Artpress Volume on American Dance Revolutionaries

Artpress has released a volume titled "Les grands entretiens : La Danse Américaine" focusing on the aesthetic revolution in American dance during the 1970s. Choreographers like Andy DeGroat, Merce Cunningham, Karole Armitage, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, and Meredith Monk deconstructed classical dance codes, integrating video, film, and visual arts. They explored new bodily expressions, individuality, and the role of sets and cameras in choreography. Many were introduced to French audiences through the Festival d'Automne, Festival d'Avignon, and the Centre national de la chorégraphie in Angers. Andy DeGroat moved to France in the early 1980s after a performance at Centre Pompidou. Karole Armitage, who joined Merce Cunningham's company in 1975, revitalized classical dance with energetic performances in Soho lofts. Trisha Brown, a founding member of Judson Dance Theater, developed the "Brownian movement" characterized by fluid spatial motion, collaborating with painter Robert Rauschenberg; the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon honored her in 2010. Lucinda Childs, also from Judson Dance Theater, founded her company in 1973, moved to France in 1976, and collaborated with Robert Wilson and Sol LeWitt; the Festival d'Automne held a retrospective in 2016. The volume includes an excerpt from Merce Cunningham's journal during the filming of "Channels Inserts," a film-ballet with Charles Atlas.