Jonathan Burrows
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Burrows is one of the UK’s leading choreographers. He performs around the world, with 43 international tour dates in 2007.`
He started his career as a soloist with The Royal Ballet in London, but formed the Jonathan Burrows Group in 1988 to present his own work.
The company travelled widely and gained an international reputation with pieces such as Stoics (1991), Very (1992), Our (1994), The Stop Quartet (1996) and Things I Don't Know (1997).
Since 2000, Burrows has worked with other performers, notably non-dancers. In 2001 he presented Weak Dance Strong Questions (2001), a collaboration with the Dutch theatre director Jan Ritsema. This was followed with the widely critically acclaimed trilogy of performances of Both Sitting Duet (2002), The Quiet Dance (2005) and Speaking Dance (2006) with the Italian composer and long-time collaborator Matteo Fargion.
Burrows’ recent work is noted for its intelligence and humour, but also sometimes its lack of lighting, costumes, or even music. Audiences in 36 countries around the world have responded positively to Burrows’ work, but some critics have found his pieces inscrutable, confusing or boring.
Other high profile collaborators include Sylvie Guillem
's performance of his choreography in Adam Robert's film Blue Yellow in 1996, and his invitation in 1997 to choreograph for William Forsythe
's Ballet Frankfurt.
In 2003 Burrows and Matteo Fargion received the 2003 – 2004 New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards
for Both Sitting Duet.
Burrows has commented that it is sometimes difficult making dance in his home country of Britain, where cutting-edge choreographers such as himself find it hard to get commissioned, and that in Europe he finds a much more appreciative and open-minded dance and theatre industry.
Burrows has a large and devoted fan-base among the (mostly young) dance in-crowd.
He currently lives in London, England, and Brussels, Belgium.
, County Durham, England, 1960.
Studied at the Royal Ballet School
, both White Lodge, Richmond Park and Baron’s Court venues, London, 1970-79, under Richard Gladstone.
Winner of an Ursula Morton award for student piece of choreography, 3 Solos.
Soloist with the Royal Ballet, at the Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden
, London
, 1979 – 91.
Performer, Rosemary Butcher Dance Company, 1986 -99.
Early pieces choreographed for Extemporary Dance Theatre, Spiral Dance Company, Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet
, and the Royal Ballet Choreographic Group.
Made experimental work at Riverside Studios
in his early career.
Founded Jonathan Burrows Group in 1988, which became a resident company at the The Place
Theatre, London, 1992 – 94.
Entered into co-productions with theatres in Ghent (Belgium), Angers (France), and Utrecht (Netherlands), 1995 – 96.
Choreographed for William Forsythe
's Ballet Frankfurt, 1997.
Artist-in-residence at Southbank Centre, London, 1998 - 99.
Associate artist, Kunstencentrum Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium, 1992- 2002.
Visiting member of faculty at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S), the school of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in Brussels, 1999 - 2002.
Burrows and Matteo Fargion received the New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards
for Both Sitting Duet, 2004.
Associate Director on Peter Handke’s The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other for the National Theatre
, London, 2008.
Visiting Professor for the Department of Drama and Theatre at the Royal Holloway, University of London
, ongoing.
"Working mute, without instruments and almost without technique, the men become immersed in what are basically a series of brisk hand-jives. They barely rise out of their chairs as they perform. But the point of the duet is that they are able to magic their restricted vocabulary into sophisticated dance and music, twisting simple gestures into a variety of shapes and rhythms so that they mesmerise and dazzle."
"Sometimes imitative, sometimes in counterpoint, they weave a complex, witty, rhythmic tapestry, two strange characters entirely lost in obsessive movement."
The judges of the New York Dance and Performance Bessies awarded
the 2003 prize, “For an extraordinary symphony of upper body gestures performed in extrasensory collaboration in an ordinary setting made tense by the silent musical score, for an intimate production by an unlikely pair of average middle-aged white guys in chairs.”
