at weddings and other religious events § Folk song and dance became symbolic of community; coming of age, mourning, sacraments § Conversely, it shut out those who violated moral code § Many varieties, but its most popular form involves participants holding hands and moving in a collective circle, typically counterclockwise. Each participant moves in a sequence of 3 steps forward, one step back. § Accompanied by accordion, violin, viola, double bass, saxophone, trumpet, and pan pipes § Performative traditions migrated to the Balkans via the Greco-Roman Empire § There, it became affiliated with Slavic [language] traditions over time and migrated further east § Particularly in Russia and the Ukraine, the hora was adopted by the Jewish population § Performative traditions significant to community and cultural identity during periods of social and political repression § As a result, the dance was frequently practiced and migrated amongst refugees § Presently, the hora is the national dance of Israel

Discuss the social and political significance of Katherine Dunham's Southland (1951) in relationship to Kyle Abraham's Pavement (2012) regarding race relations in the U.S. Please name 2 - 3 historical events that coincide with the making and performance of said works.

Historical events: (1) Obama elected (2) Emmett Till Choreographed narratives Double V Campaign -a 2-sided campaign; 1) urging African Africans to join the war effort, 2) while urging readers to call upon their government to make the equal rights amendments to the Constitution real for every citizen Race relations in U.S. 1930s - 1950s (post-WWII) -men and women contributed to the war effort -armed forces desegregated -pre-civil rights movement What was significant about the timing of Southland? -From 1936 - 1946, there were 43 lynchings reported in predominately southern states and yet unprosecuted -Southland was created before the lynching of Emmett Till (1955), as well as the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) Sit-In Movement (1960), Freedom Riders (1961), Selma to Montgomery March (1965), and overall Civil Rights Movement (1954 - 1968) Consider the censorship and federal backlash to Southland -was only performed twice, once in Chile and Paris -lost funding for company, blacklisted -1940s - 1950s art espousing social protest provoked suspicion and repression, rather "[i]t was a time when dissent itself seemed illegitimate, subversive, un- American," and was oftentimes categorized as unpatriotic during the Red Scare What was significant about the sources intentionally incorporated into Pavement? Their reference to era - past and present? -Re-imagination of W.E.B. Du Bois's Souls of Black Folks---double consciousness, black people being aware of how the world views them-- and John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood as set on a basketball court in Abraham's hometown, Pittsburgh -Musical score is a montage of a wide variety of music ranging from Bach, Handel, Jacques Brel, and Sam Cooke, with punctuated dialogue from Boyz n the Hood, including "My mama say, 'A bullet don't have no name on it.'" What was significant about the timing of Pavement? -Premiered the same year as Trayvon Martin's death -Predates Black Lives Matter Race relations in the 1990s - 2000s -Rodney King -2005: United States Senate finally issues formal apology for failure to pass anti-lynching legislation -Obama elected Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter -MLK, bus boycott, school desegregation, voting rights, equal employment § Demonstrations against deaths of African Americans killed by police action What is significant about each choreographer's movement vocabulary? How do said vocabularies address matters of race and identity on stage? -Dunham: portrayed black field hands singing and dancing in front of a Southern mansion § Following this scene, a white man attacks his lover and leaves her unconscious, The accused man is beaten, carried offstage to infer being burned and lynched by a mob, body shown hanging from a tree -Abraham: § The act of perpetual running and falling, and its exhaustion, serves as a literal and metaphorical subtext; finale with stacks of bodies facing downwards and hands behind backs § Gestures of handcuffs emerge throughout the work as not only a symbol of arrest, but of the exhaustion of its absurdity and "helplessness" whereas "[t]hese boys don't have a chance." Dunham- studied anthropology, traveled to Caribbean to study dance, her school curriculum had anthropology and ethnology of dance; repression of art social protest in 40s-50s Abraham- witnessing their community torn apart by racially targeted violence and poverty, Pavement aims to create a strong emotional chronology of a culture conflicted with a history plagued by discrimination, genocide, and a constant quest for a lottery ticket weighted in freedom, Themes of violence, pain, love, fear, and vigilance

NO Manifesto (1965)

NO to spectacle. No to virtuosity. No to transformations and magic and make-believe. No to the glamour and transcendency of the star image. No to the heroic. No to the anti-heroic. No to trash imagery. No to involvement of performer or spectator, No to style. No to camp. No to seduction of spectator by the wiles of the performer. No to eccentricity. No to moving or being moved.

Why does dance matter? Select one choreography covered in class (Weeks 1 - 15) and discuss its personal resonance for you. Please name its historical and present relevance as you link to the work to your own lived experience. Please consider elements of identity politics as incorporated into the lectures. Why did this work speak to you and your lived experience? What were elements of this work that made it personally impactful?

Ohad Naharin's Echad Mi Yodea personally resonated with me when we were watching the whole dance in class. It premiered in 1990 by the Batsheva Dance Company. The dancers sit on chairs in a semi-circle on stage, wearing suits with hats that is indicative of Orthodox Jewish attire. The movement is fast and the dancers have to work to keep up with the pace. Repetition is used throughout, especially during the canon when each dancer bends backwards over the chair before returning to a seated position with forearms on their knees. The dancers strip down to an undershirt and shorts, while the dancer on the end of the circle falls to their knees at the end of every round of back bends and remains in the attire. This piece is very significant for the clash between tradition in the religious and secular Jewish beliefs. The work was even censored by conservatives, unhappy about the stripping, so Naharin pulled the work from the show that was being protested. Each of the dancers, male or female, are dressed the same, allowing for a collective who dress and act the same. The themes of trying to keep up with a community or group with the loss of individual identity resonated with me. This is a universal feeling of wanting to belong but feeling alienated. There is pressure to conform to tradition. In Israel there is a constant state of alertness reflected in the quick, reactionary movements.

Survival Workshops

a workshop series across the nation with people suffering terminal illnesses § 14 Survival Workshops in 11 cities § 2 workshops exclusively for children § Youngest at 11 years old; oldest at 74 years old § Participants ranged from various ages, races, sexes, gender, classes, and health states § In production, the video steers away from showing any physical symptoms of the disease or its treatment § Jones, Gretchen (filmmaker) and crew, Bjorn (Jones assistant), and any caregivers participants elected to have present § Exercises in trust § Self-made gesture portraits § Life line drawings § Memory recall, sensory recall § Asked to describe their deaths § Concluded with a private reel of concerns

4'33" (1952)

§ Absence of deliberate sound § 4 minutes and 33 seconds of "silence" at the piano § Challenged the assumed definitions of musicianship and musical experience § Controversial in musicology, art, and performance § Silence as "the material of music as well as sound" § No such thing as silence § Cage tells the story of his experience in an anechoic chamber, a room that is technologically as silent as possible § He heard 2 sounds: 1) his nervous system, 2) his circulatory system § Required audiences to be present

Vogue

highly stylized, modern house dance that originated in the 1980s § Evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene (its performative tradition of "throwing shade") of the 1960s and 1970s § Precise origins are debated but many cling to story of drag performer Paris Dupree using a Vogue magazine for inspiration § Theories of vogue dance originating amongst black gay inmates at Rikers Island § Angular, linear, and rigid arm, leg, and body movements § 3 distinct styles: (1) Old Way (pre-1990); (2) New Way (post-1990); (3) Vogue Fem (circa 1995)

Butoh

is a form of subversive dance theater emerging out of the 1950s in post-WWII Japan § Highly influenced by the physical, environmental, and psychological devastation of WWII pinned alongside fierce resistance to Westernization § Co-founders Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno were inspired by German Expressionist dance (i.e. Rudolph Laban, Mary Wigman), as well as elements of noh and kabuki § Noh is classical Japanese theater characterized as "musical drama" § Dates back to 14th century samurai culture; one of the oldest theatrical forms in the world § Frequently based on tales of supernatural beings transformed as a mortals § Metaphor made visible § Very slow, meditative movement § Kabuki is classical Japanese dance-drama dating back to 17th century Kyoto, former capital of imperial Japan § Gender-bending with female roles performed by men (i.e. Onnagata) § Stylistic makeup § White rice powder base § Post-war Japanese artists staunchly rejected pre-war culture and artistic forms; sought newfound identity, genre, and/or response to current state § Created in reaction to the residual damage of WWII on its cities and the psychological damage on its people § Created in retaliation to the government both past and present § Recovery from global humiliation and an attempt "[t]o rebel against a failed society." (Stein, 116) § The objective of butoh was "anti-traditional...seeking to erase the heavy imprint of Japan's strict society and offering unprecedented § Today, butoh is considered a global form with many derivatives and no true codification § Common characteristics include: § Nudity with bodies oftentimes painted in white § Exaggerated facial expressions § Butoh artist Yoko Ashikawa is known for having most of her teeth pulled to allow for more extreme and diverse facial expressions § Body contortions and inwardly rotated legs § Hyper-controlled motion including slow-paced movement and durational squatting § "Hokotai" is known as the basic butoh walk, involving the the knees bent and the torso dropped down so as to create the illusion of a floating body while the feet slide along the floor § Endurance threshold § Grotesque imagery § Regular themes include: § Eroticism § Sex § Death § Social criticism § Its basic, foundational concept is "man," meaning the "the space between"

Karen Finley

is an American performance artist, feminist, and activist § Her work frequently uses nudity and profanity § Recurring themes include sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement § Presently, Finley is a professor at NYU TSOA § Finley was 1 of 4 artists to have their NEA grants revoked following the 1990 "decency issues" pushed by Senator Helms § The "NEA Four" also included Holly Hughes, John Fleck, and Tim Miller § Controversy instigated by 2 reporters -Rowland Evans and Robert Novack- that published negative reviews without ever seeing the work § Patronized Finley as a "chocolate-smeared," hysterical woman § In 1998, Finley challenged the NEA and its "decency standards" in the Supreme Court in NEA v. Finley § Unfortunately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NEA § Ruled that its 1990 amendment to ensure "...taking into consideration general standards of decency" did not interfere with the First Amendment We Keep Our Victims Ready (1990) § Addressing female marginalization § Finley "recreated" herself as an abstract object of desire using chocolate, bean sprouts, red candy, and tinsel § Eventually premiered at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and even received a positive evaluation from the NEA panelists that attended § However, opponents in the federal government and press continued to smear Finley's reputation A Woman's Life Isn't Worth Much (1990) § Despite the ongoing controversary with the NEA, Franklin Furnace (partly funded by the NEA) elected to present Finley's work § Use of nudity was not obscene nor pornographic § A week prior to its opening, Franklin Furnace was charged with not having 1) lit exit signage, 2) keeping the front door locked during performances § Franklin Furnace was in regular operation for over 15 years § Staff found the facility shut down and taped with "VACATE - DO NOT ENTER. THE DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS HAS DETERMINED THAT CONDITIONS IN THIS PREMISES ARE IMMIMENTLY PERILOUS TO LIFE." § Re-opened for production but the basement performance space remained closed § Opponents continued to mock Finley as a "chocolate-smeared woman" in the press § "She holds a mirror to what people try to hide, and for those things there are no polite words: rape, AIDS, incest, abandonment, brutality, emotional damage. She transforms food into an emblem of catharsis. It's where the boundary breaks, the boundary of the body." (Carr, 256) Black Sheep (1990) § Outdoor sculpture made possible with government funding and presented by Creative Time § Installed at the corner of First Avenue and Houston Street in New York City, nearby a park frequently inhabited by a growing homeless population § Someone from the NYC Parks Department destroyed it with paint and a sledgehammer the same day it was installed § Black Sheep addressed the impact of the AIDS crisis and feelings of "otherness" § Included a 9-stanza poem casted in bronze § "Black sheep's destinies are not in necessarily having families/having prescribed existences like the American Dream. Black Sheep destinies are to give meaning in life -to be angels, to be conscience, to be nightmares, to be actors in dreams." (Finley, June 1990)

AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (est. 1987)

is an interactional advocacy group working to impact the lives of people with AIDS and the AIDS pandemic § Action for legislation, policy-making, medical research, and treatment § In 1987, ACT UP emerged out of an activist meeting at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York City § There, Larry Kramer (co-founder of GMHC) spoke out against the GMHC; deemed politically incompetent § Kramer asked attendees, "Do we want to start a new organization devoted to political action?" § 2 days later, over 300 people met to form ACT UP § Initially, ACT UP was organized to be leaderless and to function as an anarchist group § Weekly committee meetings where actions and proposals brought to the floor for vote § Consisted of Action, Finance, Outreach, Treatment and Data, Media, Graphics, and Housing Committees § On March 24, 1987, ACT UP held its first demonstration on Wall Street and Broadway § Protest demands for greater access to experimental AIDS drugs and federal policy-making § On March 24, 1988, an anniversary demonstration at said site led to over 100 arrests § On September 14, 1989, ACT UP infiltrated the New York Stock Exchange § Demonstrators chained themselves to the VIP balcony in protest of the high costs for AZT, the only approved AIDS treatment drug at that time § Banner reading "SELL WELLCOME" in references to AZT sponsor Burroughs Wellcome who set price at approximately $10,000 annually per patient § Just days following protest, Burroughs Wellcome lowered AZT price to $6,400 annually per year § April 15, 1987, ACT UP demonstrated at the New York City General Post Office § Marked the start of its Silence=Death Project § Using a pink triangle for branding referred to the upside-down pink triangle that was used to mark homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps § On October 11, 1988, ACT UP successfully shut down the FDA for a day § On December 10, 1989, ACT UP demonstrated at St. Patrick's Cathedral § Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese had already taken a public stand against safe sex education in New York City Public Schools, condom distribution, and homosexuality § Approximately 4,500 protestors mobilized by ACT UP and WHAM! demonstrated outside a mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral § A few dozen activists entered the church and interrupted the mass § Laid down in aisles § 111 protests were arrested § Mayor Edward Koch and Governor Mario Cuomo publicly denounced the protest § Protest documented in Stop the Church by Robert Hilferty § On January 22, 1991, ACT UP infiltrated CBS Evening News shouting "AIDS is news. Fight AIDS, not Arabs!" during broadcast on Operation Desert Storm § On January 23, ACT UP hung banners in Grand Central Terminal stating "Money for AIDS, not for war" and "One AIDS death every 8 minutes" § One banner was strung across train timetable, the other attached to balloons so that it floated over the main terminal

Kinjiki (Forbidden Colors) (1959)

is considered the first butoh work § Adaptation of novel by avant-garde writer Yukio Mishima, exploring social taboo of homosexuality § Choreographed by Hijikata, and performed as a duet by Hijikata and 21-year old Yoshito Ohno (son of Kazuo Ohno): § Hijikata performed with a shaven head and dressed in black trousers; Ohno with tight white shorts § Hijikata presented Ohno a live chicken as a gesture of love and courtship § Clutched between his thighs, Ohno squeezed the chicken as he danced § Some interpreted this as choking or silencing, others as sodomy § No musical score, hence no masking of incidental sounds § The lights were cut before the duet could be finished § Hijikata was ousted from the association § Triggered a rift amongst the dance community; outraged conventionalists versus the avant-garde in support of Hijikata § For the next decade, Hijikata continued to create highly provocative ankoku butoh work employing predominately male performers no music, raw sounds, were on the ground--Kabuki was always upright

Jesse Helms

senator who denounced Serrano's work § Encouraged 36 senators to sign a letter to NEA expressing their outrage brought copies of Mapplethorpe's XYZ Portfolios to the Senate § Women and adolescent pages were asked to leave the Senate chamber § Claimed that "Mapplethorpe's obscene photographs were an effort to gain wider exposure of, and acceptance for, homosexuality." § As a result, the show was cancelled § Protestors projected censored images from the show on the museum's façade § In 1990, photographer Nan Goldin curated Witness: Against Our Vanishing at Artists Space in New York City § Exhibition consisting entirely of work by artists with AIDS or by artists who had died of AIDS § Its opening drew 15,000 people § Pressured by Senator Helms, the NEA momentarily withdrew the project's funding § In 1990 - 1991, Senator Helms targets Artists Space, Project Artaud, Research Publications of San Francisco, Center on Contemporary Art and Allied Arts, the List Visual Arts Center of MIT, Art Matters, and the American Institute of Architects Helms Amendment § To ban the use of Federal funds for AIDS education materials that "promote or encourage, directly or indirectly, homosexual activities"

Houses

serve as alternative families and safe spaces for queer youth § Predominately queer youth of color § "Mothers" and "fathers" support and advise their "children" § Especially during the 1980s - 1990s AIDS crisis, black and Latino/a queer communities were "high risk communities" § Heightened homophobia leading to homelessness, unemployment, and lack of access to healthcare and social services § Virtual absence of funding during the Reagan era for persons newly displaced and/or homeless as result of HIV/AIDS § Traditionally, 4 categories of gender exist in a house: (1) butch queens, (2) femme queens, (3) butches, (4) women § Houses "walk" against other houses in balls where they are judged on dancing (vogueing), as well as costumes and presentation § Participants dress/costume according to category § Balls can last as long as 10 hours with several categories § Winners are given trophies (some trophies stand at 10 - 12') and cash prizes § Between 1970 and 1980, 8 major houses formed in Harlem: House of Labeija, House of Ninja, House of Corey, House of Wong, House of Dupree, House of Christian, House of Princess, House of Pendavis § In 1989, the House of Latex was established as a HIV-STI prevention call to action in the ballroom community § Created in collaboration with the GMHC § Distributed of contraception and information

Happenings

term coined by Allan Kaprow after the 18 Happenings in 6 Parts at the Reuben Gallery in 1959 § However, John Cage organized the first experimental performance event of the sort at Black Mountain College in 1952 § Cage lectured at a podium while David Tudor played the piano, Charles Olson talked or laughed [on cue] while seated amongst the audience, Robert Rauschenberg played a wind-up victrola, and Merce Cunningham danced § The event reflected Cage's position on sound: to occur without premeditation § Reminiscent of Dada demonstrations (1916 - 1921) § In 1957 - 58, Kaprow enrolled as a student of Cage's classes at The New School § However, Kaprow was more interested in "making things happen" as opposed to "letting things happen" § During this time, many dancers participated in the larger arts scene; performing in Happenings, Events, and music projects § Conversely, many visual artists enrolled in courses and projects that were dance-based § The Living Theatre (est. 1947) § Oldest experimental theatre company in the United States § Founded by actress Judith Malina and painter/poet Julian Beck § Starting in the 1960s, the company expanded to include minimalist dance/performance including works by Simone Forti § Fluxus § International and interdisciplinary group of artists, composers, designers, and poets active in the 1960s - 1970s § Regarded as one of the most radical and experimental art movements of the 1960s § Emergence of "intermedia," or the generation of new art forms out of interdisciplinary projects § Anti-commercial, resistant towards tradition of "high art" § Influenced by Cage's chance procedures, Duchamp's readymade/collage, and Dadaism (Neo-Dada) § Hosted Events both in New York City and abroad

Indeterminacy

the compositional approach to aleatoric music in which some aspects are deliberately left open to chance or the interpreter's free choice "the ability of a piece to be performed in substantially different ways" § Aleatoric music, or chance music, involves an element of composition left to chance § Latin translation meaning "dice" § Cage believed that art imitates nature, and therefore, should have no definitive resolutions, no discernible beginnings, no consistent tonality, etc..."as random and haphazard as life" § Contended a "purposeful purposelessness," emphasizing action over creation and/or final product § "[A]n affirmation of life -not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvement in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we're living." (Experimental Music lecture, 1957) § Cage was not a fan of jazz and nearly all forms of contemporary music because he felt they existed as "fixed objects for contemplation rather than processes that expose it to a life" § Eliminated the power construct of composer/director § Music is everywhere, everywhere is music § "[A]ll sounds are justifiable components of music but also that unintentional noises, regardless of their quality, are as valid for music as sounds intentionally produce." § Performance experience was nonhierarchical and supported the individual experience § "Art instead of being made by one person is a process set in motion by a group of people" § I Ching, or Book of Changes, is a Chinese Book of Oracles dating from pre-Christian times § Divination called cleromancy which produces apparently random numbers; random numbers rolled by dice, for instance, are the will of God § Six numbers between 6 and 9 are turned into a hexagram § Reimagined structure of these theories as a tool for generating and organizing sounds § Coin and dice toss, and detailed element charts (i.e. tempi, dynamics, sounds and silences, durations, and superimposition) • Cage viewed the Western art tradition as an imposition on audiences, "forcing him to respond in a special way rather than making a situation of many possibilities" • "The question, as always, arises: What is the point of making anything at all, since at any moment the world is teeming with possibilities for experience? For Cage, the answer is that there is no point, it is simply something to do, which means that living and making a thing are not two separate acts. And if everybody can do it, then let everybody, 'for the more, as is said, the merrier.'" (Johnston, 63)

