Movement Research in Residence at the New Museum: Final Presentations for Rethinking the Imprint of Judson Dance Theater 50 Years Later.

December 16, 2012 at the New Museum. 

On September 16, Movement Research (MR) solicited questions from the greater MR community with regards to the imprint that Judson Dance Theater (1962--64) continues to make on contemporary performance. Four questions were selected by attendees as focus topics for further investigation by artists nominated to lead a series of week-long performance laboratories and open rehearsals at the New Museum. Tonight, those artists share the results of their investigations for further consideration in an evening filled with performance, experimentation, and lively debate.

Movement Research Annual Town Hall Meeting

Movement Research in Residence at the New Museum:

Proposals for Rethinking the Imprint of Judson Dance Theater Fifty Years Later

September 16, 2012, at the New Museum

This event was moderated by Carla Peterson

Prior to tonight's program, Movement Research (MR) solicited questions from the greater MR community regardign the imprint that Judson Dance Theater (1962-1964) continues to make on contemporary performance. These questions were shared with the audience, debated, discusssed, and voted upon. Ultimately, four questions were selected by attendees as focus topics for further investigation by artists nominated to lead a series of week-long performance laboratories and open rehearsals at the New Museum. This event was presented as part of "Movement Research in Residence at the New Museum: Rethinking the Imprint of Judson Dance Theater Fifty Years Later."

MR in Residence at the New Museum
Rethinking the Imprint of Judson Dance Theater Fifty Years Later

A Pluralistic View of the Judson Dance Theater Legacy: 
Yvonne Rainer & Aileen Passloff with Wendy Perron

Through a series of discussions, presentations, artist residencies, and town hall meetings, Movement Research reconsiders the legacy, mythology, and permutations of influence that continue to echo from the occasion of Judson Dance Theater (1962-64).

The divergences between the work of Yvonne Rainer and Aileen Passloff highlight the vastness of the imprint of Judson Dance Theater (1962-64; JDT) while dismantling the myth of a singular Judson aesthetic. Rainer, along with dance artists Steve Paxton, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, David Gordon, and others, broke with the conventions of modern dance by exploring task dances and the Dadaist idea of radical juxtaposition. Passloff, along with Jimmy Waring, Fred Herko, Arlene Rothlein, and others, reveled in the full-out dancing and whimsy of modern dance. In this talk, moderated by Wendy Perron, Rainer and Passloff consider the legacy of Judson Dance Theater from the perspectives of their divergent practices.

Some questions that Rainer and Passloff addressed: What were you saying "No" to, and what were you saying "Yes" to? In what ways did the '60s affect Judson Dance Theater? How did others in the JDT collective influence your work? What artistic values do you feel JDT has handed down to later generations?

This event took place on October 28, 2012 as part of New Museum’s RE:NEW RE:PLAY residency series, co-presented with Movement Research. The RE:NEW RE:PLAY residency series is curated by Travis Chamberlain, Public Programs Coordinator at the New Museum.

Photo: Yvonne Rainer, Wendy Perron, and Aileen Passloff, by Travis Chamberlain

Schneemann, Perel, 7.06.12

This is a Movement Research Studies Project titled “Dance and the Occupy Movement,” organized by Abigail Levine. Panelists included Barbara Browning, Paloma McGregor, Clarinda MacLow, Edisa Weeks, and Daniel Lang-Levitsky. This event took place at the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, January 25, 2012.

An excerpt from the Movement Research Festival Spring Brochure 2011 reads: “Exploring an expanded notion of choreography and how it is related to our social and political organization and discovery of ourselves as individuals working within a temporary collective… circling and questioning around ideas of a moving community.”

The New York City General Assembly Declaration of the Occupation reads, “Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.”

Participants in this Movement Research Studies Project on the topic of dance and Occupy Wall Street discussed several questions in an open conversation about the creative political movement. What are the points of contact between experimental, contemporary dance and the Occupy Movement? As spatial and embodied practice? As social investigation and organization? As improvisation and movement? As agents of change? How do and might these moving communities interact? How do we approach (public and private) space in New York City?

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances, and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

This is a movement research studies project titled “Curatorial approaches to presenting Time-Based Art,” Moderated by Sam Miller (Founder, ICPP and President, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council). Panelists included Doryun Chong (Faculty, ICPP and Curator, MoMA) Judy Hussie-Taylor (Faculty, ICPP and Executive Director, Danspace Project), Jaamil Kosoko (Student, ICPP and Artist based in Philadelphia), and Ben Pryor (Student, ICPP and Curator/Producer based in New York). This event took place at Gibney Dance Center, January 18, 2012.

Faculty and students from the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (or the ICPP) at Wesleyan University engaged in a discussion about curatorial approaches to presenting time-based art. Founded in 2010, the ICPP brings together artists, curators, scholars, presenters and cultural leaders for an intensive, nine-month, low-residency academic program with instructors from Wesleyan, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Danspace Project, and the Walker Art Center. 

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances, and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

For more information about the ICPP program and how to apply, please visit www.wesleyan.edu/icpp.

This is a Movement Research Studies Project titled “When the Creation Changes its Creator,” moderated by Sondra Loring and KJ Holmes. Panelists included Julie Carr, Danielle Goldman, Julyen Hamilton, Miguel Gutierrez, and Jodi Melnick. This event took place at Jimmy’s No. 43, November 30, 2011.

5 talkers tackled the ticklish subject of terpsicorian investigation. Is there room for passion and discipline? What part does courage and patience play in the connection between an artist and their work?

This event was produced as part of the Movement Research Festival Fall 2011: DEVOTION/RIGOR/SUSTAINABILITY, curated by Sondra Loring and KJ Holmes.

 About the Movement Research Festival 
The Movement Research Festival finds its roots in the Improvisation Festival/New York (IF/NY), initiated in 1992 by Sondra Loring (a MR Artist-in-Residence at the time) and Julie Carr. For five years (1999-2003), Movement Research hosted the IF/NY as one of its programs, under the curation of Programming Director Amanda Loulaki. In 2004, Movement Research created an artist-curator format and beginning in 2006, Movement Research established the festival as a twice-annual event. The fall festival is shaped by Movement Research’s programming staff in collaboration with Festival Curators, who bring their own interests and ideas to specific festival events. The spring festival is produced by a group of artist-curators who determine the emphasis, shape, and programming. Together, these two approaches allow for a varied investigation and exploration into current artistic concerns and reflect Movement Research’s mission of valuing artists, their creative process and their vital role within society.

This is the Movement Research Town Hall Meeting, moderated by Kyle deCamp with panelists Michelle Boule, Matthew Rogers, and Becky Serrell Cyr. This event took place at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, November 15, 2011.

The 2010 Revival of the Movement Research Town Hall meeting dove into the nature and manner of movement research being conducted by our present-day artists community. Movement Research and its Artist Advisory Council led a follow-up discussion regarding sustainability as it relates to research, career, value, and time. 

Anna and Rebecca led a discussion on the topic of parenting and its influence on one's creative life. They posed the questions: How can the journey of parenthood inspire and be additive to an artist's lifestyle? Are there parenting challenges specific to the dance community? Is there anything we can do as a community to better support one another? Tips were shared on how to find balance between our professional and private lives. Participants included new and veteran parents as well as those contemplating parenthood , and those simply interested in this topic.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances, and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

After this discussion, Anna and Rebecca started a google group intended to support dance parents called “Dance Artist Parent,” and would like to invite interested individuals to join. You can find them by searching google groups for “dance artist parent” or by e-mailing dance-artist-parent@googlegroups.com.