Supported by the Arts Council England
, the Jonathan Burrows Group, NOTT Dance Festival, Kaaitheater, P.A.R.T.S./Rosas and the Laban Dance Centre
London.
"The duo rob themselves not only of conventional music, but also of grace. It begins with the deadpan Fargion bellowing "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" as Burrows stomps across the stage, sinking lower with each step. Then the roles switch, the stomp turns into an angular stagger, and so on. Like all good comedy, it's impeccably timed - and, of course, it's not really that "quiet" at all."
"During one section, they riff on the verbal shorthand of different dance genres (ballroom, ballet and disco), and we can almost see them partnering each other on a real-life dance floor."
Co-produced by Dance 4, Nottingham, Dance Umbrella
London, Joint Adventures, Munich, Kaaitheater, Brussels and supported by Arts Council England
and the Jonathan Burrows Group.
"As the title suggests, words are the thing here, but not in any conventional sense. There is, at last, music of many kinds, but, rather than move to it, Burrows and Fargion often read out dance notation ("Cross! Two, three, four…") or the actual names of the notes ("A! B flat! D!") in time to it." The Telegraph, Mark Monahan, Jan 14 2008.
Co-produced by Dance Umbrella
, London, supported by the Arts Council England
& the Jonathan Burrows Group and with thanks to Dance 4 Nottingham.
‘Jonathan Burrows is Britain's Columbus, dance's explorer, a man in quest of new lands and unknown territory.... He is a true original.’ The Financial Times (The Quiet Dance)
‘If Einstein ever pondered on dance, the dance in question would have looked something like the work of Jonathan Burrows.’ The Guardian
‘When composer Matteo Fargion and dancer Jonathan Burrows perform together, they are like two middle-aged boffins retreating into a garden shed. Both men are in their mid-40s, balding and dressed for comfort rather than style; when they collaborate on stage, they could almost be following an obsessively drawn up list of tasks - phrases of material to be analysed, details of performance to be perfected, ideas to ponder. Like all the best boffins, Burrows and Fargion mix their idiosyncrasies with passion and a kind of genius. The joy of these duets is that they deliver dance and music in ways we never expect.’ The Guardian
, Jan 08 (Three Duets).
‘Absurdist self-indulgence you'll be thinking, but what you see is revelation and joy.' The Evening Standard (Speaking Dance)
‘Several times during their opening performance at Sadler's Wells, on Friday evening, Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion almost reduced each other to fits of giggles. And these were among the loveliest moments. Timing being the secret of comedy, and them both having an acute sense of humour, their creation is as much like very clever vaudeville as high art, a brilliantly precise device constructed to amuse and satisfy, performed by a double act as cherishable as Laurel and Hardy or Morecambe and Wise.’ The Telegraph, Jan 08 (Three Duets).
'One of the funniest and most ingenious dances seen in New York in a long time.' The New York Times (Both Sitting Duet)
and more weighted postmodern dance
movement.
Burrows describes Riverside Studios
, run by David Gothard as influential in his early career. Gothard drew together important artists and Burrows would see Samuel Beckett
and Dario Fo
around the theatre, and John Cage
and Merce Cunningham
duets were performed there. After seeing them in the early 1980s, American post modern dance, especially the Judson Church
generation of choreographers from New York, such as David Gordon, Steve Paxton
, Trisha Brown
, and Lucinda Childs
and also Douglas Dunn
and their Contact improvisation
began to influence his thinking. He also began performing for Rosemary Butcher.
He also lists Bronislava Nijinska
, specifically Les Noces
.
Burrows’ long-time colloborator Matteo Fargion studied composition with the composer Kevin Volans
. Burrows consequently chose also to study with Volans, and the ideas which came out of this time are still important to Burrows’ work, and a source of connection between Burrows and Fargion. Both Sitting Duet is the translation of a score of a piece of music by American composer Morton Feldman
, an important figure in music, and with whom Volans was friends.