Bill T. Jones/Still/Here (1994)

was a dance about survival § Jones was extremely careful not to make any direct references to AIDS in Still/Here § Its choreography was based on a workshop series across the nation with people suffering terminal illnesses, called "Survival Workshops" § The final stage work would include gesture sequences from participants in the Survival Workshops; dancers would recite the name of its creator and original caption for each gesture in the performance § Video footage from the workshops projected onto onstage screens § To echo the 2-part creation process and 2 segmented themes of Still/Here, Jones commissioned 2 different musical composers § Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company consisted of a broad range of race, sex, gender, and body type § When questioned by the press, Jones revealed that none of the company dancers were HIV-positive § Jones's HIV-positive status was published in an Advocate cover story without his consent "The dancers would reveal themselves as they revealed the movement. They would not impersonate the sick and dying, but the many variations of the struggle I learned through Arnie's illness and death and the illnesses and deaths of numerous others, through my own experience, and through the experiences of workshop participants. I realized that the resources necessary to cope with life-threatening illnesses are the same as those necessary for truly owning one's life." (Bill T. Jones) "I suppose when I decided not to follow the course of a company of HIV survivors and opted instead for a youthful, healthy group of dancers, I ran the risk of denying the truth about debilitating illness. I have now decided that their vitality and physical prowess are an apt and necessary metaphor for the spirit displayed by most survivors I was fortunate enough to encounter." (Bill T. Jones)

Black Mountain College (est. 1933)

was an experimental school founded by John Andrew Rice in 1933 with an original faculty of 9 working artists and 22 students § Based in Black Mountain, North Carolina, nearby the town of Asheville § Ideologically organized around John Dewey's principles of education embracing holistic learning and art as central to liberal arts education § Non-hierarchical methodologies, and horizontal operation between faculty and students § Students were involved at all levels of institutional decision-making § Students decided when they were ready to graduate, most students staying enrolled indefinitely § Education, arts, and cooperative labor whereas all students were required to contribute in agricultural work, construction, and kitchen duties on the property § Reputation as an "interdisciplinary educational hide-out" § Only 2 required courses; a course on materials (in color, light, sound, and time) and a course on Plato § The program offered a "stage studies" program § Attracted playwrights, dancers, and musicians § First staged student performance from Bauhaus repertory, Spectodrama § Faculty and student body included Josef and Anni Albers, Walter Gropius, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Buckminster Fuller, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, and Allen Ginsberg, to name a few § Absorbed a number of Bauhaus artists that relocated to Asheville-area upon immigration § Up until 1941, the college rented the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly buildings located on the south of Black Mountain § Later relocated to its own campus at Lake Eden § In 1944, a summer intensive program was launched § After 24 years of operation, the school folded in 1957 § Upon closing, Albers left North Carolina to direct the first design department at Yale University

Bethsabée de Rothschild

§ Also known as "Batsheva," born in London to the Baron and Baroness Edouard de Rothschild § Prior to the German invasion of France, she immigrated to New York City where she studied at Columbia University § Previously studying biology at the Sorbonne § Later joined the Free French Army and took part in the liberation of Paris where she worked as mediator between the French and American armies § She returned to the New York with the end of WWII § There, she began to study dance with Martha Graham § Eventually, she became Martha Graham's company patron § Batsheva funded the company's operation, its film documentation, and the acquisition of the company facility in New York City § She became well-known as a sponsor for local young dancers and composers in New York City § In 1951, Batsheva took her first trip to Israel § In 1956, she returned to Israel while traveling with the Martha Graham Dance Company on their East Asia tour § By the end of 1956, Batsheva permanently relocated to Israel § In her move, she established the Batsheva de Rothschild Foundation for Arts and Sciences and the Batsheva Society for the Arts § Supported the Maskit Fashion House, Chamber Music Association, and Chamber Ensemble § Promoted Israeli culture via Israeli music recordings and literature translation into Hebrew § Organized dance workshops under the direction of Graham and Antony Tudor § Established scholarships for dancers to attend Graham's school in New York City

Alvin Ailey/Revelations (1960)

§ Alvin Ailey (1931 - 1989) was an African-American dancer, choreographer, and social activist § Founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (est. 1958) § His choreographic career is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing the presence of African American dancers in 20th century concert dance § Nicknamed the "Cultural Ambassador to the World" due to extensive international touring subsidized by the government § NAACP Spingarn Medal, Kennedy Center Honors, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient § Revelations is regarded as one of the best known, and most frequently commissioned and/or attended, modern dance choreographies of the 20th century and remains in active repertory today § Born in Rogers, Texas, raised by single mother that worked as a migrant laborer during the Great Depression § In 1942, his mother relocated the family to Los Angeles, California, seeking industrial work due to WWII § In 1949, high school friend Carmen De Lavallade introduced him to dance teacher and eventual mentor Lester Horton § Trained in classical ballet, jazz, Native American dances, and Horton technique § Lester Horton's dance studio was the first multi-racial dance school in the United States § Took academic courses at various California universities, particularly focusing on literature and was drawn to the work of James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Carson McCullers § In 1951, Ailey moved to San Francisco where he met Marguerite Johnson, who later changed her name to Maya Angelou § Together, they performed a nightclub act called "Al and Rita" § In 1953, Ailey joined Lester Horton's company and later assumed the role of artistic director with Horton's passing (at 22 years old) § In 1954, Ailey and De Lavallade were invited to New York City to participate in the Broadway production of House of Flowers by Truman Capote, continuing his work on Broadway with Sing, Man, Sing (1956, starring Harry Belafonte) and Jamaica (1957, starring Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalban) § Ailey was not interested in the techniques nor classes of New York City modern dance contemporaries such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and José Limon, and missed training with Horton § Studied sporadically at New Dance Group with Hanya Holm, Anna Sokolow, and Charles Weidman § In 1960 - 1962, Ailey took acting lessons with Stella Adler § As a result, he began to train and create works of his own reminiscent of Horton-style § In 1958, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater drawing from a fusion of ballet, modern, jazz, African diasporic traditions, and Horton technique § During his lifetime, Ailey created 79 dances for his company § However, he was insistent that the company also perform the works of other choreographers and instigated several commissions § At present, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed over 200 works by over 70 choreographers § Ailey also insisted the the company be multi-racial § Ailey aimed to provide opportunities for black dancers, especially due to the discriminatory politics at the inception of the company, but employed dancers based on talent regardless of race § Throughout the 1960s, the U.S. State Department sponsored the company to tour internationally § In 1969, the first rendition of They Ailey School was opened in Brooklyn, New York § Presently, the school offers dance classes to professionals and amateurs § 75% of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are alumni of the school § On December 1, 1989, Ailey died of AIDS § Integration of African-American spirituals, song-sermons, gospels, and blues § Conceived as a personal tribute to Ailey's "blood memories" of his childhood in rural Texas and upbringing in the Baptist Church § Inspired by Ailey's earlier Blues Suite (1958) as developed into a full evening-length production § At its premiere, Revelations consisted of 10 sections, a live vocal chorus, and lasted over an hour without intermission § In 1962, The work was truncated to 3 sections in 36 minutes with recorded music due to demands by the government when offering the work international touring opportunities § (1) Pilgrim of Sorrow, (2) Take Me to the Water, (3) Move Members, Move § Take Me to the Water resembles a ceremonial baptism and its procession to an outdoor site § A leader bearing a large umbrella baptizes a young couple in a river that is represented by yards of blue silk § Followed by a solo, I Wanna Be Ready, referring to the spiritual afterlife; particularly reminiscent of Horton technique § Move Members, Move includes 20th century gospel music and is set in a southern Baptist church § Includes men's trio, Sinner Man, and "Yellow Section" for 18 dancers § Embodiment of the joy of faith and community

Last Work (2015)

§ Always involves one lone figure that runs non-stop [without going anywhere] for the entire duration, "perpetual static motion" § In an interview, Naharin shared that he instructed his dancers to incorporate 3 words into their movement: baby, ballerina, executioner § Anarchic chaos versus quiet humanity § Bodies contorted and made grotesque § Approaches the act of sex in various modes: cool, clinical, humorous, outrageous, animalistic, romantic § Interplay of nuanced versus shocking vignettes § Ex: man appears to masturbating but turns downstage to reveal that he is polishing an assault rifle that lets off confetti § Commentary on acts of violence and restraint § Scene with hoods over dancers' heads § Another scene that haphazardly duct-tapes the entire cast together § At the end of the work, the running figure is handed a white flag—symbol of surrender—but does not stop running nor slow down § During its run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2017, demonstrators for a cultural boycott of Israel gathered at the venue, naming the Batsheva Dance Company a cultural ambassador of Israel § The company accepts government funding for international touring abstracting war and violence, who is it serving?, the absurdity of it

John Cage (1912-1992)

§ American "polyartist" in music, theater, literature, and visual art § His career as a composer and music theorist pioneered indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments § Leading figure in post-war avant-garde movement and one of the most influential composers of the 20th century § Born in Los Angeles, California and grew up under the influence of his father, John Milton Cage, was an inventor that pushed against scientific norms § Cage began lessons in piano at an early age § Starting in the 4th grade, Cage expressed more interest in sight reading than in actual playing technique § In 1928, Cage enrolled at Pomona College as a theology major § In 1930, he dropped out and persuaded his parents that traveling abroad would be more educational § Hitchhiked through Europe for 18 months § During this time, he began to experiment in various art mediums and their studies § Architecture, painting poetry, and music § In 1931, Cage returned to the United States and made a living small, private lectures on contemporary art § In 1933, Cage shifted his concentration to music and relocated to New York City § Enrolled in classes at The New School while supporting himself as a janitor at a Brooklyn YWCA § Cage wished to study with Arnold Schoenberg but could not afford the cost of his private lessons § Schoenberg asked whether Cage would devote his life to music; when Cage said "yes," Schoenberg offered to teach him for free § In 1934, Cage married visual artist Xenia Andreyevna Kashevaroff § The couple relocated to Los Angeles, where he took up a position accompanying classes in the dance department at UCLA § Composed music for student choreographies, as well as taught classes for dance majors § During this time, Cage began to experiment with unorthodox instruments (i.e. household items, metal sheets, ordinary objects) § In 1938, colleague and fellow composer Lou Harrison connected Cage to a faculty position at Mills College § Soon after, he acquired work as a composer and accompanist for choreographer Bonnie Bird at the Cornish College of the Arts § During this time, Cage invented and incorporated use of the prepared piano § The concept was originally intended for single performance § Also, there Cage was introduced to Merce Cunningham § In 1941, Cage taught on faculty at the Chicago School of Design and University of Chicago § In 1942, Cage relocated to New York City, originally staying with Max Ernst and Peggy Guggenheim § This friendship led to introductions to Marcel Duchamp, Piet Mondrian, and Jackson Pollock § Guggenheim organized a concert of Cage's work at the opening of her gallery and paid for the transportation of Cage's instruments and materials from Chicago § After it was revealed that Cage accepted an offer to perform at MoMA, Guggenheim withdrew all support § Cage was temporarily homeless and unemployed § He and his wife were taken in by dancer Jean Erdman § Without his full arsenal of materials, Cage worked focused on the prepared piano and sought opportunities to work with local choreographers, including Cunningham § During this time, Cage and Cunningham became romantically involved, and Cage divorced Xenia § In 1946, Cage began to tutor Gita Sarabhai an Indian musician § The two began an exchange of music theory and practice, Sarabhai's work being his first in-depth exposure to Indian music and philosophy § Influenced famed Sonatas and Interludes § In 1940s - 1950s, Cage followed D.T. Suzuki's lectures on Zen Buddhism § In 1951, his student Christian Wolff gave him a copy of the I Ching § Many fellow composers and press began to ignore and/or react negatively to his new works § In 1948, he was offered to opportunity to join the teaching faculty at Black Mountain College § He returned in 1952 and 1953 § In 1952, Cage organized what is now referred to as the first "happening," entitled Theatre Piece No. 1 § Abandoned traditional stage-audience construct; a sense of definitive roles and duration § Use of a minimal script, or score, with no specific plot § Multi-media performance involving collaborators David Tudor and Cunningham § A happening is an attempt to embody the present, "to arrest the concept of passing time" § Name coined by Alan Kaprow § Starting in 1953, Cage focused on composition specifically for modern dance § Music director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company up until his death § Also taught music and music theory courses to dancers § Alongside his creative work, he taught classes in experimental composition at The New School, and earned supplemental income as an art director and designer of typography § Starting in the 1950s, Cage worked with member of the music department at Wesleyan University up until his death § Wesleyan archived and published a wide variety of Cage's body of work § In 1965, Betty Freeman established an annual grant for living expenses that supported Cage for the rest of his life § Starting in the 1960s, Cage was forced to stop performing due to arthritis in his hands compounded by the effects of a stroke in the 1980s § Focused on composition and commissioning performers to executive his compositions § In 1992, Cage suffered a second stroke that eventually led to his death at 79 years old

