MY TAKE ON AMERICAN PIONEERS OF POSTMODERN DANCE

Diane Torr Artist Talk Flyer FINAL

‘Early American Pioneers of Postmodern Dance’

7.30pm to 8.45pm | Wednesday 12th June | CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow | £4 (£3)

My Artist Talk will explore the work of three very different American postmodern dance pioneers. Anna Halprin – the innovative dancer and choreographer who founded the groundbreaking San Francisco Dancer’s Workshop in 1955; Simone Forti – choreographer and musician who was known for her dance style based on basic everyday movements, improvisation and the activities of animals and plants;  and Lucinda Childs – whose unique choreographic style lay in spatial exploration, and the different patterns the human body can create across a stage, by repeating basic combinations in different ways.  Childs collaborated with Robert Wilson and Phil Glass and created the choreography for Einstein on the Beach that was recently reprised at Sadler’s Wells in London.

I have chosen these people because I am interested in bringing an awareness to their legacy and contribution to postmodern dance.  My last Artist talk at the CCA 8/3/2011 was on Steve Paxton, Trisha Brown and  Yvonne Rainer.  I have met all of these dancers and worked with some of them. In this upcoming group: I took workshops with Anna Halprin in New York.  Simone Forti was a teacher of mine and we also co-taught in a series of improvisational dance workshops for children that was held at 168 Mercer Street in Soho in 1979.    I visited Lucinda Childs and interviewed her for a UK dance-zine article in 1978. Oh Yes – long time ago, but I remember the detail and the joy….

Hope to see you Glasgow dance-curious folk on June 12!