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Overview of the Collection |
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Creator: | Brown, Trisha, 1936-2017 | |
Title: | Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers | |
Inclusive Dates: | 1962-2011 | |
Quantity: | 3 linear feet 7 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box |
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Abstract: | Includes Trisha Brown's personal notebooks, a chronology of Brown's dances from 1961 to 1979, and additional papers from other parts of her career. |
Arrangement |
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The collection is organized into three series: | ||
Series I: Notebooks | ||
Series II: Chronology of Dances, 1961-1979 | ||
Series III: Notes, Correspondence, and Photographs |
Trisha Brown was born in 1936 in Aberdeen, Washington, where she spent her childhood. Her formal dance education began in 1947. She trained in the Martha Graham technique with Louis Horst at Mills College in Oakland, California, graduating in 1958. She later studied at the American Dance Festival in Connecticut, learning from Horst, José Limón, and Merce Cunningham and subsequently began teaching at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Brown moved to New York City in 1961 at the urging of dancers Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer. There, she quickly became immersed in the postmodern artistic environment of the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. During the sixties, she took part in Fluxus events, Robert Whitman's Happenings, and activities at the Judson Dance Theater. Her early dances were often based only on small sets of instructions and involved improvisations in nontraditional venues, such as galleries, churches, and outdoors (especially in her downtown neighborhood of SoHo), often without music. In 1970, Brown formed the Trisha Brown Dance Company, an all-female ensemble until 1980. Brown was also a member of Grand Union, an improvisational dance group including Barbara Dilley, Douglas Dunn, David Gordon, Nancy Green, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, and occasionally others, active from 1970-1976. By the late 1970s, Brown was collaborating frequently with artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Judd, Laurie Anderson, Babette Mangolte, Elaine Summers, Vija Celmins, and others, who provided unique set and costume designs, documentary photography and filming, and musical compositions. In the 1990s, she began directing operas in addition to continuing collaboration with artists and composers on dances. In her lifetime, she created over 100 dances, six operas, and countless drawings that have received gallery and museum recognition. Brown retired in 2008, and died in 2017 in San Antonio, Texas.
Series I includes twenty-four of Trisha Brown's personal notebooks, dating from 1971 to 2005, arranged chronologically. At
the end of the series, seven notebooks are undated, though they are presumed to be from the same date range. The contents
include choreography notes, hand-drawn schematic diagrams of dances, illustrations of stick figures representing the choreography
steps, to-do lists, poetic musings, and diaristic writings. Some notebooks have inserted ephemera, such as letters, short
notes, clippings, postcards, tickets from travels, small photographs, and pressed flowers.
Series II represents a chronology of Brown's dances from 1961 to 1979. This material was curated and assembled by Trisha Brown
before 2001, in anticipation of the publication Trisha Brown: Dance and Art in Dialogue, 1961-2001, which contains a thorough chronology that roughly corresponds to this series. The series begins with several typed and handwritten
chronologies assembled over the years. Then, the folders are arranged chronologically, with the provided dance title and year
as the folder title. Where two consecutive folders have the same name, one houses oversized material, as denoted by an asterisk.
Folders include original and photocopied material, such as handwritten and typed choreography notes, correspondence, photographs,
contact sheets, and a few negatives. Like the pages of the notebooks, there are often hand-drawn schematic diagrams of dances,
stick figures representing choreography, and poetic musings on sheets of paper. Occasionally there are also cataloging sheets,
which give a short description of the dance along with the performance dates, length, location, performers, composer, filmmaker,
and photographer. Folder contents range in extent from one page of notes to fifty photographs, often with a combination of
texts and photographs. Some folders were received empty and are marked as such; this was likely done to indicate the presence
of the dance in the overall chronology, despite the absence of related notes or photographs.
Series III includes additional miscellaneous notes, photographs, and correspondence from other parts of Brown's career. Highlights
include: a small drawing by Donald Judd, likely created for Son of Gone Fishin' (1981), the first collaboration between Brown and Judd, for which Judd developed the visual presentation and set; papers
regarding the Grand Union, an improvisational dance group including Trisha Brown and others, active from 1970-1976; and assorted
papers from collaborations with other artists, notes about musical sources, and clippings and small publications related to
Brown's career. Some photographs in this series were received from Dorothee Alemany in 2015. Folders range in extent from
one sheet of paper to dozens.
The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.
Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers are the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights, including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with The Museum of Modern Art. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the staff of the MoMA Archives.
