NEA Grant (1980), Guggenheim Fellowshing (1995), Venise Biennale Golden Lion (2004), Bessie for Lifetime Achievement (2015)
Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to the dance form, and so began his great interest in pedestrian movement. After working with Cunningham and developing chance choreography, defined as any movement being his generation whose approach has influenced choreography globally. He attempts to remain reclusive, except when performing, teaching and choreographing internationally.
Paxton was influenced by the experimental arts and performance scene in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, and he was interested in how the body could create a physical playground. Contact improvisation developed out of an exploration of the human body and under the supervision of Paxton. Its roots trace back to 1972. Contact improvisation, usually done in duets, pulls elements from martial arts, social dance, sports, and child’s play.[3] Upon entering a contact improv structure, two bodies must come together to create a point of contact (i.e., back to wrist, shoulder to thigh, head to foot, back to back, the options are endless), give weight equally to each other, and then create a movement dialog that can last for an undetermined amount of time, as long as both participants are fully engaged.[4]
Contact improvisation can be done by any person because the emergence of a movement vocabulary depends on a specific touch and the initiation of weight exchange with another person. Paxton in the late 1970s focused on teaching, performing, and writing about contact improvisation around the country and in Europe.[5] Contact improvisation went on to be taught around the world by people like Nancy Stark Smith, who worked closely with Paxton, and by others who had been exposed to it by different dancers, choreographers, teachers, and contact improvisers.[6]
Approach to movement
Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to his experimental dance form. From his work with Merce Cunningham and José Limón, and later his contribution to the formation of the Judson Dance Theater and Grand Union, Paxton was fascinated with the exploration of the human body. His approach to a movement vocabulary included the pedestrian world around him. Paxton describes the body as a physical machine that can be expressive by nature and the culture around it.[7] With the emergence of his first dance Proxy (1961) activities in this piece such as walking, sitting, and eating would preoccupy Paxton’s approach to movement for some time.[citation needed]
Paxton was known for eliminating any outside influences that would prevent the piece from just being accepted how it was.[8] He composed a range of non-dance movement vocabulary that seemed to give him a relaxed but authoritative state of being in performance.[9] Paxton minimized the differences between the audience and the performer. In turn his movement vocabulary became fragments of ‘everyday’ movement mechanics and this held a world of possibilities for individual potential. Another piece that showed his fascination with the pedestrian world was Satisfyin’ Lover (1967). This dance was for a group of thirty-four to eighty-four people and it utilized walking, standing, or sitting according to the score.[10]
Approach to the Body
Paxton not only utilized the architecture of the human body but he used objects to emphasize how the body could manipulate itself around different objects.[11] He was interested in texture, shape, size, and even how the use of animals influenced or changed his dance vocabulary. This is apparent in such pieces as Jag Ville Gorna Telefonera (1964). In this piece he used three chickens, a full-sized overstuffed chair made of cake and yellow frosting, and clothes with zippers in the seams that could be taken off and put back together in an assortment of ways.[citation needed]
Paxton also challenged the concept of sex and sexuality in dance.[12] Not only was Paxton a revolutionary to the changing world of dance around him but his experimentation with movement and the structure of the human body crafted a different version of what it was to be a dancer. He changed and challenged the aspects of traditional modern dance. Today dancers, performers, choreographers, and teachers from around the world have incorporated some form of his teachings of Contact Improvisation into their studies.[citation needed]
Awards
In 1980, Paxton received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.[13] Paxton received a 1994 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, and in [14] 1995 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship[15] In 2014 Paxton was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Dance at the Venice Biennale.[16] In 1987 and 1995 Paxton won New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" awards,[17] and in 2015 Paxton was awarded the Bessie for lifetime achievement.[18]
In October, 2013, Paxton, considered 'a titan of the 1960s and ’70s avant-garde,' gave a rare performance of Night Stand with long-time collaborator, Lisa Nelson in a New York gallery; the piece was created in 2004 but had never before been performed in the United States.[20]
References
^Paxton, Steve (24 July 2012). "500 Words: Judson Dance Theater: 50th Anniversary". Artforum. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
^Seibert, Brian (14 October 2013). "Always Alone Together, Even When They're Apart: 'Night Stand' has Its Premiere at Dia:Chelsea". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
^Sally Banes,Terpsichore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979),56.
^"About Contact Improvisation (CI)", Contact Quarterly, retrieved 29 July 2014
^Smith, Nancy Stark, "Harvest: One History of Contact Improvisation, a talk given by Nancy Stark Smith at the International Contact Festival Freiburg, Germany, 2005", Contact Quarterly, retrieved 29 July 2014
^Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick, No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003, 409.
^Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick, No Fixed Points,408.
^Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick, No Fixed Points, 408.
^Barone, Joshua (18 September 2015). "Steve Paxton to Receive Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement". New York Times. New York City, United States. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^"Material for the Spine". Material for the Spine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Seibert, Brian (14 October 2013). "Always Alone Together, Even When They're Apart: 'Night Stand' has Its Premiere at Dia:Chelsea". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
External links
Archival footage of Steve Paxton performing Improvisation Project in 1998 at Jacob's Pillow
Yvonne Rainer's Tribute to Steve Paxton
Material for the Spine website
January 06, 2023
steve, paxton, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, available, ass. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Steve Paxton born 1939 in Phoenix Arizona is an experimental dancer and choreographer His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with Jose Limon As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater 1 he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown He was a founding member of the experimental group Grand Union and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation 2 a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of friction momentum gravity and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers Steve PaxtonSteve Paxton 2012BornPhoenix ArizonaNationalityAmericanKnown forchoreography dance improvisation contact improvisationNotable workProxy 1961 Satisfyin Lover 1969 PA RT 1978 Bound 1981 Goldberg Variations 1986 Night Stand 2004 StyleContact Improvisation founder Material for the Spine founder MovementJudson Dance Theater Postmodern danceAwardsNEA Grant 1980 Guggenheim Fellowshing 1995 Venise Biennale Golden Lion 2004 Bessie for Lifetime Achievement 2015 Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to the dance form and so began his great interest in pedestrian movement After working with Cunningham and developing chance choreography defined as any movement being his generation whose approach has influenced choreography globally He attempts to remain reclusive except when performing teaching and choreographing internationally Contents 1 Contact improvisation 2 Approach to movement 3 Approach to the Body 4 Awards 5 Selected works 6 References 7 External linksContact improvisation EditPaxton was influenced by the experimental arts and performance scene in New York in the 1960s and 1970s and he was interested in how the body could create a physical playground Contact improvisation developed out of an exploration of the human body and under the supervision of Paxton Its roots trace back to 1972 Contact improvisation usually done in duets pulls elements from martial arts social dance sports and child s play 3 Upon entering a contact improv structure two bodies must come together to create a point of contact i e back to wrist shoulder to thigh head to foot back to back the options are endless give weight equally to each other and then create a movement dialog that can last for an undetermined amount of time as long as both participants are fully engaged 4 Contact improvisation can be done by any person because the emergence of a movement vocabulary depends on a specific touch and the initiation of weight exchange with another person Paxton in the late 1970s focused on teaching performing and writing about contact improvisation around the country and in Europe 5 Contact improvisation went on to be taught around the world by people like Nancy Stark Smith who worked closely with Paxton and by others who had been exposed to it by different dancers choreographers teachers and contact improvisers 6 Approach to movement EditPaxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to his experimental dance form From his work with Merce Cunningham and Jose Limon and later his contribution to the formation of the Judson Dance Theater and Grand Union Paxton was fascinated with the exploration of the human body His approach to a movement vocabulary included the pedestrian world around him Paxton describes the body as a physical machine that can be expressive by nature and the culture around it 7 With the emergence of his first dance Proxy 1961 activities in this piece such as walking sitting and eating would preoccupy Paxton s approach to movement for some time citation needed Paxton was