Material For the Spine

Material for the Spine: Video

About the work:

 This work is an exploration of the movement possibilities within the muscles surrounding the spine, as well as, the connections between the head, pelvis, and vertebrae. Paxton developed this work in 1986, after he had already developed Contact Improvisation. Created as an exploration or an exercise, this is a solo practice that is taught in workshops and intensives to help strengthen the foundation of person's movement.-Rachel

The Bigger Picture

Steve was born in 1939 and by the time he was ten years old, America was making big developments in the area of automobiles and entertainment. Here's a picture of a television from the 50's. Cars were getting bigger and more available, with the cost of a gallon of gas was 17 cents (quite different than the $4.20 we are dealing with now). The first Barbie sold my Mattel was created in 1959, when Steve would have been 20 years old.

The original Barbie from 1959.

A photo of Cunningham

Steve saw the Cunningham company perform, and like many other young artists, was inspired to move to New York to begin a new chapter of his life and try to get involved with the company. He began taking classes with Cunningham and was invited to join the small company in 1961. He said he remembers traveling around the U.S. in a VW (Volks Wagon) bus with Cunning ham or John Cage driving.
 Steve and Merce Cunningham

Volkswagon Bus of 1960's.

 The company was "small, poor and adamant," he said in an interview. Steve was interested in other areas of art such as music and painting while growing up.  In the fall of 1950 Hans Namuth (a film maker) recorded a painter, Jackson Polluck creating a work on a sheet of glass. This project was filmed from below with the movement of the paint and the painter seeming to be a form of choreography, it was a work of art, made from another work of art. This is an example of how painters were beginning to incorporate more movement into their processes of making art and experimenting with new techniques along the way.

There were great technological advances during Steve Paxton's early years, and film equipment was one of those materials to reach new heights. During 1983, with the collaborations of Lisa Nelson, Nancy Stark Smith, and videographer Steve Christansen, Steve made Fall After Newton, a film that recorded eleven consecutive years of contact improvisation which challenged the principle of verticallity.

As America has become a melting pot of many cultures, studies of Akido and Tai Chi Chuan have been brought from overseas. Steve dove into these techniques and incorporated them into his work, especially Material for the Spine, which was started in 1986 at a NYC workshop for Movement Research. He injured his spine and became interested in the operations of the skeleton. -Carrie

With the  development of the TV, the internet, and technology, and with the accessibility to of all this, people don't move like they once did, and not nearly as frequently.  Paxton has become frustrated with this lack of movement that now occurs in this society. He has stopped formal performances and has began to teach many workshops and classes. Paxton focuses primarily on working with the disabled but he believes that movement is vital to the development to all human beings.-Rachel

"Satisyfing lover"

"Satisfying Lover" -Video

About this work:
 This work was performed as a part of White Oak Dance Project's PASTforward tour in 2000-2001. The goal of this work was to push the boundaries of movement.  Using pedestrian movement, especially walking, Paxton allowed dance to become accessible to a variety of people coming from many walks of life. As you watch this dance, it becomes clear that the dancers are not the stereotypical "dancer" in peak physical condition. This cast could have easily been a  randomly selected group of people off the streets of some large city; people of a range of ages and sizes. Paxton believes that it's important that movement is available to everyone. -Rachel

Training and Influences

Paxton's career of movement began with high school gymnastics and college “free exercises” or floor exercises. He also took lessons in Aikido and Tai Chi Chuan. Steve began to understand that “the mind can move through the body” (which is what he later called “mind travel”) at the young age of twelve. He was presented with three bowls in front of him: ice water on his left, room temperature at his center and boiling hot on his right. He was told to put the left hand into the left bowl and his right hand into the right bowl.  Then, he put each hand into the center bowl was very surprised to feel a sensation of heat in the chilled hand and coolness in the heated one. His interests in the sensations of the body and how they relate to science, specifically physics, weave their way through his dance till this day.

