Anna Halprin Retrospective at Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon

The Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon presents a retrospective exhibition on American choreographer Anna Halprin, curated by Jacqueline Caux, from March 8 to May 14, 2006. Titled 'À l'origine de la performance,' the show positions Halprin as a pivotal figure linking Bauhaus influences (Walter Gropius, László Moholy-Nagy) to post-modern dance and performance art. Halprin, based in Kentfield, California since 1945, developed outdoor dance practices on a stage built by her landscape architect husband. She co-directed the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop with composers La Monte Young and Terry Riley, and collaborated with photographer Eeo Stubbelfield. Her work emphasized duration and task-oriented movements, as seen in 'The Four Legged Stool' (1962) and 'Blank March Protest' (1970). The exhibition includes films, photos, and sound pieces, and features a film by French choreographer Alain Buffard, 'My Lunch avec Anna,' who participated in the 2004 reconstruction of Halprin's 'Parades and Changes' (1965) at Centre Pompidou. The show also contextualizes Halprin's influence on European contemporary dance artists like La Ribot, Vera Mantero, and Myriam Gourfink.