Catherine Wood Analyzes Introversion and Extroversion in Dance Through Michael Clark's Choreography

Catherine Wood's essay published on May 6, 2009 in Afterall Issue 9 examines psychological categories of introversion and extroversion as frameworks for understanding performed dance. The introverted style, associated with avant-garde dancers following Merce Cunningham, emphasizes internal exploration and meditative qualities, with critics like George Jackson questioning its public nature in a 1964 Dance Magazine article. This approach contrasts with ballet's extroverted tradition, which directs movement toward audience visibility through techniques like turnout and frontal presentation. Wood identifies Michael Clark as bridging these oppositional states, particularly in his 2003 work Would Should Can Did set to Erik Satie's Four Ogives. Clark's choreography combines internal bodily investigation with virtuosic display, creating tension between subjective exploration and controlled performance. His solo transitions into ensemble sections where dancers form modernist sculptural shapes and synchronized formations, culminating in a glitterball installation by Cerith Wyn Evans that connects audience and performance space. The essay references historical figures including Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, George Balanchine, and William Forsythe while analyzing how Clark's work negotiates between autonomous performance elements and hierarchical audience engagement.