Judson Dance Theater was a collective of dancers, composers, and visual artists who performed at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York City between 1962 and 1964. The artists involved were avant garde experimentalists who rejected the confines of Modern dance practice and theory, inventing as they did the precepts of Postmodern dance.

History

Judson Dance Theater grew out of a composition class held at Merce Cunningham's studio, taught by Robert Dunn, a musician who had studied experimental music theory with John Cage. A Concert of Dance, the first Judson concert, took place on July 6, 1962, and included the work of 14 choreographers performed by 17 people, some of whom were students in the Dunn composition class. Other performers in the concert were members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, as well as visual artists, filmmakers, and composers. in which she rejects any confines to technique, thrill, spectacle, glamour, or assumed space, is a prime example of many of the artistic intentions of the cooperative: a rejection of spectacular, virtuosic, narrative, and expressive choreographic approaches. The collective was a place for collaboration between artists in fields such as, dance, writing, film, music and multi-media.

Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A, welcomed "anyone who wanted to learn it, skilled and unskilled, trained and untrained, professional and amateur". By making Trio A available to anyone interested, Rainer questioned the exclusivity of traditional dance and reflected Judson’s inclusive, experimental attitude. This gesture suggested a new perspective on dance training, emphasizing the value of participation and accessibility. Rainer’s openness to teaching Trio A to a wide audience highlighted Judson’s emphasis on experimentation over perfection, fostering an inclusive atmosphere that aligned with the era’s social and political climate. In 2018, the Museum of Modern Art mounted a retrospective exhibition, Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done, which included the work of Yvonne Rainer, Deborah Hay, David Gordon, Lucinda Childs, Steve Paxton, and Trisha Brown, among others.

Influence

Developments in dance practice that can be traced back to the Judson Dance Theater include:

  • Contact improvisation
  • Dance improvisation
  • Dance for camera

Performers

Some of the notable artists who were part of the Judson Dance Theater were:

  • Trisha Brown
  • Lucinda Childs
  • Philip Corner
  • Judith Dunn
  • Malcolm Goldstein
  • David Gordon
  • Sally Gross
  • Deborah Hay
  • Fred Herko
  • Tony Holder
  • Meredith Monk
  • Mary Overlie
  • Aileen Passloff
  • Steve Paxton
  • Yvonne Rainer
  • Arlene Rothlein
  • Carolee Schneemann
  • Valda Setterfield
  • Elaine Summers
  • James Waring

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Further reading

  • Banes, Sally (1993) Democracy's Body: Judson Dance Theater, 1962-1964. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
  • Burt, Ramsay (2006) Judson Dance Theater: Performative Traces. New York: Routledge.
  • Chin, Daryl (2010) "Mistaken Identities, Part II"
  • Janevsky, Ana and Lax, Thomas (2018) Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done (exhibition catalog) New York: Museum of Modern Art.
  • "The First Concert of Dance at the Judson Dance Theater"
  • Judson Memorial Church Archive at Fales Library, New York University
  • Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done, MoMA Audio, 2017.