Dance
Postmodern Dance
Category
Postmodern dance tends to be divided between those choreographers who experiment formalistically with constructed and performed movement, and those who are influenced by modernist developments.
Video
Part 1 of the 80th Year Retrospective. Includes the ‘Undressing and Dressing’ and ‘Paper Dance’ from the ground-breaking interdisciplinary performance Parades and Changes.
Video
Filmed in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Body Without a Brain is a
high-risk, physically demanding dance for camera. Rianto seems to be in a trance as
he creates an unpremeditated encounter with the elements. He describes the work as
like a tree without roots. The piece embodies anxiety as the natural world becomes
ever more threatened.
Video
Gavin Krastin is a choreographer and performance artist. He
describes himself as “a gay, white, South African of a certain privilege and
class in relation to other bodies.” He suggests that BODY/BAG deals with race
and is intended to “expose and speak to the larger politics that affect us
all.”
Video
Rosemary Butcher talks of the concerns that inform her work, referring specifically to the choreography, Spaces 4 (1988).
Video
Conquest and Prison is a two-part suite of site-specific dance films set
in Grahamstown, South Africa. The two oldest historical sites in Grahamstown are Ft.
Selwyn and the Old Gaol, which imprisoned thousands of black South Africans. The
choreography of Part I "Oscar's Journey" is Oscar Buthelezi's personal response to the
history of colonialism commemorated at Ft. Selwyn. Part II "Child's Play" is similar to
the approach in "Oscar's Journey." "Chorographers Lorin Sookool and Julia Wilson reflect
on the past as the sounds and images of the gaol continue to echo and resonate today.
Video
This piece is an excerpt from a half-hour documentary shot in Grahamstown,
South Africa, during the annual National Arts Festival (https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/2016-festival/).
Interviews were conducted with a wide range of choreographers. This
selection focuses on up-and-coming artists Julia Wilson, Lorin Sookool,
Athena Mazarakis, and Kamogelo Molobye. The works are inspired
by challenges facing women, gays, and lesbians in contemporary South
Africa.
Video
Video
Kaash (Hindi word for ‘if’) was created in 2002 by Akram Khan when he was choreographer in residence of the Royal Festival Hall. He teamed up with celebrated talents Anish Kapoor and Nitin Sawhney.
Video
Video
The Soul of Dance is an introduction to the vibrant diversity of contemporary dance
in Indonesia. Rooted both in tradition and the idioms of modern movement this half
hour documentary introduces audiences to work ranging from site-specific solos to
multimedia musical theater.
Video
The Lastmaker (2007) was Goat Island’s ninth and final performance, composed by the group with ending in mind. The piece took its inspiration from the historical trajectory of the Hagia Sophia.
Video
Jean Isaacs presents an annual festival of site-specific dance in San Diego, CA. Original dances are created alongside San Diego’s iconic red trolleys. The special energy of this event comes from interaction of artists immersed in the community. In this project art and "real-life" are not rigidly distinct realms. The documentary takes a behind the scenes look at the months long process of creation.
Commentary
by McPherson, Katrina
Practitioner
William Forsythe is recognised as one of the world’s foremost choreographers. He has also worked with media specialists to develop new approaches to dance documentation, research and education.
Practitioner
Goat Island was a Chicago-based collaborative performance group that made nine intimate, low-tech and intensely physical performance works that toured internationally, between 1987 and 2009.
Practitioner
Deborah Hay is a choreographer, author and dance visionary. In the 1960s, she trained with Merce Cunningham and performed with Judson Dance Theatre. She lives in the USA and works internationally.
Related Items
Practitioner
Goat Island was a Chicago-based collaborative performance group that made nine intimate, low-tech and intensely physical performance works that toured internationally, between 1987 and 2009.
Category
Postmodern acting has interrogated the idea of a unified subject and individual agency in a variety of ways. Its avoidance of characterisation means it is often understood more broadly as performance.