Movement Research Performance Journal #51

A memorial portfolio for American choreographer and dancer Trisha Brown's life and work that also includes a separate collection of dense texts (edited by choreographer Mårten Spångberg) that address the topic of “movement research” in the context of current philosophical, social and political concerns. Essays address ideas such as: what is the body, what does it do, how do we study it—and most importantly, how do we study with it?

The memorial portfolio, edited by choreographer—and former Trisha Brown Dance Company member—Iréne Hultman, explores who Brown was as a person, artist, and choreographic icon. An introductory essay raises questions about pedagogy and the preservation of repertory since Brown did not work from a codified dance vernacular or leave instructions before her passing; this work is followed by a series of remembrances, articles, and interviews. These examine Brown's working process (her “language-language” and “dance-language”); the visibility/invisibility of the black dancing body in Brown's work (how blackness exists in postmodern structures of whiteness); the evolution of “dance grammar” in the 1970s; and somatic dimensions of Brown's work.

Contributors include Cori Olinghouse, Susan Rosenberg, Vicky Shick, Leslie Cuyjet, Davalois Fearon, Jasmine Hearn, Brenda Dixon-Gottschild, Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, Yvonne Rainer, Jean-Marc Adolphe, Denis Luccioni, Ursula Eagly, and Peggy Phelan.

Started in 1990, the Performance Journal is a printed forum created by and for artists, fostering the evolution of written and graphic languages that contemplate current issues of dance and performance.

Published in New York City, MRPJ generally has a regional and American focus, however, Issue #51 has contributors almost entirely based in Western Europe.

Designed by Yotam Hadar and Sean Yendrys

Published by Movement Research Inc., 2018

Newspaper, 56 pages with separate 40 page folded insert, b&w, 11.75 × 8.35 inches (folded)