Trisha Brown (1936 - 2017)

§ American dancer, choreographer, and founding member of the Judson Dance Theater § Highly influential figure in the postmodern dance movement, and its evolution with regards to methodology and "technique" § Served on the National Council on the Arts and Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters § MacArthur Foundation, National Medal of Arts, Samuel H. Scripps, United States Artists Fellow, and Prix Benois de la Danse award recipient § Originally from Aberdeen, Washington where she was actively engaged with dance, athletics, and outdoor recreation/nature § Browne formally studied dance at Mills College § During this time she attended the American Dance Festival at Connecticut College where she met and studied under Merce Cunningham § In 1960, Brown enrolled in an improvisation workshop with Anna Halprin at her studio in Kentfield, California § There, she met Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer who encouraged her to move to New York City § Upon relocation, Brown enrolled in composition class with Robert Dunn at the Cunningham Studio § After the dissolve of the official company of the Judson Dance Theater, Brown continued to create her own dance works § In 1970, she established the Trisha Brown Dance Company § Similar to her contemporaries, Brown invested in an non-elitist push away from "high art" § Her work sought a relatable dance vocabulary from narrative and emotional affectation: pure movement § Release of effort combined with significant strength, control, and clarity § However, Brown staunchly rejected being categorized under "release technique," which followed her into the 1980s § Likewise, Brown was interested in public, ordinary spaces § How can an artist reconsider the historical, social, political, and/or psychological significance of a public space?

Yvonne Rainer (1934- )

§ American dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and founding member of the Judson Dance Theater § MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow award recipient § Originally from San Francisco, California, Rainer was born into a family that identified as politically radical and intertwined with local writers and artists § Frequented The Cellar, a local jazz club where she met Al Held, a painter § In 1956, Rainer followed Held to New York City § In 1957, she was introduced to Edith Stephen's modern dance classes - her first exposure to dance training and at 22 years old § In 1959, she continued studying dance at the Martha Graham School for 1 year followed by the Merce Cunningham Studio for 8 years § During her time at the Graham School, Rainer met Simone Forti § In 1960, the two dancers enrolled in Robert Dunn's choreography workshop at the Cunningham Studio alongside Steve Paxton, Ruth Emerson, Paulus Berenson, and Marni Mahaffey § It was during this workshop that Rainer created and performed her first dances § In 1962, Rainer spearheaded the Judson Dance Theater and its first concert affiliation with Judson Memorial Church § Rainer and her work is best known for its abstract approach to the body § The body is a source of an infinite variety of movements § Task, repetition, and indeterminacy § Emphasis on natural, environmental, and incidental sounds and movements, oftentimes juxtaposed in arbitrary combinations § Integrated spoken language and oral sounds (i.e. shouts, squeaks, etc..) § At times, her choreography combined classical dance and pedestrian movement introducing a new form of collage or eclecticism in dance

Contact Improvisation

§ Starting in 1972, Steve Paxton began to shape a new form of dance partnering called _______ § Applied the physical laws of momentum, gravity, and friction between dancers § Elements from martial arts, social dance, and child's play § Participants were not required to have a formal training background § Partially influenced by Cunningham and his commitment to chance § In Contact Improvisation, 2 bodies come together to create a point of contact (i.e. back to back, shoulder to thigh, head to foot, etc., etc.), giving and sharing equal weight with one another § Maintaining shared weight and physical contact results in an improvisational movement dialogue § Said dance can last an for undetermined length of time, so long as both participants are fully engaged § Contact improvisation can be performed by any person, and relies on 2 simple rules: (1) touch, (2) trust § Challenged heteronormative gendered roles in dance whereas female dancers equally lifted, controlled, and mobilized male dancers § Female bodies proven equally strong and capable of partnering any body regardless of sex, size/weight, or situation

Ishmael Houston-Jones/THEM (1985-86)

§ American performer, choreographer, author, curator, teacher, and arts advocate best-known for his improvisational work § Spent time during his college years traveling and relocated to Israel § For a year, he lived and worked on a pig farm and banana plantation on different kibbutz § He became fascinated by collective socialist living § Upon return to the U.S., he studied Contact Improvisation and began creating his own work § Active member of the downtown post-Judson dance community in the 1980s until present § His choreographic work "celebrates the political aspect of cooperation" § Provocative body of work in response to the AIDS crises § In the early 2000s, he deliberately stopped making new work § He did not want to make work without clear intention; refocused on performing, curating, and teaching § Supports and presents work by local queer artists § Highly scored improvisation § Exploration of aggression and sexuality during the AIDS epidemic § Scene for 2 men on a mattress in which they push each other up and down § Following said scene, a dancer is blindfolded and thrown onto a mattress § A goat carcass is thrown on top of him § The image of an animal carcass on a mattress was inspired by a friend's dream in which he woke up lying next to his own dead body § In the dream, he would try to throw the dead animal out of bed but it kept reappearing on top of him § Fear of death, but more specifically, acknowledgement of AIDS and the increasing loss to AIDS within the community § Full-length version included a cast of 6 male dancers § The original production -due to its use of the animal carcass- almost shut PS122 down § Restaged as a part of PS122's 30th anniversary in 2010 § "We were having an improvisation where they [the younger dancers] had to speak about their relationship to AIDS/HIV, and they started saying, 'Oh, I don't have a relationship.' But as we kept probing and talking, they actually do -like a cousin, or somebody they danced with—and they would remember." (Houston-Jones, 2010) § Revival won a Bessie Award for "bringing an intensely visceral exploration of male identity in the time of AIDS to life with beauty, power, conviction and passion."

The AIDS Crisis

§ As of 2017, approximately more than 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S.; 1 in 7 are unaware of positive status § In the U.S. alone, more than 700,000 people have died of AIDS since the start of the AIDS Crisis in 1981 § Between 1981 and 1987, over 40,000 died of AIDS in the U.S. § Originated as a mutation of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), a disease amongst chimpanzees, in the 1930s § Mutation named the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) § Believed to have reached the U.S. as early as 1960 § HIV-inflected blood samples found from as early as 1959 § However, in the 1980s, Gaëtan Dugas, a gay flight attendant, was misconceived to be the carrier of HIV to U.S.; "Patient Zero" § Initially, the disease was called GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) § Unfairly targeted and stigmatized homosexuality; fueled nationwide homophobia § In 1982, its name was officially changed to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) § In 1981, HIV was first diagnosed in the U.S. by doctors treating 5 previously healthy, young gay men in Los Angeles § The CDC published a report of their symptoms and incapacitated immune systems § Shortly after publication, doctors began reporting similar cases nationwide § By the end of the 1981, there were 271 reported cases with an already 121 of said patients deceased § In 1982, the first U.S. clinic specifically treating AIDS patients was established in San Francisco § In 1983, San Francisco General Hospital opened the first AIDS ward and was fully occupied within days § By 1983, CDC publicly announces that transmission is not possible via casual contact, food, water, air, and/or environmental surfaces § Transmission is not exclusive to sexual activity but also via bloodstream, pregnancy, and breast milk § Cases of an infants contracting HIV via blood transfusions § Cases of contaminated needle and syringe use § In 1983, a New York doctor was threatened with eviction for treating AIDS patients § Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and Lambda Legal file first AIDS discrimination lawsuit § In 1984 - 85, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco close bathhouses due to "high risk activity" § In 1985, Pentagon announced it will test all new military recruits for HIV and reject those who test positive § In 1985, Ryan White, a teenager who contracted AIDS via contaminated blood products to treat his hemophilia, is refused entry to his middle school § Eventually, White became a national spokesperson for AIDS education, treatment, and funding, and testified before President's Commission on AIDS § On April 8, 1990, White died of AIDS-related illness at age 18 § In 1987, Congress adopts the Helms Amendment § To ban the use of Federal funds for AIDS education materials that "promote or encourage, directly or indirectly, homosexual activities" § In 1987, Florida Desoto County School Board refuses HIV-positive brothers Ricky, Robert, and Randy Ray -all hemophiliacs who contracted HIV via contaminated blood products-- to attend school § Federal judge orders board to reinstate children § After ruling, town residents refused to allow their children to attend school and someone sets the Ray family house on fire § Serious discrimination for both HIV-positive and negative gay men in employment, housing, compulsory HIV testing (without consent and/or confidentiality), quarantine, loss of property rights, healthcare, and social services § In 1987, FDA approves the first antiretroviral drug (AZT) § By 1992, AIDS became the leading cause of death for U.S. men ages 25 - 44 § By 1994, AIDS became the leading cause of death for all Americans ages 25 - 44 § In 1994, U.S. Public Health Service recommends that pregnant women be given AZT to reduce the risk of HIV transmission

