Tere O'Connor Dance

Hi Class -

This next selection comes from Tere O'Connor. He is a choreographer from New York who is also a huge advocate for discussions about contemporary dance and choreography. He is a current and established member of the dance scene and is very interested in getting into a dialog about dance and what dance can be. He is an important influence and support to emerging choreographers in this field. Please watch both of these videos and we will discuss them next Tuesday 2/22. For more on Tere O'Connor visit: www.tereoconnordance.org

Enjoy,

Alicia

Tere O'Connor Dance RAMMED EARTH (excerpts)

Notes on Prisma Forum - Tere O'Connor

Martha Graham - mother of modern dance (rebelling against ballet and "frivolous" dance)

Martha Graham was an American dancer choreographer regarded as the mother of modern dance. Graham was a galvanizing performer, a choreographer of astounding moves. She invented a new language of movement, and used it to reveal the passion, the rage and the ecstasy common to human experience.

Ovation TV | Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed

Yvonne Rainer - Trio A

Yvonne Rainer - An initiator of the post-modern dance movement (rebelling against modern dance and ballet)

Yvonne Rainer was one of the organizers of the Judson Dance Theater, a focal point for vanguard activity in the dance world throughout the 1960s. A turning point in Rainer’s choreography came in 1964, when, in an effort to strip movements of their expressive qualities, she turned to game structures to create works. All movement aimed to be direct, functional, and to avoid stylization. In so doing, she aimed to remove the drama from the dance movement, and to question the role of entertainment in dance. Throughout this stage of her choreography she worked towards movement becoming something of an object, to be examined without any psychological, social or formal motives. She opted for neutrality in her dances, presenting the objective presence of the human body and its movements, and refused to project a persona or create a narrative within her dances. In 1965, as a reaction to many of the previously stated feelings, Rainer created her "No Manifesto," which was a strategy formulated to demystify dance.

No Manifesto:

No to spectacle.
No to virtuosity.
No to transformations and magic and make-believe.
No to the glamour and transcendency of the star image.
No to the heroic.
No to the anti-heroic.
No to trash imagery.
No to involvement of performer or spectator.
No to style.
No to camp.
No to seduction of spectator by the wiles of the performer.
No to eccentricity.
No to moving or being moved.