known for eliminating any outside influences that would prevent the piece from just being accepted how it was 8 He composed a range of non dance movement vocabulary that seemed to give him a relaxed but authoritative state of being in performance 9 Paxton minimized the differences between the audience and the performer In turn his movement vocabulary became fragments of everyday movement mechanics and this held a world of possibilities for individual potential Another piece that showed his fascination with the pedestrian world was Satisfyin Lover 1967 This dance was for a group of thirty four to eighty four people and it utilized walking standing or sitting according to the score 10 Approach to the Body EditPaxton not only utilized the architecture of the human body but he used objects to emphasize how the body could manipulate itself around different objects 11 He was interested in texture shape size and even how the use of animals influenced or changed his dance vocabulary This is apparent in such pieces as Jag Ville Gorna Telefonera 1964 In this piece he used three chickens a full sized overstuffed chair made of cake and yellow frosting and clothes with zippers in the seams that could be taken off and put back together in an assortment of ways citation needed Paxton also challenged the concept of sex and sexuality in dance 12 Not only was Paxton a revolutionary to the changing world of dance around him but his experimentation with movement and the structure of the human body crafted a different version of what it was to be a dancer He changed and challenged the aspects of traditional modern dance Today dancers performers choreographers and teachers from around the world have incorporated some form of his teachings of Contact Improvisation into their studies citation needed Awards EditIn 1980 Paxton received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts 13 Paxton received a 1994 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award and in 14 1995 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship 15 In 2014 Paxton was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Dance at the Venice Biennale 16 In 1987 and 1995 Paxton won New York Dance and Performance Bessie awards 17 and in 2015 Paxton was awarded the Bessie for lifetime achievement 18 Selected works Edit1961 Proxy 1964 Jag Vill Garna Telefonera 1966 Physical Things 1970 Intravenous Lecture 1978 PA RT with Lisa Nelson on a music by Robert Ashley 1986 Goldberg Variations 2004 Night Stand with Lisa Nelson 1986 2008 Material for the Spine 19 In October 2013 Paxton considered a titan of the 1960s and 70s avant garde gave a rare performance of Night Stand with long time collaborator Lisa Nelson in a New York gallery the piece was created in 2004 but had never before been performed in the United States 20 References Edit Paxton Steve 24 July 2012 500 Words Judson Dance Theater 50th Anniversary Artforum Retrieved 29 July 2014 Seibert Brian 14 October 2013 Always Alone Together Even When They re Apart Night Stand has Its Premiere at Dia Chelsea The New York Times Retrieved 2 November 2013 Sally Banes Terpsichore in Sneakers Post Modern Dance Boston Houghton Mifflin 1979 56 About Contact Improvisation CI Contact Quarterly retrieved 29 July 2014 Sally Banes Terpsichore 56 Smith Nancy Stark Harvest One History of Contact Improvisation a talk given by Nancy Stark Smith at the International Contact Festival Freiburg Germany 2005 Contact Quarterly retrieved 29 July 2014 Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick No Fixed Points Dance in the Twentieth Century New Haven CT Yale University Press 2003 409 Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick No Fixed Points 408 Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick No Fixed Points 408 Sally Banes Terpsichore 71 Sally Banes Terpsichore 61 Sally Banes Terpsichore 64 Steve Paxton FCA Grant Recipient Steve Paxton FCA Grant Recipient http www foundationforcontemporaryarts org grant recipients stevepaxton html La Biennale di Venezia Steve Paxton Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Dance www labiennale org Archived from the original on 2014 05 23 Steve Paxton FCA Grant Recipient Barone Joshua 18 September 2015 Steve Paxton to Receive Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement New York Times New York City United States Retrieved 12 October 2015 Material for the Spine Material for the Spine a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Seibert Brian 14 October 2013 Always Alone Together Even When They re Apart Night Stand has Its Premiere at Dia Chelsea The New York Times Retrieved 2 November 2013 External links EditArchival footage of Steve Paxton performing Improvisation Project in 1998 at Jacob s Pillow Yvonne Rainer s Tribute to Steve Paxton Material for the Spine website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Steve Paxton amp oldid 1112619669, wikipedia, wiki, 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