Burrows learnt traditional English Morris dancing
at White Lodge Royal Ballet School
, and both he and critics have named this as another possible source of influence in his style. Burrows has commented that he looked for a new way of moving that he could manage better than ballet. He met this desire in contact improvisation
and release work, but also in folk dance
s, such as the Bampton Dancers of Oxford. Burrows comments, “I like the traditional men’s dances from England. The dancers had this weird quality of absurdity
mixed with profound dignity.”
Burrows has through his work and teaching and mentoring, been an influence on other successful choreographers.
Read it here
He started his career as a soloist with The Royal Ballet in London, but formed the Jonathan Burrows Group in 1988 to present his own work.
The company travelled widely and gained an international reputation with pieces such as Stoics (1991), Very (1992), Our (1994), The Stop Quartet (1996) and Things I Don't Know (1997).
Since 2000, Burrows has worked with other performers, notably non-dancers. In 2001 he presented Weak Dance Strong Questions (2001), a collaboration with the Dutch theatre director Jan Ritsema. This was followed with the widely critically acclaimed trilogy of performances of Both Sitting Duet (2002), The Quiet Dance (2005) and Speaking Dance (2006) with the Italian composer and long-time collaborator Matteo Fargion.
Burrows’ recent work is noted for its intelligence and humour, but also sometimes its lack of lighting, costumes, or even music. Audiences in 36 countries around the world have responded positively to Burrows’ work, but some critics have found his pieces inscrutable, confusing or boring.
Other high profile collaborators include Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem CBE is a French ballet dancer. She was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She is currently performing contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's...
's performance of his choreography in Adam Robert's film Blue Yellow in 1996, and his invitation in 1997 to choreograph for William Forsythe
William Forsythe (dancer)
William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company...
's Ballet Frankfurt.
In 2003 Burrows and Matteo Fargion received the 2003 – 2004 New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards
Bessie Awards
The New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards in honor of Bessie Schonberg, are awarded annually for innovative achievement in dance and related performances, particularly so-called "downtown" performances...
for Both Sitting Duet.
Burrows has commented that it is sometimes difficult making dance in his home country of Britain, where cutting-edge choreographers such as himself find it hard to get commissioned, and that in Europe he finds a much more appreciative and open-minded dance and theatre industry.
Burrows has a large and devoted fan-base among the (mostly young) dance in-crowd.
He currently lives in London, England, and Brussels, Belgium.
Biography
Born in Bishop AucklandBishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...
, County Durham, England, 1960.
Studied at the Royal Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...
, both White Lodge, Richmond Park and Baron’s Court venues, London, 1970-79, under Richard Gladstone.
Winner of an Ursula Morton award for student piece of choreography, 3 Solos.
Soloist with the Royal Ballet, at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1979 – 91.
Performer, Rosemary Butcher Dance Company, 1986 -99.
Early pieces choreographed for Extemporary Dance Theatre, Spiral Dance Company, Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, and the Royal Ballet Choreographic Group.
Made experimental work at Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
in his early career.
Founded Jonathan Burrows Group in 1988, which became a resident company at the The Place
The Place
The Place is a dance and performance centre in Duke's Road near Euston in the London Borough of Camden. Originally the home base of the London Contemporary Dance Theatre from the 1970s, it is now the location of the London Contemporary Dance School, the Richard Alston Dance Company and the Robin...
Theatre, London, 1992 – 94.
Entered into co-productions with theatres in Ghent (Belgium), Angers (France), and Utrecht (Netherlands), 1995 – 96.
Choreographed for William Forsythe
William Forsythe (dancer)
William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company...
's Ballet Frankfurt, 1997.
Artist-in-residence at Southbank Centre, London, 1998 - 99.
Associate artist, Kunstencentrum Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium, 1992- 2002.
Visiting member of faculty at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S), the school of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in Brussels, 1999 - 2002.
Burrows and Matteo Fargion received the New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards
Bessie Awards
The New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards in honor of Bessie Schonberg, are awarded annually for innovative achievement in dance and related performances, particularly so-called "downtown" performances...
for Both Sitting Duet, 2004.
Associate Director on Peter Handke’s The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other for the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, London, 2008.
Visiting Professor for the Department of Drama and Theatre at the Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
, ongoing.
Dance works
- Catch (mus. Douglas Gould, 1980);
- Listen (1980);
- Cloister (mus. Edward Lambert, 1982);
- The Winter Play (mus. Dudley Simpson, 1983);
- Hymns, Parts 1-3 (1985);
- Squash (mus. Nicholas Wilson, 1985);
- Hymns (1986);
- A Tremulous Heart Requires (mus. Nicholas Wilson, 1986);
- Hymns: Complete Version (1988);
- dull morning, cloudy mild (mus. Matteo Fargion, 1989);
- Stoics (mus. Matteo Fargion, Mendelssohn, 1991);
- Very (mus. Matteo Fargion, 1992);
- Our (mus. Matteo Fargion, 1994, film version, dir. Adam Roberts, same year);
- The Stop Quartet (mus. Kevin Volans, Matteo Fargion, 1996);
- Walking /music (commissioned by William ForsytheWilliam Forsythe (dancer)William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company...
for Ballett Frankfurt, mus. Kevin Volans, 1997); - Quintet (mus. and text Tom Johnson, 1997);
- Things I Don’t Know (1997);
- Singing (1998);
- Weak Dance, Strong Questions (collaboration with the Dutch theatre director Jan Ritsema, 2001);
- Both Sitting Duet (collaboration and mus. Matteo Fargion, 2002);
- The Quiet Dance (collaboration and mus. Matteo Fargion, 2005);
- Speaking Dance (collaboration and mus. Matteo Fargion, 2006);
- Both Sitting Duet, The Quiet Dance, Speaking Dance, performed together as the Three Duets (2007).
About the work – the Three Duets
Burrows and Fargion are among the most widely travelled of UK performance artists and have gained an international reputation for the intelligence, humour and musicality of their shows.Both Sitting Duet (2002)
Sitting on chairs drawn up close to the audience, staring at music and dance “scores” at their feet, the two men draw us into a silent, unexpected and often funny conversation for two pairs of arms."Working mute, without instruments and almost without technique, the men become immersed in what are basically a series of brisk hand-jives. They barely rise out of their chairs as they perform. But the point of the duet is that they are able to magic their restricted vocabulary into sophisticated dance and music, twisting simple gestures into a variety of shapes and rhythms so that they mesmerise and dazzle."
"Sometimes imitative, sometimes in counterpoint, they weave a complex, witty, rhythmic tapestry, two strange characters entirely lost in obsessive movement."
The judges of the New York Dance and Performance Bessies awarded
Bessie Awards
The New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards in honor of Bessie Schonberg, are awarded annually for innovative achievement in dance and related performances, particularly so-called "downtown" performances...
the 2003 prize, “For an extraordinary symphony of upper body gestures performed in extrasensory collaboration in an ordinary setting made tense by the silent musical score, for an intimate production by an unlikely pair of average middle-aged white guys in chairs.”
Supported by the Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
, the Jonathan Burrows Group, NOTT Dance Festival, Kaaitheater, P.A.R.T.S./Rosas and the Laban Dance Centre
Laban Dance Centre
Laban in Deptford, south-east London, is a conservatoire and centre for contemporary dance, and includes 13 dance studios, a 300-seat theatre, dance health suite, Pilates studio, library and café...
London.
The Quiet Dance (2005)
At the heart of this work is a love of rhythmic form and the quiet intensity of communication this allows them to share with each other and with the audience."The duo rob themselves not only of conventional music, but also of grace. It begins with the deadpan Fargion bellowing "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" as Burrows stomps across the stage, sinking lower with each step. Then the roles switch, the stomp turns into an angular stagger, and so on. Like all good comedy, it's impeccably timed - and, of course, it's not really that "quiet" at all."
"During one section, they riff on the verbal shorthand of different dance genres (ballroom, ballet and disco), and we can almost see them partnering each other on a real-life dance floor."
