Yvonne Rainer: Dance Works
11 July to 10 August 2014
Dancer, choreographer, filmmaker and writer Yvonne Rainer (born 1934, lives in New York) is widely acknowledged as having played a key role in revolutionising post-war dance, inspiring generations of performers. In the sixties and early seventies, initially as part of the Judson Theater in New York (alongside Simone Forti, Steve Paxton and Trisha Brown), Rainer made dance works that were concerned with social and political form. Her choreography incorporated 'ordinary' movement and ‘neutral’ performance, rethinking the performer-audience relationship.
This exhibition is the first to present live performances of Rainer’s dance works alongside other aspects of her practice: theoretical and lyrical writing, sketches and scores, photographs of performances, documentary and experimental films, and an audio recording of one of her early performative lectures. Together these convey a vivid picture of Rainer's production from 1961 to 1972, and its proximity to the visual arts of the time, notably to minimalist sculpture.
A highlight of the exhibition is a 45-minute dance programme performed four times daily. Dancers trained for the occasion by Rainer and her long-time collaborator Pat Catterson will perform her celebrated works Trio A (1966) and Chair Pillow (1969), as well as the UK premieres of the very rarely seen Talking Solo and Diagonal (both 1963).
The exhibition is curated by Catherine Wood, Curator of Contemporary Art and Performance at Tate Modern, and made possible through the generous co-operation of the Getty Research Institute. The live performances are organised with Martin Hargreaves, Programme Leader at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
Dancers: Megan Armishaw, Antigone Avdi, Irina Baldini, Povilas Bastys, Emilia Gasiorek,
Samuel Kennedy, Morrighan MacGillivray, Alice MacKenzie, Amanda Prince-Lubawy,
Rebecca Stancliffe, Rosalie Wahlfrid, Emelie Wangstedt, Sara Wookey.
Selected texts
Background:
Hand Movie, 1966
Video Data Bank, Chicago
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Yvonne Rainer: Dance Works, Raven Row, 2014
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Diagonal (part of Terrain), 1963
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Diagonal (part of Terrain), 1963
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Diagonal (part of Terrain), 1963
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Diagonal (part of Terrain), 1963
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Trio A, 1966
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Trio A, 1966
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Talking Solo (part of Terrain), 1963
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Chair Pillow, 1969
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Chair Pillow, 1969
Dancers in training with Pat Catterson and Yvonne Rainer, July 2014
Photograph by Eva Herzog
Exhibition view
Yvonne Rainer: Dance Works, Raven Row, 2014
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Parts of the Body, late 1960s
Instructions for a class
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Left to right:
Rehearsal of Dance Fractions for the West Coast, 1969
Connecticut Rehearsal, 1969
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Monitor:
Trio Film, 1968
Video Data Bank, Chicago
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Left monitor:
Volleyball (Foot Film), 1967
Right monitor (background):
Rhode Island Red, 1968
Video Data Bank, Chicago
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Yvonne Rainer: Dance Works, Raven Row, 2014
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Yvonne Rainer: Dance Works, Raven Row, 2014
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Yvonne Rainer: Dance Works, Raven Row, 2014
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Lives of Performers, 1972
Zeitgeist Films, New York
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Lives of Performers, 1972
Zeitgeist Films, New York
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Poster advertising This is the story of a woman who…, 1972–73
Performed by Yvonne Rainer and John Erdman Festival d’Automne, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1972
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith