A Pluralistic View of the Judson Dance Theater Legacy: Yvonne Rainer & Aileen Passloff with Wendy Perron

The divergences between the work of Yvonne Rainer and Aileen Passloff highlight the vastness of the imprint of Judson Dance Theater (1962–64; JDT) while dismantling the myth of a singular Judson aesthetic. Rainer, along with dance artists Steve Paxton, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, David Gordon, and others, broke with the conventions of modern dance by exploring task dances and the Dadaist idea of radical juxtaposition. Passloff, along with Jimmy Waring, Fred Herko, Arlene Rothlein, and others, reveled in the full-out dancing and whimsy of modern dance. In this talk, moderated by Wendy Perron, Rainer and Passloff consider the legacy of Judson Dance Theater from the perspectives of their divergent practices.