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Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers
The Museum of Modern Art Archives



The Museum of Modern Art Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
https://www.moma.org/research/archives/
© 2023
The Museum of Modern Art Archives
Finding aid prepared by Rachel Garbade, 2023.

Overview of the Collection

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
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

The collection is organized into three series:
Series I: Notebooks
Series II: Chronology of Dances, 1961-1979
Series III: Notes, Correspondence, and Photographs


Biographical Note

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.


Scope and Content

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.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.

Ownership and Literary Rights

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.


Related Collections at MoMA and Elsewhere

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.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

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.

Provenance

Trisha Brown Notebooks and Papers were acquired from the Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2022.

Processing and Condition Information

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.


Container List

Series I: Notebooks 1971-2005

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.

Folder Title Date
I.1 Notebook

View PDF of folder I.1

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

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.

In arranging this series, 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 are in chronological sequence.

Folder Title Date
II.1 Chronologies of Dances, 1961-1989

Includes handwritten and typed notes.

Original folder title: "Chronology of Dances, 1960-1989?"

1972-1989
II.2 Reviews, 1962-1968

Includes clippings.

Original folder title: "Reviews, 1960"

1962-1968
II.3 Structured Improvisations with Simone Forti & Dick Levine, 1961

Folder was received empty.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Original folder title: "Reviews, 1970"

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.

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.

Original folder title: "(damaged) mold, Pamplona Stone"

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.

II.64 Pyramid, 1975

Includes sixteen photographs.

Undated
II.65 Solo Olos, 1976

Includes notes.

Undated
II.66 Duetude, 1976

Folder was received empty.

II.67 Line Up, 1976

Includes notes and eight photographs.

Undated
II.68 Structured Pieces IV, 1976

Folder was received empty.

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

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.

Folders were received in no discernible order; original order was maintained. Four folders with miscellaneous material were moved from Series I and Series II to the end of this series.

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.

The original folder was not labeled.

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.

The original folder was not labeled.

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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Box and Folder List

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


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