Judson Dance Theater

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Peter Moore’s photograph of Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton in Brown’s _Lightfall_. Performed at _Concert of Dance #4_, Judson Memorial Church, January 30, 1963. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Introduction: Judson Dance Theater 2800

Peter Moore’s photograph of Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton in Brown’s Lightfall. Performed at Concert of Dance #4, Judson Memorial Church, January 30, 1963. © Barbara Moore/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

THOMAS LAX: Welcome to Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done. I’m Thomas Lax, Associate Curator in the Department of Media and Performance Art.

ANA JANEVSKI: And I’m Ana Janevski, Curator of the Department of Media and Performance Art. So, what was Judson? It was a place. It was a group of people. It was a movement.

THOMAS J. LAX: Judson was a group of emerging choreographers, visual artists, composers, and filmmakers. A new kind of avant-garde. They rehearsed, experimented, argued, collaborated, and in the process transformed the world of dance together. They took their name from the Judson Memorial Church, which was a space they were given free reign to develop and present their work.

ANA JANEVSKI: Many of the Judson artists continue to practice today, stretching the boundaries of visual arts and dance. You’ll hear from several of them on this tour, including Yvonne Rainer:

YVONNE RAINER: All kinds of people hung out, came just to watch. For me, it was a place to try out fragments that I was working toward. People would show things that never materialized, were never realized. It was wide open. And if you showed work in the workshop and wanted it to be on the program, you were.