The Department of Media and Performance Art at MoMA acquired 12 unique films from the Trisha Brown Dance Company, dating from
1966 to 1983. Titles include Walking on the Wall, Roof Piece, Solo Olos, Floor of the Forest, Water Motor, Accumulation with Talking plus Water Motor, Leaning Duet, Man Walking Down the Side of a Building, Planes, Homemade, Ballet, and Roof Piece by filmmakers Jonathan Demme, Robert Whitman, Jud Yalkut, Babette Mangolte, and Elaine Summers.
In 2020, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Jerome Robbins Dance Division acquired 230 linear feet of the
Trisha Brown Archives, including more than 4,300 audiovisual materials.
Further selections from the Trisha Brown Archive are held by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and Tate Modern, London.
Published citations should take the following form:
Long version: Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
Short version: Trisha Brown, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.
Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers were acquired from the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2022.
The collection as a whole is in good condition. In processing, staples were removed; folders and plastic sheet protectors
were discarded and replaced with acid-free equivalents; and acidic and other unstable materials were encapsulated as appropriate.
One photograph in folder II.61 (originally titled "(damaged) mold, Pamplona Stone") was assessed and deemed stable/low risk,
though it remains isolated from other material related to that dance.
In arranging these papers, original order was maintained wherever possible. For example, Accumulation 4 1/2" Grateful Dead, 1993, was originally arranged before Accumulation, 1971, presumably for its relationship to the earlier dance, so this order was maintained. Otherwise, the folders in Series
II: Chronology of Dances, 1961-1979 are in chronological sequence.
Two folders with miscellaneous material not related to notebooks were moved from Series I to Series III. Two folders with
miscellaneous material not related to particular performances were moved from Series II to Series III. Generally, folder titles
have been expanded or altered for clarity, though original folder titles are noted.
Series I: Notebooks 1971-2005 |
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Series I includes twenty-four of Trisha Brown's personal notebooks, dating from 1971 to 2005, arranged chronologically. At the end of the series, seven notebooks are undated, though they are presumed to be from the same date range. The contents include choreography notes, hand-drawn schematic diagrams of dances, illustrations of stick figures representing the choreography steps, to-do lists, poetic musings, and diaristic writings. Some notebooks have inserted ephemera, such as letters, short notes, clippings, postcards, tickets from travels, small photographs, and pressed flowers. Notebooks were received in folders, which were labeled with text from the notebooks' cover or spine. |
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Folder | Title | Date |
I.1 | Notebook | 1971-1973 |
I.2 | Notebook | 1973-1974 |
I.3 | Notebook | 1974-1975 |
I.4 | Notebook | 1975-1976 |
I.5 | Notebook | 1976-1979 |
I.6 | Notebook | 1979-1984 |
I.7 | Notebook | 1985-1989 |
I.8 | Notebook | 1989-1990 |
I.9 | Notebook | 1990-1991 |
I.10 | Notebook | 1992 |
I.11 | Notebook | 1993-1994 |
I.12 | Notebook | 1994-1995 |
I.13 | Notebook | 1995-1997 |
I.14 | Notebook | 1996 |
I.15 | Notebook | 1997-1998 |
I.16 | Notebook | 1999-2001 |
I.17 | Notebook | 2002-2005 |
I.18 | Notebook | Undated |
I.19 | Notebook | Undated |
I.20 | Notebook | Undated |
I.21 | Notebook | Undated |
I.22 | Two Notebooks | Undated |
I.23 | Notebook | Undated |
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Series II: Chronology of Dances, 1961-1979 |
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Series II represents a chronology of Brown's dances from 1961 to 1979. The series begins with several typed and handwritten
chronologies assembled over the years. Then, the folders are arranged chronologically, with the provided dance title and year
as the folder title. Where two consecutive folders have the same name, one houses oversized material, as denoted by an asterisk.
