Judson Dance Theater
Encyclopedia
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
. The artists involved were avant garde experimentalists who rejected the confines of Modern dance
practice and theory, inventing as they did the precepts of Postmodern dance
.
The first Judson concert took place on July 6, 1962, with works created by Steve Paxton
, Fred Herko, David Gordon, Alex and Deborah Hay
, Yvonne Rainer
, Elaine Summers
, William Davis, and Ruth Emerson.
Seminal dance artists, musicians and visual artists who were part of the Judson Dance Theater include:
Developments in dance practice that can be traced back to the Judson Dance Theater include:
Judson Memorial Church
The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson and Sullivan Streets, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
between 1962 and 1964. It grew out of a dance composition class taught by Robert Dunn
Robert Ellis Dunn
Robert Ellis Dunn was an American musician and choreographer who led classes in dance composition, contributing to the birth of the postmodern dance period in the early 1960s in New York City .-Early years:...
, a musician who had studied with 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...
. The artists involved were avant garde experimentalists who rejected the confines of Modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
practice and theory, inventing as they did the precepts of 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....
.
The first Judson concert took place on July 6, 1962, with works created by 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...
, Fred Herko, David Gordon, Alex and Deborah Hay
Deborah Hay
-Life and work:Deborah Hay was born in 1941 in Brooklyn. Her mother was her first dance teacher and directed her training until she was a teenager. Hay moved at age 19 to Downtown, Manhattan in the 1960s, where she continued her training with Merce Cunningham and Mia Slavenska...
, Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.- Early life :...
, Elaine Summers
Elaine Summers
Elaine Summers American choreographer, experimental filmmaker, and intermedia pioneer.Summers was a founding member of the workshop-group that would form the Judson Dance Theater and significantly contributed to the interaction of film and dance, as well as the expansion of dance into other related...
, William Davis, and Ruth Emerson.
Seminal dance artists, musicians and visual artists who were part of the Judson Dance Theater include:
- Trisha BrownTrisha BrownTrisha 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...
- Jessica Cargill
- Lucinda ChildsLucinda ChildsLucinda 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...
- Philip CornerPhilip CornerPhilip Corner is an American composer, action musician, trombone/alphornist, sometime vocalist, pianist-improvisor, theorist-educator, graphic score designer, and visual artist, collage&assembleur, calligrapher.-Biography:After The High School of Music & Art in New York City, Philip Corner...
- Judith Dunn
- Malcolm GoldsteinMalcolm GoldsteinMalcolm Goldstein is a composer, violinist and improviser who has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s. He received an M.A. in music composition from Columbia University in 1960, having studied with Otto Luening...
- David Gordon
- Sally Gross
- Deborah HayDeborah Hay-Life and work:Deborah Hay was born in 1941 in Brooklyn. Her mother was her first dance teacher and directed her training until she was a teenager. Hay moved at age 19 to Downtown, Manhattan in the 1960s, where she continued her training with Merce Cunningham and Mia Slavenska...
- Fred Herko
- Tony Holder
- Meredith MonkMeredith MonkMeredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.-Life and work:Meredith Monk is primarily known for her...
- Aileen Passloff
- Steve PaxtonSteve PaxtonSteve 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...
- Yvonne RainerYvonne RainerYvonne Rainer is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.- Early life :...
- Carolee SchneemannCarolee SchneemannCarolee Schneemann is an American visual artist, known for her discourses on the body, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. from Bard College and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois. Her work is primarily characterized by research into visual traditions, taboos, and the body of the...
- Jen Scoble
- Elaine SummersElaine SummersElaine Summers American choreographer, experimental filmmaker, and intermedia pioneer.Summers was a founding member of the workshop-group that would form the Judson Dance Theater and significantly contributed to the interaction of film and dance, as well as the expansion of dance into other related...
- James WaringJames WaringJames Waring was a dancer, choreographer, costume designer and theatrical director based in New York City in the 1940s through the 1970s. He was a prolific choreographer as well as a dedicated teacher who selflessly helped his students and proteges to advance their careers, while maintaining a...
Developments in dance practice that can be traced back to the Judson Dance Theater include:
- contact improvisationContact improvisationContact improvisation is a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation...
- dance improvisationDance improvisationDance improvisation is the process of spontaneously creating movement. Development of improvised movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations including body mapping through body mind centering, levels, shape and dynamics , sensory experiences through touch or contact...
- dance for camera
See also
- Dance of the United StatesDance of the United StatesClosely related to the development of American music in the early 20th century was the emergence of a new, and distinctively American, art form -- modern dance. Among the early innovators was Isadora Duncan , who stressed pure, unstructured movement in lieu of the positions of classical ballet...
- Simone FortiSimone FortiSimone Forti , a postmodern American choreographer and musician, was born in Italy but moved to the United States at a young age. Throughout her career she became known for a style of dancing and choreography that was largely based on basic everyday movements, such as games and children's...
- Grand UnionGrand Union- Transport :* Grand union, a four-way, double track rail junction often found on tram systems* Grand Union Canal, a waterway running from London to Birmingham in the United Kingdom...
- Anna HalprinAnna HalprinAnna Halprin helped pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to herself as the breaker of modern dance. Halprin, along with her contemporaries such as Trisha Brown, Simone Forti, Yvonne Rainer, John Cage, and Robert Morris, collaborated and built a community based...
- Postmodern dancePostmodern dancePostmodern 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....
- New York SchoolNew York SchoolThe New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
External links
- Judson Memorial Church Archive at Fales Library, New York University