Co-produced by Dance 4, Nottingham, Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella is an annual festival of new or contemporary dance held in London each October. Founded in 1978 as a showcase for emerging choreographers, Dance Umbrella now ranks highly among Europe's leading international dance festivals...
London, Joint Adventures, Munich, Kaaitheater, Brussels and supported by Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
and the Jonathan Burrows Group.
Speaking Dance (2006)
Burrows’ and Fargion’s final part of the trilogy of performances. The last piece continues their exploration into how the relationship between music and dance is perceived, and the fragile but permeable boundaries between the two."As the title suggests, words are the thing here, but not in any conventional sense. There is, at last, music of many kinds, but, rather than move to it, Burrows and Fargion often read out dance notation ("Cross! Two, three, four…") or the actual names of the notes ("A! B flat! D!") in time to it." The Telegraph, Mark Monahan, Jan 14 2008.
Co-produced by Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella is an annual festival of new or contemporary dance held in London each October. Founded in 1978 as a showcase for emerging choreographers, Dance Umbrella now ranks highly among Europe's leading international dance festivals...
, London, supported by the Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
& the Jonathan Burrows Group and with thanks to Dance 4 Nottingham.
Reviews
'A surprisingly endearing conceptual comedy of such unpretentious charm that it seals Burrows and Fargion’s status as a sort of Laurel and Hardy of the avant-garde.' The Times (The Quiet Dance)‘Jonathan Burrows is Britain's Columbus, dance's explorer, a man in quest of new lands and unknown territory.... He is a true original.’ The Financial Times (The Quiet Dance)
‘If Einstein ever pondered on dance, the dance in question would have looked something like the work of Jonathan Burrows.’ The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
‘When composer Matteo Fargion and dancer Jonathan Burrows perform together, they are like two middle-aged boffins retreating into a garden shed. Both men are in their mid-40s, balding and dressed for comfort rather than style; when they collaborate on stage, they could almost be following an obsessively drawn up list of tasks - phrases of material to be analysed, details of performance to be perfected, ideas to ponder. Like all the best boffins, Burrows and Fargion mix their idiosyncrasies with passion and a kind of genius. The joy of these duets is that they deliver dance and music in ways we never expect.’ The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Jan 08 (Three Duets).
‘Absurdist self-indulgence you'll be thinking, but what you see is revelation and joy.' The Evening Standard (Speaking Dance)
‘Several times during their opening performance at Sadler's Wells, on Friday evening, Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion almost reduced each other to fits of giggles. And these were among the loveliest moments. Timing being the secret of comedy, and them both having an acute sense of humour, their creation is as much like very clever vaudeville as high art, a brilliantly precise device constructed to amuse and satisfy, performed by a double act as cherishable as Laurel and Hardy or Morecambe and Wise.’ The Telegraph, Jan 08 (Three Duets).
'One of the funniest and most ingenious dances seen in New York in a long time.' The New York Times (Both Sitting Duet)
Influences and influenced
The critic Judith Mackrell has described aspects of Burrows’ style as emanating from the influences of folk-dance, classicismClassicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
and more weighted postmodern dance
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form. A reaction to the compositional and presentation constraints of modern dance, postmodern dance hailed the use of everyday movement as valid performance art and advocated novel methods of dance composition....
movement.
Burrows describes Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
, run by David Gothard as influential in his early career. Gothard drew together important artists and Burrows would see Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
and Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
around the theatre, and John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
and Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
duets were performed there. After seeing them in the early 1980s, American post modern dance, especially the Judson Church
Judson Dance Theater
Judson Dance Theater was an informal group of dancers who performed at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York City between 1962 and 1964. It grew out of a dance composition class taught by Robert Dunn, a musician who had studied with John Cage...
generation of choreographers from New York, such as David Gordon, Steve Paxton
Steve Paxton
Steve Paxton is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown...
, Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown is a postmodernist American choreographer and dancer.Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and received a B.A. degree in dance from Mills College in 1958. Brown later received a D.F.A. from Bates College in 2000. For several summers she studied with Louis Horst at the American Dance...
, and Lucinda Childs
Lucinda Childs
Lucinda Childs is an American postmodern dancer/choreographer. Her compositions are known for their minimalistic movements yet complex transitions. Childs is most famous for being able to turn the slightest movements into an intricate choreographic masterpiece...
and also Douglas Dunn
Douglas Dunn (Choreographer)
Douglas Dunn is an American postmodern dancer and choreographer. He is considered a highly eclectic and minimalist postmodern choreographer, who uses humor, props, and text in his dances.-Training and education:...
and their Contact improvisation
Contact improvisation
Contact improvisation is a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation...
began to influence his thinking. He also began performing for Rosemary Butcher.
He also lists Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska - February 22, 1972)) was a Russian dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Polish descent.Nijinska was born in Minsk, the third child of the Polish dancers Tomasz and Eleonora Nijinska . Her brother was Vaslav Nijinsky...
, specifically Les Noces
Les Noces
Les noces by Igor Stravinsky, is a dance cantata, or ballet with vocalists.-History:The ballet was premiered on June 13, 1923 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, by the Ballets Russes with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska...
.
Burrows’ long-time colloborator Matteo Fargion studied composition with the composer Kevin Volans
Kevin Volans
Kevin Volans is a composer associated with the post-minimalist movement in contemporary composition. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on July 6, 1949, and even though he has spent most of his life outside his native country, is the best known South African composer active today.In...
. Burrows consequently chose also to study with Volans, and the ideas which came out of this time are still important to Burrows’ work, and a source of connection between Burrows and Fargion. Both Sitting Duet is the translation of a score of a piece of music by American composer Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, an important figure in music, and with whom Volans was friends.
Burrows learnt traditional English Morris dancing
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
at White Lodge Royal Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...
, and both he and critics have named this as another possible source of influence in his style. Burrows has commented that he looked for a new way of moving that he could manage better than ballet. He met this desire in contact improvisation
Contact improvisation
Contact improvisation is a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation...
and release work, but also in folk dance
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
s, such as the Bampton Dancers of Oxford. Burrows comments, “I like the traditional men’s dances from England. The dancers had this weird quality of absurdity
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
mixed with profound dignity.”
Burrows has through his work and teaching and mentoring, been an influence on other successful choreographers.
Film works
- Very (film, dir. Adam Roberts, mus. Matteo Fargion, 1993);
- Our (film, dir. Adam Roberts, mus. Matteo Fargion, 1994);
- Hands (film, dir. Adam Roberts, music Matteo Fargion, BBC/ACE, 1995);
- blue yellow (film, solo Sylvie GuillemSylvie GuillemSylvie Guillem CBE is a French ballet dancer. She was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She is currently performing contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's...
, dir. Adam Roberts, mus. Kevin VolansKevin VolansKevin Volans is a composer associated with the post-minimalist movement in contemporary composition. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on July 6, 1949, and even though he has spent most of his life outside his native country, is the best known South African composer active today.In...
, France 2/BBC, 1995); - The Stop Quartet (film, dir. Adam Roberts, mus. Kevin VolansKevin VolansKevin Volans is a composer associated with the post-minimalist movement in contemporary composition. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on July 6, 1949, and even though he has spent most of his life outside his native country, is the best known South African composer active today.In...
, Matteo Fargion, 1996); - Both Sitting Duet (film, dir. Adam Roberts, 2003);
- Singing (film, dir. Adam Roberts, 2003).
- The Far End of the Garden. A profile of choreographer Jonathan Burrows (film, dir. Ross MacGibbon, A Beaulieu Films production for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Television and Arts Council FilmsArts Council EnglandArts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
, 1991)
Awards and fellowships
- Frederick AshtonFrederick AshtonSir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
Choreographic Award, 1990; - Digital Dance Award, 1992;
- Time Out Award, 1994;
- Prudential Award, 1995;
- Arts Council of England Fellowship 2000 - 02;
- Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, New York, for 'ongoing contributions to contemporary dance', 2002;
- Nominated for South Bank Show award for Both Sitting Duet and Singing, 2003;
- New York Dance and Performance Bessie AwardsBessie AwardsThe New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards in honor of Bessie Schonberg, are awarded annually for innovative achievement in dance and related performances, particularly so-called "downtown" performances...
, 2004.
Articles and interviews
- Fifty contemporary choreographers: A Reference Guide, Martha Bremser and Deborah Jowitt, pgs 47 – 51.
- "Dialogue with Jonathan Burrows, Tim Etchells and Kate McIntosh, Siobhan Davies", Adrian Heathfield, at the Dance Studios, March 2007
- "Speaking Dance: The Storm after the Calm", Daniela Perazzo pricks up her ears to Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, Dance Theatre Journal, 2007, Vol. 22, Numb 2, pages 9 – 11. Publisher: Laban Centre for Movement and Dance
- "Jonathan Burrows Group DVD", Perazzo, D, Dance Theatre Journal, 2006, Vol. 21, Numb 3, pages 45 – 46. Publisher: Laban Centre for Movement and Dance
- "The Sitting Duo Now Walks, or the Piece That Lies Quietly Underneath", Daniela Perazzo talks to Jonathan Burrows about his latest piece with Matteo Fargion, Dance Theatre Journal, 2005, Vol. 21, Numb 2, pages 2 – 7. Publisher: Laban Centre for Movement and Dance
- "Difference and Repetition in Both Sitting Duet", Briginshaw, V. A., Topoi, 2005, VOL 24, Numb 1, pages 15-28. Publisher: Springer Science + Business Media
- "Two Men, Two Chairs, interview with Jonathan Burrows", Polzer, L., Dancing Times, 2004, Issue 1131, pages 17-20. The Dancing Times Limited.
- "Both Talking: Interview with Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion", Donald Hutera, Dance Umbrella News, Oct 2003
Read it here
- "Playing the Game Harder, Jonathan Burrows in conversation", Dance Theatre Journal, 2002, Vol. 18, Part 4, pages 25 – 29. Publisher: Laban Centre for Movement and Dance, ISSN: 0264-9160
- "Jonathan Burrows: Exploring the Frontiers", Duerden, R, Dancing Times March 2001, pages 551-557
- Dancemakers’ Portfolio: Conversations with Choreographers, eds. Jo Butterworth and Gill Clarke, Bretton Hall, 1998
- "Liberating the Imagination", Edith Boxberger, Ballet International, Winter 1996
- The Full Score: The Dance Issue, with Kevin Volans, Autumn/Winter 1996
- "Closing in on Ballet", Nadine Meisner, Dance Theatre Journal, 13(2), 1996
- "Jonathan Burrows Group", Sophie Constanti, Dance Times, July 1996
- "Jonathan Burrows’ New Work for Sylvie Guillem" (on Blue Yellow), Sophie Constanti, Dance Theatre Journal, Winter 1995/96
- "Burrows: Our Thoughts", Chris de Marigny, Dance Theatre Journal, 11(2), Spring/Summer 1994
- "Dream Ticket", Ann Nugent, Dance Now, Summer 1994
- "Leading Lights", Dance Now, Spring 1994
- "Jonathan Burrows: The Laughter of Recognition", Marilyn Hunt, Dance Magazine, Oct 1993
- "Three by Three", Carol Brown, Eleanor Brickhill, Ann Nugent, Dance Now, Spring 1993
- "Talking to an Enigma", Edward Thorpe, Dance and Dancers, June/July 1991
- "Dance Scene: The Jonathan Burrows Group", Dancing Times, June 1991
- "Young Classical Choreographers", Dance Study Supplement 4, Dancing Times, Jan 1990
- "Home Reviews: Victoria Marks, Jonathan Burrows, The Place", John Percival, Dance and Dancers, Nov/Dec 1988