Folders include original and photocopied material, such as handwritten and typed choreography notes, correspondence, photographs
of Brown and others during performances and rehearsals, contact sheets, and a few negatives. Like the pages of the notebooks,
there are often hand-drawn schematic diagrams of dances, stick figures representing choreography, and poetic musings on sheets
of paper. Occasionally there are also cataloging sheets, which give a short description of the dance along with the performance
dates, length, location, performers, composer, filmmaker, and photographer. Folder contents range in extent from one page
of notes to fifty photographs, often with a combination of texts and photographs. Some folders were received empty and are
marked as such; this was likely done to indicate the presence of the dance in the overall chronology, despite the absence
of related notes or photographs. |
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Folder | Title | Date |
II.1 | Chronologies of Dances, 1961-1989 Includes handwritten and typed notes. |
1972-1989 |
II.2 | Reviews, 1962-1968 Includes clippings. |
1962-1968 |
II.3 | Structured Improvisations with Simone Forti & Dick Levine, 1961 Folder was received empty. |
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II.4 | Trillium, 1962 Includes notes and two photographs. |
1963 |
II.5 | Lightfall, 1963 Includes one photograph. |
1963 |
II.6 | 2 Improvisations on the Nuclei for Simone by Jackson Mac Low, 1963 Includes correspondence between Trisha Brown and Jackson Mac Low. |
1967-2001 |
II.7 | Falling Solo with Singing, 1963 Folder was received empty. |
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II.8 | Target, 1964 Includes notes. |
Undated |
II.9 | Rulegame 5, 1964 Includes notes and one photograph. |
1966 |
II.10 | Motor, 1965 Includes notes. |
1965 |
II.11 | Homemade, 1965 Includes notes and two photographs. |
1994-2000, Undated |
II.12 | Inside, 1966 Folder was received empty. |
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II.13 | A String (A Piece on Three Parts including Homemade, Motor, & Inside), 1966 Includes four photographs. |
1965 |
II.14* | Medicine Dance, 1967 Includes notes. |
Undated |
II.15 | Skunk Cabbage, Salt Grass and Waders, 1967 Includes notes, two photographs, and a postcard for Patricia Cremins/Wyoming Dance Theatre Project's Cassandra Flanagan performance at LaMaMa, April 7-10, 1994. |
1994, Undated |
II.16 | Snapshots, 1968 Folder was received empty. |
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II.17 | Planes, 1968 Includes notes, twenty-five photographs, and one contact sheet. |
1968-1971, Undated |
II.18 | Falling Duet, 1968 Includes notes and one photograph. |
1968 |
II.19 | Ballet, 1968 Includes six photographs. |
1968 |
II.20 | The Dance with the Duck's Head, 1968 Includes notes and two photographs. |
1968 |
II.21 | Yellow Belly, 1969 Includes notes. |
Undated |
II.22 | Autobiographical Film, 1969 Includes two photographs. |
1969 |
II.23* | Autobiographical Film, 1969 Includes one performance poster. |
Undated |
II.24 | Skymap, 1969 Includes notes and calendar pages from 1970. |
1962-1970, Undated |
II.25 | Reviews, 1971-1975 Includes clippings. |
1971-1975 |
II.26 | Man Walking Down the Side of a Building, 1970 Includes notes and one photograph. |
1969 |
II.27 | Clothes Pipe, The Floor of the Forest and Other Miracles, Etc., 1970 Includes notes and three photographs. |
1970, Undated |
II.28 | Leaning Duets, 1970 Includes one photograph. |
1970 |
II.29 | The Stream, 1970 Includes fifty-nine photographs from performances and a trip with family and friends and twenty-one negative film strips. |
1970 |
II.30 | Walking on the Wall, 1971 Includes notes. |
1969 |
II.31* | Walking on the Wall, 1971 Includes one floor plan of the second floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art. |
Undated |
II.32* | Walking on the Wall, 1971 Includes one architectural drawing of the ceiling grid of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. |
1964 |
II.33 | Whitney Concert - Walking on the Wall, Leaning Duets II, 1971 Includes notes, one letter to Trisha Brown from Eleanor L. Gray/John Newbauer, one letter to Trisha Brown from Stephen E. Weil, one receipt, one clipping, and one invoice. |
1964-1976 |
II.34 | Leaning Duets II, 1971 Includes two photographs and notes. |
1971, Undated |
II.35 | Falling Duet II, 1971 Includes five photographs. |
Undated |
