Democracy’s Body: Judson Dance Theatre and Its Legacy

DEMOCRACY'S BODY Judson Dance Theatre and Its Legacy Sally Banes Judson Dance Theatre began In the summer of 1962, when a group of young choreographers decided to present publicly a concert of dances composed for Robert Dunn's choreography class. Dunn, an accompanist at the Merce Cunningham studio and a self-styled "errant philosopher," had taken John Cage's course in experimental music theory at the New School and, from 1960 to 1962, on John Cage's Invitation, taught a class In choreography along the same lines at the Cunningham studio in the Living Theatre building at Fourteenth Street and Sixth Avenue In New York City.' These choreographers were not all dancers by training, although a few of them were members of Merce Cunningham's company and several more took classes regularly at the studio. But among them were also visual artists and musicians. The Interdisciplinary flavor of Dunn's class, which brought together Ideas and structures from the various arts as well as philosophy and religious thought, would become a striking feature of Judson Dance Theatre throughout Its existence. In looking for a place to show their self-consciously avant-garde work in a professional setting (they had already presented some dances Informally at the studio), the group found a welcome at Judson Memorial Church, a liberal Protestant congregation housed on the south end of Washington 98 Square in Greenwich Village. There the ministry and parishioners had long been active In reform politics, civil rights, and arts activities. Already the site of several Happenings, the Judson Poets' Theatre, film screenings, and the Judson Gallery, where exhibitions of Pop Art and political art were held, the Judson Church soon also became the center for avant-garde dance In the city. A Concert of Dance #1 was open to the public free of charge. It lasted for several hours, with twenty-three dances on the program, made by fourteen choreographers. This concert, given on July 6,1962, proved to be the beginning of an historic process that changed the shape of dance history. It was the seedbed for post-modern dance, the first avant-garde movement In dance theatre since the modern dance of the thirties and fourtles. The choreographers of the Judson Dance Theatre radically questioned dance aesthetics, both In their dances and in their discussions In weekly workshops. They rejected the codification of both ballet and modern dance. They refused to take for granted the traditional dance concert format and even the proscenium stage, and they explored the ontological status of dance performance. They not only carried out practical and abstract experiments that called for a new theory of dance, they also Initiated political changes In the dance world. They discovered a method of working collaboratively with musicians and designers and with each other; the sixteen Concerts of Dance given by Judson Dance Theatre from 1962 to 1964 were all collectively produced. For young artists who did not want to be judged by older authorities In the field, and who wanted easy access to a large, familiar space, the chance to work in the church was an Important alternative to renting an expensive hall for a solo concert or trying out for a jurled show. Attracting a grassroots audience of Greenwich Village artists and intellectuals, the Judson Dance Theatre affected the entire community and flourished as a popular center of radical experimentation. When In the autumn of 1962 Robert Dunn discontinued his choreography class, his students decided to meet Independently on a weekly basis, first at Yvonne Rainer's studio, and then, on the Invitation of Judson minister Al Carmines, who directed the Judson Poets Theatre, in the basement gymnasium of the church. Over the course of the next two years, nearly two hundred dances were given by Judson Dance Theatre (as the group began to call itself by April 1963), either at the church or under the group's auspices in other locations. In many ways the blossoming of the Judson Dance Theatre was a fortuitous process. Robert Dunn offered his class; a number of young artists who were ready and willing to experiment at a professional level came to the class, where they formed a rich...