Epic Theatre

§ Bertolt Brecht (1898 -1956) was German playwright, poet, theorist and director credited with genre of "epic theatre" § Opposite naturalistic drama § Bitingly sarcastic § Deliberate us of artifice § Gestus blending physical gesture" and "gist," or attitude § Brecht founded the idea of "Verfremdungseffekt," a theatrical and cinematic technique that places an audience in the role of conscious observer § Translation meaning "alienation" or "defamiliarization," and often shortened to "V-effect" or "A-effect"

Bill T. Jones/Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land (1990)

§ Bill T. Jones (1952 - ) is an American dancer, choreographer, director, and author § Co-founder of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company § Choreographer for Broadway productions of Spring Awakening and Fela! § Artistic Director of New York Live Arts, formerly known as Dance Theater Workshop § 5-time Bessie Award, Obie Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Tony Award, Kennedy Center Honors, and National Medal of Arts recipient § Originally from Bunnell, Florida, Jones was born into a family of 12 children whose parents were migrant workers § In 1955, his family relocated to Wayland, New York § Jones discovered dance at Binghamton University, later traveling to Amsterdam for additional training § In 1974, Jones formed the American Dance Asylum (ADA) with Lois Welk and Jill Becker; a college collective that offered classes and performance opportunities § Starting in 1976, Jones received invitation to present work at New York City venues such as The Kitchen and Dance Theater Workshop § Starting in 1979, Jones began creating and presenting work with his partner Arnie Zane, addressing both homosexual and interracial politics § In 1982, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was established § Premiered on November 7, 1990, in part with the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York § Addresses racism, repression, faith, and sexual freedom(s) [or lack thereof] in United States culture and politics § Response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and the stereotypes of its characters § Combined with a rendering of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper § Majority of the production is set in a small, striped tent reminiscent of a minstrel show § Several dancers wear abstract masks to represent their characters § 4 different [multi-racial] women perform the role of Eliza, representing 4 different aspects of her character § Elements of drag for male characters § Christianity versus homosexuality § References to drug abuse § References to AIDS crisis § At the conclusion of the first section, the dance is performed in silent retrograde and the dancers remove their masks [and clothing in the final section], appearing as human beings as opposed to characters § Slave being beaten and a man in drag § Interested in real-life identities of artists involved § R. Justice Allen described by Jones as a "former high school athlete, streetwise urban youth, drug adduct, and ex-convict" with no formal dance training § "I found a way to reach and address my grieving for an identity that is ravaged by history and misinformation, by economics and a social order that exploits a man wholesale while keeping him on the fringes of opportunity." § Andréa Smith § Sage and John Cowles, activists in Twin Cities § Cowleses as the "haves," and Justice and Andréa as the "have-nots" § Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land was not intended to be pure dance but a theatrical, multi-disciplinary production

Keith Hennessy/Saliva (1988 - 1989)

§ Canadian dancer, choreographer, and performance artist now based in San Francisco § Regarded as a pioneer of queer and AIDS-related performance art § Echoes leftist and anarchist social movements § Works have resulted from his activism in Critical Response, ACT UP, and Queer Nation § His work is oftentimes structured in non-linear collages that typically blend together dance, spoken word, singing, and visual work § Challenges the fourth wall between artists and audience Staged under the freeway of South of Market in downtown San Francisco § Interdisciplinary dance performance and "sacralizing ceremony" of bodily fluids § A "ritualistic reclamation of the body, the queer male body, as holy" § Anger and grief of the AIDS crisis § Confrontation of homophobia and overall fear culture resultant of AIDS § Organized into 3 sections, titled "Dad," "Mom," and "Keith" § The first of the 2 acts were a series of lectures or "lessons" regarding social and religious taboo § In its finale of "Keith," a crystal bowl was passed around and audience members were instructed to spit in it § Hennessy then squeezed spermicide lubricant and pigment into the bowl, and stirred the fluids together with his fingers § Naked, Hennessy performs ritual markings on his body; the chalice of saliva reminiscent of a Catholic mass and positioning himself as Christ [or as sacrifice] § Restaged at its original site in 2009

Reaganism

§ Conservative "Reagan Revolution" led by President Ronald Reagan in both domestic and foreign policy § Large tax cut included the elimination of decades-long social programs § "Reaganism" introduced ideological, social divisiveness: § Backlash to the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s § Integration, Affirmative Action § War on Drugs § Racial profiling and rise of mass incarceration § Backlash to New Leftism of the 1970s § Women's liberation and gay rights § Blocked federal funding for abortion (i.e. "Mexico City policy," requiring that family planning centers not "promote" abortion) § Reinstated support for religious-right § Emphasis on conservative family values with more rigid social controls § Legislation for organized school prayer § Called for total elimination of the Department of Education § Cutbacks on bilingual education and general federal funding § New founded "American Firstism" and "moral imperialism" leading to: § Racial divide § Classist divide § Sex and gender prejudices § Fundamentalist religions v. liberal beliefs systems § Sun Belt v. Rust Belt § Individual v. The State

Kontakthof (1978)

§ Considered one of her more minimalist productions § Set consists of a municipal hall for a local dance with 27 attendees § Flirt and preen like teenagers § Women adjust their bra straps, pull in their stomachs, yank at their dresses, vainly obsess and subsequently reveal insecurities about their appearance § The majority of the choreography is limited to pedestrian gestures and social dance movements § Self-adornment versus expectation and objection from gendered counterpart § Question of courtship rituals; search for companionship versus carnal desire? § Tender exchanges matched against awkward misconnections, violent restraint, and pure violation § Arlene Croce of The New Yorker described Kontakthof as a "pornography of pain" § The work has been restaged on amateurs in 2 series: "Ladies and Gentlemen Over 65" and "Teenagers Over 14" "Kontakthof is a place where people meet who are searching for contact. To show yourself, to deny yourself. With fears. Desire. Disappointments. Desperation. First experiences. First attempts. Tenderness and what arises from, was an important theme in work. Another, for example, was Circus. Showing part of yourself, overcome oneself. Kontakthof was performed for the first time 1978 in Wuppertal. Afterwards in many other countries. My wish, to see this piece, this theme shown by ladies and gentlemen with more life experience grew with time even stronger. So I found the courage, to give Kontakthof to elderly people over 65. People from Wuppertal. Neither Actors. Nor Dancers. Simply people from Wuppertal. In February 2000 we were ready. At first was planned a one time Happening...Nobody had the slightest idea that 'Kontakthof' with ladies and gentlemen over 65 would travel to so many different European countries in the following years." gestural, ritual, courtship patterns, a dance in search of contact--the universal value of that no matter what stage of life you're in

Sixteen Dances for Soloist and Company of Three (1951)

§ Cunningham first choreographic use of indeterminacy § The sequence of sections was decided by a coin toss per show § Chart for 15 different leaps, as well as charts for falls, seated positions, standing positions, spinal movement, head movement, and arm movement § Charts for tempo and location § Total of 155 charts plus additional heads-or-tails instruction for stillness versus movement, onstage versus offstage § Choreography inspired by 9 permanent emotions of Classical Indian philosophy: anger, sorrow, fear, tranquility, the humorous, the heroic, the odious, the wondrous, and the erotic § 7 sections were performed as solos, 1 section as a duet, 1 section as a quartet § Cage composed its music for piano and small orchestra with a set 64 sounds for the first dance § For the dances that followed, 8 sounds were replaced by 8 different sounds to ensure that a completely new set of 64 sounds were performed at its completion

Okwui Okpokwasili/Bronx Gothic (2014)

§ Dancer, choreographer and writer § 2-time Bessie Award and MANCC recipient § On-going artistic collaboration with Ralph Lemon § In Pent-Up: A Revenge Dance (2009), she and collaborator Peter Born created an installation where she placed herself in a dark box that imitated makeshift shacks of roadside dwellers in Nigeria § Audience members were led inside one at a time to be with her Written, choreographed and by performed by Okwui Okpokwasili Directed by Peter Born Premiered on January 28, 2014 at Danspace Project in New York City § Semi-autobiographical 1-woman show § Memories of childhood in the Bronx in the 1980s in combination with her experiences as a black woman in present-day New York City § Urban childhood grappling with fear, identity, sex, bullying, and trust § Letters between 2 11-year old girls on the verge of adolescence § Draws inspiration from Victorian-era novels and West African griot story-tellers

Donald McKayle/ Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder (1959)

§ Donald McKayle (1930 - ) is an American modern dancer, choreographer, director, teacher, and writer well-known for his socially conscious work in the 1950s and 1960s focusing on the African American experience § Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award and National Dance Association Heritage Award recipient § Danced for choreographers Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Anna Sokolow, and Merce Cunningham § Presently on faculty at University of California at Irvine § Born into Jamaican immigrant family in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance § Parents led liberal and activist lives § After having seen a performance by Pearl Primus as a teenager, McKayle was inspired to audition for the New Dance Group in 1947, upon which he received a scholarship to attend § Studied classical ballet, tap, modern dance, Afro-Caribbean and Haitian dance forms § In 1948, McKayle premiered his first solo work, Saturday's Child, choreographed to the poetry of Countee Cullen § Addressed the reality of poverty and hardships of the local homeless § Inducted into the Committee for the Negro in the Arts, dedicated to changing prejudices and racism in the arts Premiered in 1959 in Kaufman Concert Hall at the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City 18-minute work featuring 7 male dancers and 1 female dancer § Dramatic narrative of a chain gang in the Confederate South § The male dancers' aspirations for freedom appear as an illusion of a woman § Inspired by Africanist rhythms and movement § Echoed present-day struggle and desire for civil rights and equality § A chain gang member is shot and killed, emphasizing the ongoing violence and racial injustice inflicted on the African American population § Created for the Donald McKayle Dance Company, though also in the company repertories of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Batsheva Dance Company, and Dayton Contemporary Dance