II.36 | Floor of the Forest, 1971 Includes notes and seventeen photographs. |
1971, Undated |
II.37* | Floor of the Forest, 1971 Includes one schematic drawing. |
Undated |
II.38 | Accumulation 4 1/2" Grateful Dead, 1993 Includes notes and six photographs. |
1993-1997 |
II.39 | Accumulation, 1971 Includes notes, five photographs, and one contact sheet. |
1971, Undated |
II.40 | Roof Piece, 1971 Includes one photograph. |
1971 |
II.41* | Roof Piece, 1971 Includes one performance poster. |
1971 |
II.42 | Accumulation 55", 1972 Includes notes. |
1980, Undated |
II.43 | Primary Accumulation, 1972 Includes notes and eleven photographs. |
1971-1972 |
II.44 | Theme and Variations, 1972 Includes notes and ten photographs. |
1972-1973 |
II.45 | Reviews, 1973 Includes clippings. |
1973 |
II.46 | Accumulation Pieces, 1973 Includes notes and thirty-seven photographs. |
1973 |
II.47 | Woman Walking Down a Ladder, 1973 Includes one photograph. |
1973 |
II.48 | Roof Piece, 1973 Includes notes. |
1973 |
II.49 | Group Accumulation I, 1973 Includes twenty-six photographs. |
1973-1990 |
II.50 | Group Primary Accumulation, 1973 Includes twenty-four photographs and notes. |
1972-1973 |
II.51 | Group Accumulation II, 1973 Includes one clipping and three contact sheets. |
1973-1974 |
II.52 | Structured Pieces I, 1973 Includes thirteen photographs and notes. |
1973-1974 |
II.53 | 383 W. Broadway, 1974 Includes one photograph and seven contact sheets. |
1974 |
II.54 | Reviews, 1974 Includes clippings. |
1974 |
II.55 | Figure 8, 1974 Includes notes, four photographs, and one negative. |
1974 |
II.56 | Spit Solo, 1974 Folder was received empty. |
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II.57 | Drift, 1974 Includes notes, one letter, and one photograph. |
1973-1974 |
II.58 | Spiral, 1974 Includes notes and one photograph. |
1974, Undated |
II.59 | Pamplona Stones, 1974 Includes notes and eight photographs. |
1974, Undated |
II.60 | Pamplona Stones, 1974 Includes one photograph. |
Undated |
II.61 | Structured Pieces II, 1974 Includes three photographs and notes. |
1974, Undated |
II.62 | Locus, 1975 Includes notes and fifty photographs. |
Undated |
II.63 | Structured Pieces III, 1975 Folder was received empty. |
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II.64 | Pyramid, 1975 Includes sixteen photographs. |
Undated |
II.65 | Solo Olos, 1976 Includes notes. |
Undated |
II.66 | Duetude, 1976 Folder was received empty. |
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II.67 | Line Up, 1976 Includes notes and eight photographs. |
Undated |
II.68 | Structured Pieces IV, 1976 Folder was received empty. |
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II.69 | Line Up, 1977 Includes notes and twenty eight photographs. |
1979, Undated |
II.70 | Watermotor, 1978 Includes twenty-one photographs, one negative, and notes. |
1978, Undated |
II.71 | Splang, 1978 Includes notes, eight contact sheets, three letters between Trisha Brown and Chris Rauschenberg, thirty two photographs, and three postcards. |
1978, Undated |
II.72 | Accumulation with Talking Plus Water Motor, 1979 Includes one photograph, one negative, and notes. |
1978-1980 |
II.73 | Glacial Decoy, 1979 Includes notes. |
Undated |
II.74 | Rinse Variations, Undated Includes notes. |
Undated |
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Series III: Notes, Correspondence, and Photographs 1964-2011 |
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Series III includes additional miscellaneous notes, photographs, and correspondence from other parts of Brown's career. Folders
range in extent from one sheet of paper to dozens. |
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Folder | Title | Date |
III.1 | "Donald Judd drawing" Includes one small, unsigned, undated drawing by Donald Judd, likely created for Son of Gone Fishin' (1981), the first collaboration between Brown and Judd, for which Judd developed the visual presentation and set. |
Undated |
III.2 | Notes, likely about Roof Piece Includes one page of notes. |
Undated |
III.3 | "Anna Halprin" Includes one photograph and a typed proposal for a "Dance Idea for Joe and Trisha" by Anna Halprin. |
May 19, 1964 |
III.4 | "Walter de Maria" Includes a typed proposal for "Non" a Dance/Vision for Trish and Tulip by Walter De Maria. |
March 1965 |
III.5 | "Rinse Variations, undated" Includes notes. |
Undated |
III.6 | "Locus Lecture" Includes notes for a lecture about Locus. |
Undated |
