Simone Forti, Italian-American choreographer and artist, dies at 91

Simone Forti, a pioneering Italian-American choreographer and artist central to postmodern dance, died at 91. Her gallery, Raffaella Cortese, announced her death. Born in Florence on March 25, 1935, to a Jewish family, she emigrated to the US in 1938 after racial laws. She studied at Reed College and with Anna Halprin in San Francisco, then moved to New York in 1959 with Robert Morris. There she contributed to Fluxus, premiering her Dance Constructions (1960-61) at the Chambers Street Loft Series hosted by Yoko Ono. In Rome (1968-69) she worked at L’Attico, and zoo visits inspired her Animal Studies. She taught at California Institute of the Arts from the 1970s, developing Logomotion and News Animations. In 1998 she returned to Los Angeles, performing at The Box L.A. and premiering Tea for Three (2016) with Yvonne Rainer and Steve Paxton. Her work influenced Judson Dance Theater and Minimal Art, though she called herself a “movement artist.” She received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Dance at the Venice Biennale in 2023. Major exhibitions include MoMA (2018) and MOCA Los Angeles (2023).