Eiko & Koma

§ Eiko Otake (b. 1952) and Takashi Koma Otake (b. 1948) are a Japanese performance duo currently working out of New York City § Since 1972, Eiko & Koma have worked as co-artistic directors, choreographers, and performers of their own performance work § Multi-disciplinary and encompassing the principles of butoh § Primary objective is to create movement out of stillness, shape, light, sound, and time § Eiko & Koma do not bill their work as butoh but credit Kazuo Ohno as their primary inspiration § In 1971, Eiko and Koma joined Tatsumi Hijikata's company while studying law and political science in Tokyo § In 1972, Eiko and Koma began work as independent artists alongside studying with Kazuo Ohno § Neither performer studied traditional Japanese dance or theater previously § Also in 1972, an interest in Neue Tanz led them to Germany where they studied with Manja Chmiel, a disciple of Mary Wigman § In 1973, Eiko and Koma relocated to Amsterdam and began touring Europe extensively § In 1976, the Japan Society sponsored the first American performance of Eiko & Koma in White Dance § In 1983, the American Dance Festival presented Eiko & Koma for the first time § Site-adaptable performances deposited in natural or municipal sites for an estimated 45,000 audience count as of yet § Parks, gardens, college campuses, parking lots, city plazas, lakes and ponds, and graveyards § Outdoor performances are almost always admission-free and intended for the general public § Alongside creating and performing, Eiko teaches courses on atomic bombing and nuclear power at Wesleyan University § Slow, nuanced movement § Emotionally motivated § Re-scaled rendering of time; lengthy durations § Critics have described their work as "glacier-like" regarding its tempo, as well as its progression towards something unexpected § Oftentimes in outdoor, natural sites and/or re-creating natural elements in the theater § Emphasis on humanity and its relationship to the natural, global world § Nudity § Echoing themes embracing vulnerability and transformation § "A fish is naked and a stone is naked. Why not us?" (Eiko)

Steve Paxton (1939- )

§ Experimental dancer, choreographer, and founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, well-known for his development of contact improvisation § Early background in gymnastics alongside training with Merce Cunningham and José Limon § Paxton was fascinated by the human body, oftentimes describing it as a physical machine that acutely reveals the reality of the nature and culture around it § First dance, Proxy (1961), based on pedestrian movements such as walking, sitting, and eating § Satisfyin' Lover (1967), a group dance for 34 - 84 persons based on scores for walking, standing, and sitting § Sought to eliminate assumed differences between audience and performer

Pina Bausch (1940 - 2009)

§ German dancer, choreographer, and director well-known for her contributions to Tanztheater § Founder and artistic director of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch § Unique, collaborative style blending dance, drama, sound, and prominent set design § Strong influence on modern and postmodern dance fields starting in the 1970s and onwards § Born in Solingen of Rhineland, Germany to family that ran a small café that doubled as a hotel § There, she would oftentimes perform for the guests § Keen on observing the everyday come-and-go of its guests and their interactions § In 1955, she enrolled in the Folkwangschule directed by Kurt Joos § Joos was a pioneer of a new dramatic dance form, Tanztheater § In 1959, Bausch received a government scholarship to continue her studies at the Juilliard School in New York City § There, she studied with Antony Tudor, José Limon, Alfredo Corvino, and Paul Taylor § Struck by Tudor's psychological approach to movement; an emphasis on real emotion as opposed to prescribed emotional affectation § She was recruited by her teachers to perform professionally, including Tudor at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company and Paul Taylor at New American Ballet § During her time in New York City, she attended various Happenings and performances by The Living Theater § In 1962, Bausch returned to Germany to join Joos' Folkwang-Ballett, acting as an assistant to Joos § In 1968, Bausch choreographed her first work, Fragmente to music by Bartok § In 1969, she succeeded Joos as the company's artistic director § In 1973, Bausch was appointed Artistic Director of the Wuppertal Opera ballet, later renamed the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch § Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch now functions as an independent company but still maintains its home at Opernhaus Wuppertal § Bausch's initial choreographies for Tanztheater Wuppertal were based on operas: § Iphigenia on Taurus (1974) and Orpheus and Eurydice (1975) by Christoph Willibald Gluck § Rite of Spring (1975) by Igor Stravinsky § As opposed to following a linear narrative, she approached each work and choreographed its movements as metaphor § Ex: The pagan ritual in Rite of Spring echoed the plight of women in contemporary society § "[M]etaphor of a woman chosen as a sacrifice to the power and control of men is not lost on Bausch, but she is able to extend the metaphor through specific concentration on the motivating impulse of the action, and therefore, avoid falling in didacticism." (Climenhaga, 11) § It was a time when artists sought to break away from classical and modern dance conventions; to invest in a new form appropriate to the politics of the time § The start of her choreographic career coincided with an increasingly formalist trend in American dance versus a renewed interest (or reconciliation) with German expressionist dance § A dance should reflect the emotions evoked by the work and its politics, and therefore, need not be committed to a specific technique or tradition § Compounded by the raw, visceral approach and aesthetic of experimental theater and postmodern dance taking place in 1960s New York City § "[R]eleasing dance from the constraints of literature, relieving it of its fairytale illusions and leading it towards reality...Its story is told as a history of the body, not as danced literature." (Servos, 37) § Adopted use of everyday objects, gestures, tasks and pedestrian movements, and spoken conversation relevant to the work § "By all means necessary" § Reality and its consequences rather than theatrical imitation § Her repertory was [and still remains] intended to be interpreted through present experience § "I only know that the time in which we live, the time with all its anxieties is very much with me. This is the source of my pieces." (Bausch, 1986) § Despite high caliber of professional training, Bausch selected her company members based on their individuality, particularly interested in showcasing their real idiosyncrasies § What makes them most human, and therefore, imperfect and relatable? § Bausch did not translate a libretto or musical accompaniment, but instead created scenarios in which the individual responded § Drew from personal stories -both her own and those of her dancers- to choreograph movement, gestures, and text-based material § Subjective experience § Not how people move but what moves them § No singular theme per work § Montage of multiple vignettes, never completed but rather repeated with altered conditions § Structure reminiscent of vaudeville revue § Reoccurrence is a statement of psychological stamina, and its exhaustion is intended to reveal something more or new § Tension is no longer in single, directed climax but exists in every moment § "The linkage of scenes in free association, without the need for continuity of plot, psychology of character, or causality, also refuses to be deciphered in the normal way. It defies interpretation. Elucidation of every detail of a piece from a single universally applicable viewpoint is as impossible as encompassing the individual elements in an arc that declare them, in combination, as having a clear-cut 'meaning.'" (Servos 38) § Communication of the senses § Employed mundane sensory experiences onstage to evoke a new -but very natural- source of empathy (i.e. taste, smell, natural elements) § Memory and social associations § Density and value of nuance § Concentration on the most essential image in a scene § Probing, exhausting said image and/or gesture until it reveals the depth of its associations, "its claim to power within the cultural imagination...The initial idea is pushed until even the structured grid which supports it, the foundational impetus for the work, takes on metaphoric value." (Climenhaga, 11) § "[T]he little things that reveal a greater sense of the people she meets." (Climenhaga, 4) § Marriage of realist statements and emotion with surrealism § Massive, hyperbolized scenarios and set designs to emphasize statement, and at times, the absurdity of the politics and social content § Strategic use of artifice and abundance § "Making dance aware of itself also means burdening it with the whole spectrum of real phenomena." (Servos, 39) § No differentiation between leading and minor characters § Anonymity is relatable to wide range of audiences § Costumes reflect hyper-gendered, socialite attire of 1960s § Sarcastic "utopia" § Men in tuxedos, women in ball gowns and high heels § "[M]an-eating camps or naïve nymphets, clothes are, in line with the male ideals of beauty, tailor-made in the form of constricting identities...They are the outer skin of a society trapped in rigid roles and frequently prove to be instruments of physical torture." (Servos, 43 - 44) § Pleasure in breaking taboos § Demanded a new understanding and experience of dance and theater for its audience § "The are not self-sustaining works of art because, in order to develop completely, they require an active onlooker. The key lies with the audience, who are asked to question their interest and their own everyday experiences." (Servos, 38) § " '[E]ntertainment value' is provided by curiosity, by the hunger for experience'...Theater of experience' mobilizes the affects and the emotions because it deals with undivided energies. It does not pretend. It is. Because the viewer is affected by the authenticity of these emotions, which confuse both sense and the senses but are simultaneously enjoyable, he must also make a decision, must define his position. He is no longer the consumer of inconsequential pleasures, no is he witness to an interpretation of realty. He is included in a total experience that allows the experience of reality in a state of sensual excitement...Dance theater, however, does not seduce us with illusions; it puts us in touch with reality." '[E]ntertainment value' is provided by curiosity, by the hunger for experience." (Servos, 39 - 41) § "Comfortable" proximity between public and private worlds § Took as much time as needed (i.e. productions lasted several hours) § Broke the 4th wall § Directly confronted her audiences § Between 1986 and 2009, Bausch was invited to work as an artist in residence with 10 different countries and/or cities, including India, Brazil, Palermo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Budapest, Istanbul, Rome, and Japan § Typically spend one month observing -collecting ethnographic research- before reflecting upon her experiences in the creation of a new evening-length production § Her commitment to realism, and its unapologetic approach to choreography, oftentimes exhibited the psychological tendencies of a culture and were not always well-received § During her lifetime, she received the Laurence Olivier, Kyoto Prize, and Deutscher Tanzprels awards § On June 30, 2009, Bausch died of cancer at age 68, 2 days before the scheduled film shoot of Wim Wenders documentary, Pina (2011) § She created 46 large-scale productions, many of which are still in repertory today § Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch is still regarded as one of the most prominent dance companies in the world § Consists of multiple nationalities and languages

Eugen Von Grona (1908-2000)

§ German professional dancer and choreographer who relocated from Berlin to New York City out of fascination in the Harlem Renaissance § Had privilege to travel to the United States as a child, developing a curiosity in minstrel shows § In 1935, he was hired to direct and perform in ballets at the Roxy Theatre § There, he was confronted with the racial tensions and legislation practiced in the theater industry § Segregated audiences § Performance and student enrollment opportunities were limited to dancers with lighter complexions and/or unavailable to black dancers § Once securing a position of authority at the Roxy, he decided its dance company would be entirely black § During this time, he also established the American Negro Ballet § The company made its debut at Harlem's Lafayette Theatre on November 21, 1937, after 3 years of active operation § The evening consisted of 2 scenes, lasting 45 minutes § 20 African American dancers accompanied by an all-black member symphony with musical selections composed by W.C. Hardy, Duke Ellington, and Igor Stravinsky § Aimed to showcase the talent and artistry of his dancers on par with the dancers and choreographies of predominately white ballet companies at that time § Unfortunately, the performance received negative reviews which focused on the stereotypical notion of the black dancer as innately talented § Emphasis towards the tradition of minstrel caricatures § "...[A]ll of the performances were animated by the earnestness and zest which the Negro brings with him to the stage." (The Sun) § In 1938, the company folded § Many scholars credit his work in the launching of the First Negro Classic Ballet and New York Negro Ballet (1954)

Tatsumi Hijikata (1928 - 1986)

§ Hijikata created provocative ankoko butoh or "dance of darkness" § Considered shocking and sexually perverse for the time § Regular themes included displays of homosexuality, acts of cross-dressing, and depictions of human deformity § Equal push away from Japanese tradition as well as Western styles of ballet and modern dance § Ankoko butoh attracted progressive-minded audiences § Focused on use of lower body for movement § Hijikata claimed the form accommodated what he believed to be average Japanese anatomical proportions [contrary to ballet] § Born Kunio Yoneyama, into a family of 11 children raised in the harsh farmland of Tohoku in northern Japan § Inspired by nature § Influenced by adolescence during WWII § Having an abusive father, he observed the subtleties of physical expression and/or tells, and instinct as a young child § Assigned to work at a weapons factory in WWII at age 13 § Sustained severe burns from molten steel § During this time, he lost 3 of his elder brothers to the war § In 1952, Hijikata left for Tokyo where he initially lived in poverty, working as a longshoreman, junk dealer, and petty thief § Tokyo was in ruins as a result of the war and Operation Meetinghouse § Overall sense of rebellion against older Japanese conventions and the imposition of the Western world, paving way for a new radical, artistic energy § Enrolled in dance classes of "Neue Tanz" with Ando Mitsuko, as well as studying tap, jazz, flamenco, and ballet § In 1956, he met dancer Akiki Motofuji § Motofuji had a large studio courtesy of her father, leader in the asbestos industry § As such, she named her space "Asbestos Hall," providing each of them with a studio and performance space § Asbestos Hall was an incubator for Hijikata's work § Drew upon literature, particularly Dadaism and Surrealism of French writers § Themes of rebellion, "erotic deviance," and death § Wrote manifestos alongside his choreographies § Rejected contemporary society, particularly the emergence of its media at that time § Interdisciplinary collaborations with photographers, filmmakers, architects, and visual artists § Starting in 1960, he funded his butoh projects by undertaking sex-cabaret work with his company of dancers and erotic-horror films § Regarded as scandalous and "dirty avant-garde" by pre-existing dance and theater community § Published Ailing Dancer in 1983, a text on memory and "corporeal transformation" reflecting on his childhood in post-WWII northern Japan § Named his dance genre ankoku butoh, meaning "dance of darkness" § Hijikata felt dance in post-WWII Japan existed on two extremes: imitating the West or grasping onto Noh

Harlem Ballroom

§ Historically, drag balls and masquerades date back to the 1920s - 1930s in New York City § At its start, performers were predominately white men § Black participants were expected to lighten their faces § Tired of racist restrictions and discrimination, the queer black ball community established its own underground circuit in the 1960s § Black drag queens Crystal Labeija and Lottie founded their own ball for the "House of Labeija" (est. 1970) § Although the Harlem ballroom scene emerged alongside the Civil Rights Movement, leaders denounced and polarized black queer culture § Collective Impression Management: an attempt to influence the perceptions a community by regulating public information § Harlem ballroom scene became a safe haven for the black and Latino/a queer communities § Ball culture refers to an underground LGBTQ subculture in the U.S. where ballroom participants "walk" (i.e. compete) for prizes and trophies § Includes dance, drag, and "realness" (i.e. passing as heterosexual) contests § Grapples with themes of race, gender, and sexual orientation in society § Many participants belong to groups known as "houses" § Balls tend to start at 3, 4, or 5am as a safety precaution against public homophobia § Frequent venues included The Savoy on Lenox Avenue, Rockland Palace on 155th Street, and Elks Lodge on 139th Street § By 1996, house communities emerged in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles, as well as in parts of North and South Carolinas Ball culture = § Identity § Community § Refuge § Freedom § Protest § Life § Empowerment

Kykunkor (1934)

§ In 1934, it premiered as ______ or "The Witch Woman" which was well-received by audiences and critics in New York City § It was created and produced by Dafora when he was 45 years old § It narrated the story of a curse placed on a bridegroom (performed by Dafora) and the attempts to remove it § Wholly integrated West African instrumental and vocal music plus dance § The production retaliated against the trend of primitivism, and instead focused on the humanity of its African characters § First concert dance production by an African American company that was truly successful by public standards; embraced as a serious work of art § Critical acclaim from both reviewers and Lincoln Kirstein § Inspired a series of relative works and companies § Federal Theatre Project organized an African unit § Zunguru (1938) choreographed and directed by Dafora § On March 7, 1937, 92nd Street YMHA presented "Negro Dance Evening" co-directed by Edna Guy § Part I as "Africa," featuring Dafora and company members § Part II as "West Indies," featuring Katherine Dunham and Talley Beatty

Ohad Naharin (1952- )

§ In 1952, born in Kibbutz Mizra to a mother with a history in dance and a father with a history in theater and psychology § Naharin did not start dancing until age 22 § In 1974, he joined the Batsheva Dance Company despite limited formal dance training § After just one year, Martha Graham invited Naharin to join her company in New York City § During this time -and at the recommendation of Graham- he [simultaneously] studied at The Juilliard School and the School of American Ballet § Performed for Maurice Béjart's Ballet du Xxe Siecle in Brussels for a single season § In 1979, Naharin returned to New York City and made his choreographic debut at Graham dancer Kazuko Hirabayshi's studio § In 1980 - 1990, Naharin continued to produce his own work to be performed both locally and abroad § Pick-up company with wife and former Ailey dancer Mari Kajiwara in New York City § Commissioned by the Batsheva Dance Company, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and Nederland's Dans Theater § In 1990, Naharin was offered the position of Artistic Director for the Batsheva Dance Company § During his first year on staff, he created the Young Ensemble alongside the main company § While serving as Artistic Director and primary choreographer, Naharin developed a signature style that has since become emblematic of Israeli contemporary dance: § Flexible and dramatic spines reminiscent of Graham's contraction § Deep, grounded lunges allowing for emphasis on pelvis, also reminiscent of Graham technique § Explosive athleticism §Social commentary of resilient bodies; strength versus "beauty" § Care of nuance § Trained his company dancers without traditional use of mirror; emphasis on experience rather than form § Gave Israeli dance a "new language" which tested the limits and habits of the body, "legitimizing a very personal and daring dance idiom" (Aldor, 84) § His choreography focused on "the juxtaposition of the single, the private, or the 'other' with the group; shifting perspectives and points of view; instantaneous changes from rapid movement to stillness, allowing time for minuscule details; and the development of a kind of a story line, giving the work an almost narrative, or story-frame." (Aldor, 88 - 89) § "...the work did not represent a problem, it was the problem. It was a world of pain, compassion, and consolations in which what is personal and intimate was revealed." (Aldor, 90) § The visible versus the invisible; social space/experience versus personal space/experience § "The single can and does represent an entire world, but a world marked by absence." (Aldor, 92) § Autobiographical elements drawing from youth in military service, family, and kibbutz

Batsheva Dance Company

§ In 1963, Batsheva conceived the making of a new Israeli dance company § She called upon Graham to serve as its artistic consultant § Graham trained its dancers and set some of its original repertory § In 1964, the Batsheva Dance Company was founded § Up until 1975, Batsheva was the CEO and sole patron of the Batsheva Dance Company § In 1968, she opened the Bat-Dor Dance School and its Bat-Dor Company § Constructed an unprecedented facility for the company in Tel Aviv § Batsheva intended to consolidate the 2 companies § When said plans did not go accordingly, she stopped her patronage for the Batsheva Dance Company § Today, Batsheva Dance Company is one of the most prestigious contemporary dance companies in the world § Its company consists of an international roster of dancers § Combined with its Young Ensemble, the Batsheva Dance Company consists of 34 international dancers § From 1990 - 2017, Ohad Naharin served as Artistic Director § Local and international touring includes over 250 annual performances reaching over 100,000 people § Since 1989, the company has worked in residence at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv

Virus (2001)

§ Incorporation of text from Shimon Levy's translation of Peter Handke's play Offending the Audience (1962) § Abuses and seduces the audience § Questions the meaning of existence in the immediate "now" § Text is delivered by a figure dressed in a suit and perched atop a blackboard wall that confines the dancers § Figure delivers harsh insults at the audience while Arabic music is played, addressing politics, left and right § White chalk is used to vandalize the wall § Outlines of dancers' bodies and traces of movement (reminiscent of crime scene or war zone), as well as confrontational words such as "YOU" § Nearing the end of the work, a dancer writes "PLASTELINA" § Plastelina is a play putty but the letters can be rearranged to Palestine § "The text that is read now is a reminder of our obsessive, quite successful efforts to overlook reality, forget the pain and the fact of being human among other humans, not only 'us' but 'them' as well...we should be screaming at ourselves..." (Aldor, 94) § At the end, the figure states, "You, Ladies and Gentlemen, elected dignitaries and preachers of culture, you, brethren and sister, you are human just like us...We thank you. Good evening." § Literal and metaphorical blockage by walls and/or limitations § Dancers are dressed in beige leotards that also cover their hands, yet another wall/confine § Movement is particularly inward, intimate, and small versus explosive and frustrating § "[T]he movement is like the space between the words in which sighs and whispers can be overheard." (Aldor, 92) § Its intent is emotionally and psychologically driven § In Hebrew, there is similarity between the word for dance ("makhol"), sickness ("makhala"), and forgiveness ("mekhila") § "Virus is a scolding and yet a gift, a painful yet generous reminder that it can be different, that there is another option." (Aldor, 95) § Echoed December 2000 riots § While in creation for Virus, both companies were scheduled to tour to big cities and kibbutzim in Israel (36 shows in total) and 4 - 6 Arab villages § With the uprising, the program for said Arab villages collapses. However, the company knew the supervisor for cultural activities in Nazareth and was able to tour for an exclusively Arab audience, followed by an audience feedback session. § As a peace offering and gesture of appreciation, Arabic hosts reciprocated by performing their own folk dances § Previously, Naharin envisioned Klezmer music for Virus, but was inspired by the Arabic folk dances to use Arabic music instead

Kibbutz

§ Israeli communal settlements originally based on shared agricultural farming § Kibbutzim evolved into utopian communities aimed at combining socialism and Zionism § Zionism is the official term of the national movement for the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the region defined as the historic Land of Israel § Also, a response to anti-Semitic discrimination and persecution § By the start of WWII, there were already over 24,000 people living in 79 kibbutzim § In 1927, the United Kibbutz Movement was established § Secular movement § Promotion of gender equality § Women took on same agricultural and industrial work as male counterparts, relieved from traditional domestic work at that time (including childcare) § Similarly, children would not be economically, socially, or legally dependent on fathers § Raising and financial responsibility of children collectively shared by community § Youth slept and spent majority of time in children's houses as opposed to family houses § Typically, parents would spend 3 - 4 hours per day with children after work and before dinner § Nurses and teachers on-site § Youth education included an emphasis on creativity; theater and music classes § Kibbutzniks did not own individual tools or clothing § Gifts and income from outside turned over to common treasury § Communal meals § In the 1920s and 1930s, communal meetings would begin with a group dance § At the time, it was a conscious break from traditional Jewish life that emphasized the nuclear family § Today, there has been a return to a more traditional marriage and family construct, as well as distinguished gender roles § Over 270 kibbutzim in Israel at present