III.7 | "Drama Review Drafts" Includes a handwritten draft for an article in The Drama Review. |
Undated |
III.8 | "Fluxus postcard, 1973" Includes one postcard addressed to Trisha Brown. |
January 1, 1973 |
III.9 | "Guggenheim Grant, 1973" Includes drafts for an application to the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. |
1973 |
III.10 | "Notes, undated" Includes notes for a dance to "Revelations" by Limone Whitman. |
Undated |
III.11 | "Adam related material" Includes notes and story fragments possibly for or related to Brown's son Adam. |
Undated |
III.12 | "Photos" Includes photographs of Roof Piece on a poster at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, advertising the festival and exhibition SoHo: Downtown Manhattan in 1976; assorted dances, including Figure 8, Floor of the Forest, and Man Walking Down the Side of a Building; and, a ceremony where Brown received a Distinguished Alumni award from J. M. Weatherwax High School. |
1969-1974 |
III.13 | "Robert Rauschenberg Correspondence" Includes a letter from Trisha Brown to Robert Rauschenberg, signed by Brown. |
January 4, 1979 |
III.14 | "Trisha Brown writing" Includes one page of handwritten notes. |
Undated |
III.15 | "Performance Chronology" Includes several chronologies of dances. |
1968-1987 |
III.16 | "Rameau" Includes notes, likely for L'Amour au théâtre, 2009, which was inspired by Jean-Phillipe Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, 1733. |
2008, Undated |
III.17 | "Sariajo, Kaija" Includes correspondence and notes from a collaboration between Trisha Brown and Kaija Saariaho. |
2004-2006 |
III.18 | "Music: Suggestions - Sources" Includes correspondence, notes, and clippings with music suggestions. |
1997-2011, Undated |
III.19* | "Music: Suggestions - Sources" Includes a clipping from The New York Times. |
November 1, 1990 |
III.20 | "Received Music" Includes correspondence and notes with music suggestions. |
1975-2008, Undated |
III.21 | "The Washington Gallery of Modern Art Concert Program, May 9, 1963" Includes performances of Trillium, Diagonal, Duet, Solo Section, Lightfall, Play, and Bach, choreographed by Trisha Brown, and others choreographed by William David, Judith Dunn, David Gordon, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Albert Reid, and Robert Rauschenberg. |
May 9, 1963 |
III.22 | "Notes" Includes handwritten notes. |
Undated |
III.23 | "Notes, undated" Includes typed and handwritten notes. |
Undated |
III.24* | "Notes, undated" Includes a poster for Robert Kushner's The Masque of Monuments (Rocks and Waters) with handwritten notes by Trisha Brown on the verso. |
February 2, 1973 |
III.25 | "Grand Union Evening of Improvisation, May 1972" Includes writing, clippings, performance ephemera, correspondence, and notes regarding the group. |
1972-1974 |
III.26* | Issue of Avalanche, No. 11, Summer 1975 The original folder was not labeled. This item was moved from Series II. |
1975 |
III.27 | Two Trisha Brown Booklets Published by The Trisha Brown Company, Inc. in 1976 Each booklet contains a profile on Brown from 1975 and an addenda from October 1981 with additional awards and choreography
history and updated lists of the Board of Directors and staff members. This item was moved from Series II. |
1981 |
III.28 | Program from A Concert of Dance By Trisha Brown and Deborah Hay at the Judson Memorial Church The original folder was not labeled. This item was moved from Series II. |
March 29-30, 1966 |
III.29 | "Miscellaneous, 1993-2003" Includes an issue of Inside Arts, Vol. 15, No. 5, September/October 2003. This item was moved from Series I. |
2003 |
III.30 | "Miscellaneous, 1993-2003" Includes one photograph of participating artists in the 1999 Whitney Museum exhibition American Century, and a separate list of every artist in the photograph, including Trisha Brown. This item was moved from Series I. |
September 23, 1999 |
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File numbers marked by an asterisk (*) indicate oversize material that has been separated to the end of the collection.
Researchers should include the asterisk when issuing a request for such material.
Series | Folder Range | Box |
I | 1-6 | 1 |
I | 7-13 | 2 |
I | 14-19 | 3 |
I | 20-23 | 4 |
II | 1-13, 15-17 | 4 |
II | 18-22, 24-30, 33-36, 38-40, 42-50 | 5 |
II | 51-75 | 6 |
III | 1-18, 20-23, 25, 27-31 | 7 |
II | 14*, 23*, 31*, 37*, 41* | 8 |
III | 19*, 24*, 26* | 8 |
II | 32* | FF 3-9 |