Equipment Dances

§ Many of Brown's early works focused on environment and gravity, or the defiance thereof § Brown used various equipment such as harnesses and ropes to allow for her dancers to walk on or down walls or various environmental surfaces with the dynamics of "normal" stability and gravity § Said "equipment dances" were her first dances that comprised a specific series, a model that would follow Brown later in her choreographic career MAN WALKING DOWN THE SIDE OF A BUILDING (1970) § Original performance by Joe Schlichter connected to a harness, allowing him to walk vertically (rooftop to street level) alongside the façade of Brown's apartment building's inner courtyard at 80 Wooster Street WALKING ON THE WALL (1971) § Dancers held parallel to the floor by unobtrusive harnesses that slide on tracks § Dancers walk and run as though working within normal pull of gravity, moving both backwards and forwards § Intended to reflect -and/or subvert- normalcy; dancers walk in solitude or hand-holding pairs § Instructed never to look down ROOF PIECE (1971) § Dancers assigned to 12 different rooftops over a 10-block radius in SoHo § Each dancer communicated movement to the dancer on the nearest rooftop ACCUMULATION (1971) § Gesture and text-associated choreography § Frequently performed with dancers on their backs in various public spaces Leaning Duets (1970) § Starting in the 1980s, Brown began creating large-scale works for stage commissioned by prominent national and international institutions § Frequent collaborations with Robert Rauschenberg, as well as collaboration with Laurie Anderson § Unlike the model shared by Cunningham and Cage, in which collaborators worked independent of one another, Brown's collaborators worked together towards a shared goal

Remembering Fukushima (2014-17)

§ On March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake in Japanese history struck northeast Japan and subsequently shut down the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant § The largest tsunami ever recorded in Japan soon followed § The tsunami disabled the plant's emergency generators § Insufficient cooling caused 3 nuclear meltdowns and explosions, releasing large amounts of radioactive material § Rated as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, these nuclear meltdowns were the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl § The surrounding area and sea were contaminated § Eiko started a collaborative photo project with Japanese historian and photographer William Johnston addressing Fukushima starting in 2014 § "Being there, the sense of devastation eats at every cell of one's body. If you're looking at something awful on TV, you can go to the bathroom or have a snack. These distractions help you recognize that you are at a distance, you are in control. Whereas, in the Fukushima evacuation zone, we cannot help asking: What is this? How has this come about? Where is this going? ...How do you make the distance to a certain subject or a place so close that it becomes a part of your life, a part of your body, so that when you start to forget something, there is an inner voice to bring you back. It's not somebody else who can advise you. It's yourself who brings you back to the very thing you decided that you did not want to forget." (Eiko at Wesleyan University, 2015) § 2 extended visits to the irradiated areas surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors § It was only shortly before their first visit that people were permitted to effected areas § Following abandoned train lines and neighborhoods, finding many buildings still in their damaged state since the tsunami hit 3 years prior § When they returned in 2016 and 2017, said sites were radically altered § New sea walls, as well as the majority of buildings cleared § Major efforts to decontaminate the land and rebuild its roadways § After their fourth trip to Fukushima, a 7.5 hours film was created § "To remember Fukushima means to realize how nuclear technology cannot be trusted with our lives and environment." (Eiko)

Gaga

§ Research-based movement language developed by Ohad Naharin which serves to heighten sensation and imagination for (1) a greater sense of form, (2) eliminating habits, and (3) revealing something new and/or stepping outside comfortable limits § Also, rooted in the belief that movement can be healing § Accessible to all levels and abilities § Professional dancers utilize Gaga to increase their agility, stamina, and skills while examining habits and effort § Practitioners are instructed to deeply listen to their bodies and its sensations § Instructors serve to heighten sensational awareness § Layered, image-based prompts for layered, improvisational experience § Gaga is a daily training regimen for the Batsheva Dance Company § Gaga People is an open level class for the public; no background in dance needed § Gaga has become a codified and globalized form § Instructors must attended teacher certification program and pass examination before holding classes § Gaga is taught internationally § Spurred by onset of Gaga-derivative trend, and an attempt to author its original intentions and educate those inspired § A form that emerged from a specific cultural and national identity has transcended cultures and nations

Baruch Agadati (1895 - 1976)

§ Russian-born Israeli classical ballet dancer, choreographer, visual artist, film producer and director § Immigrated to Palestine in the early 20th century and began participating in Jewish folk dance § Studied at the Bezal'el Art School in Jerusalem § Regarded as the first Hebrew dancer § Performances integrated folk dance and Ausdruckstanz § Incorporated gestures from pedestrian interactions; Jewish, Arabic, and European immigrant communities § In 1914, he was barred from returning to Palestine while on a trip to Russia visiting family § While in Russia, he began to study classical ballet § In 1919, he returned to Palestine and began to perform solo dance shows which he toured to many settlements § Choreographed the "Hora Agadati" which inspired many other hora songs and dances § Based on the Romanian Hora but danced at a faster tempo § Said to have sometimes lasted for hours on end, causing the dancers to enter a shift of consciousness or trance; religious experience § Folk dance was an expression of ideology and of values, as well as liberation § 1944 - 1948, Israeli folk dance movement § National folk dance festivals § In 1947, at the second national folk dance festival at Kibbutz Daliyyah, 500 dancers and 25,000 spectators remained at the kibbutz amphitheater overnight in protest to the British curfew imposed on the roads § In 1920 - 1930s, Agadati organized the Adloyada Purim balls in Tel Aviv performed archetypes of the culture--empowering

Café Müller (1978)

§ Signature, iconic work; characters and interactive episodes deemed timeless § Partly autobiographical, the work was inspired by her childhood memories of observing her parents at work in their café both during and immediately following the end of WWII in Germany § "Brutally spare, almost unremittingly bleak, it presents adult relationships as viewed by an uncomprehending eye..." (Gilbert, 2008) § The stage is randomly strewn with an over-abundance of café chairs and tables across the entire set § The overall set design is functional; there is a door located upstage right that leads to a second revolving door, as well as 2 more doors on either side § One woman appears to sleepwalk, knocking into the makings of the café as she cuts across the stage repeatedly § Each time she treks across the space, a man - frantic to save her from injury- flings away all chairs and tables in her path § It is not clear whether this female character exists in reality or is the subconscious of the other 2 female characters § When the eyes are closed, the soloist is instructed to look out and thru rather then in and/or down § Commentary on the workings and failings of interpersonal relationships; physical and emotional presence versus absence shared between 2 people § Interplay of hyper-physical, vulnerable imagery and dialogue of dark subconscious; the unspoken or unacted upon § Metaphorical catharsis

Tanztheater

§ Tanztheater, meaning "dance theater," stems from concepts and aesthetics of German Expressionist dance (i.e. Ausdruckstanz) in Weimar Germany and 1920s Vienna § Influenced by the work of Kurt Joos, Rudolf Laban, and Mary Wigman § Expressionist dance blended with drama and artifacts of everyday living § Characteristically interdisciplinary § Artifice of performance for effective purpose § Politics of performance and the seen body § Critically -and candidly- addressing the objectification and commodification of the dancing body § Era of critical thought and the normalizing of psychology § Era of consumerism § Era of political and social recovery as met with tension and divide § Audience or voyeur? Acknowledging stereotype, profiling, and habits of exhibitionism in Western society "No longer are we telling a theatrical story through dance movement or playing out characters in a drama through physical action. The theatricality of the moment is enacted on the bodies of the performers themselves." (Climenhaga, 2) § The genre rapidly developed under the process and production of Pina Bausch at the Opernhaus Wuppertal "Never before had someone so clearly and succinctly exposed the inner workings of the stage as a means of engagement and display, and used that uncovering for immediate visceral impact. It is a pure moment of performance that reflects back upon the audience and makes us aware of our own complicity in taking in the worlds that are presented for us." (Climenhaga, 2)

Tragicomedy

§ The Theatre of the Absurd is a post-WWII genre of plays based on absurdist fiction by predominately European playwrights in the 1950s § Embraces existentialism and questioned what happens when human existence has no meaning nor purpose § Relative to movements of surrealism and Dadaism § Reaction to the devastation and psychological impact of wartime § Performance of the disintegration of communication § The logical is inherently linked to the illogical and the irrational

The New Left

§ refers to political movements in the 1960s - 1970s consisting of activism aimed at social reforms involving issues such as civil rights (race, feminist, sexual orientation, and disability rights) and drug policy reforms § Some viewed this as a reaction to earlier Marxist and labor union movements that focused on class and economy, while others regarded the movement as a continuation of these leftist goals § Affiliated with liberal, radical, and Marxist political movements, especially among [white] college students § Its mission: to rally for the "common struggle with the liberation movements of the world" § Its name was popularized by an open letter from sociologist C. Wright Mills in 1960, entitled "Letter to the New Left" § The letter emphasized a resistance to authoritarianism § The working class proletariat were no longer revolutionary; revolutionary change was possible with young intellectualism protesting the Vietnam War

Echad Mi Yodea (1990)

§ was choreographed as part of the full-length work Kyr (1990), the first dance that Naharin created for the Batsheva Dance Company § Soundtrack composed by the rock group Tractor's Revenge to the traditional song from Passover Haggadah ("Who Knows One") § Originally performed in khaki work shirts and shorts, later in black suits with a white shirt and black hat indicative of Jewish Orthodox attire § Performed at a pace that is almost too difficult to sustain § Social commentary regarding the intense exertion and constant state of alert § Passover reference as metaphor for freedom of social slavery; radical undertones and sung by Naharin § In 1998, Israel's Jubilee celebrations commissioned Echad Mi Yodea § During this time, there was a cultural war between religious and secular Jews (re influence and reach of religious doctrine in contemporary Israeli society) § Batsheva Dance Company expected to perform Echad Mi Yodea amid Orthodox objections to stripping § Deputy mayor of Jerusalem threatened to turn out 30,000 protesters unless the dance was omitted from the program § Opposition argued the work had no right in a [secular] state-sponsored show § Naharin was called into a meeting with President Weizman to find compromise (i.e. wearing full-body stockings) § Instead, Naharin pulled the work from the program 30 minutes before the performance and announced the company's departure § Incited other artists to stand against efforts for conservative censorship § Has been performed as a part of Decadance and Minus 16, mixed programs of old and new choreographies by Naharin