Paxton spent three years dancing with Merce Cunningham and Robert Dunn. During his work with Cunningham he became a part of the development the form of creating dance called "Chance Operations."  This allowed the dance to be performed along  side the music and allowed Cunningham to create dances that would never be possible in a traditional collaboration. Then Paxton danced with Jose Limon for one year. He was a founding member of the Judson Dance Theatre, the Grand Union, and Touchdown Dance for the Visually Impaired. He had a certain hunger to explore movement and fundamentals. He wanted to understand what movement is and what it can be. He created an entire "non-dance" dance vocabulary, and often worked with very non-traditional groups of dancers. In a more recent interview he said, “We need to keep the search for movement alive in a culture where it’s not a priority. People who study dance want to find the complete physicality of dance that gets messed up by sitting for twelve years in school, or longer.”  

 

The majority of Paxton’s work was “semi-planned” improvisation and contact improvisation. Sometimes, the dancers knew concepts, themes or cues to follow but the rest was up to them. This is displayed in his work titled “Satisfying Lover,” where dancers mostly just walk across the stage in different groups and patters at varying tempos. Baryshnikov marveled at this work and after viewing it softly exclaimed, "It's so exciting! You see, it's different every time."

"Satisfying Lover" by Steve Paxton

Paxton collaborated on contact work with artists such as Nancy Stark Smith in a work  called "Fall After Newton." This covered 11 years of contact  improvisation between the two dancers, following them from 1972-1983. The work explored the many facets of contact improvisation and the dynamic between two people. It utilized slow movement and slow contact improvisation so that a viewer could see dynamics and details that would otherwise be glanced over. He also collaborated with Chris Aiken, Andrew de Lotbiniere Harwood and Asaf Bachrach, as well as, many others. -Carrie & Rachel

About Us

February 20, 2012

Welcome! Here is a bit of information on the creators of this blog...

Rachel - I am currently a senior at UWM in the dance program. I'm working toward a BA in dance and a Minor in somatics. After graduation, I hope to be work toward a clinical doctorate in physical therapy. I am extremely interested in the cross over of dance, somatics, and physical healing. When it comes to dance, I have a need to create. For this reason I love improvisation, and even simply choreographing. Much of my creative inspiration stems from anatomy and the systems of the body. Movement is truly unique way to explore these systems. I am also obsessed with the processes and form involved in a dance. When I create the choreography is rarely driven by the content, rather the form is driven by the content.  I think creation is the greatest gift a person has to give the world, especially art. I have a great love and appreciation for all art forms. I believe that no art from is independent from any other art from. Rather, music, dance, and visual art, are all constantly feeding off of one another and inspiring new work.

Carrie - I am a junior pursing a degree in dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I began taking dance lessons at the age of five and well…never stopped! I've trained in many dance techniques over the years; ballet, tap, jazz, modern, pointe, hip hop, and african to name a few. I am also interested in somatics and have found much interest in the Alexander Technique this year. I have goals to become a professional dancer and choreographer once I graduate from college. I would love to collaborate with some companies in the Milwaukee area and throughout the Midwest in the coming years. I have interest in getting my graduate degree in Dance at some point, too. I love all art forms and created the visual artwork for the background of this blog, which is an edited version of a picture of him with other dancers from 1961. My three year old son, Kaden, has become an irreplaceable part of my life and a great influence in my work. My grandmother has been a strong influence in my life because of her radiant personality and love of dancing. Although she never had any formal dance lessons, my grandma was the first one out on the dance floor doing the jitterbug back in her day at the Eagles Club in Milwaukee. She is really the one who drew me to dance when I was a child; I would participate in her dance exercise group three times a week while my mother was at work. She is currently in her 80’s and still keeping up with dancing quite well, she inspires me to stay dedicated to what I love. I value athleticism in dancing, unique creativity and thoughtfulness. I enjoy dances that have theatrical elements, as I am interested in acting and theater. Works that defy stereotypes and challenge ways of thinking. Dance is my way of life and the way I best communicate with the world.

All About Steve

 February 20, 2012

Born in Tucson Arizona in 1939, Steve Paxton's early training was mainly focused in gymnastics. In 1960 he worked with the Limon company for a year and then with Merce Cunningham from 1961-1964. During these three years he helped Cunningham develop chance choreography. In 1962 Paxton became one of the founding members of Judson Dance Theater. Through the 1970's he worked with Freelance Dance and a large part of his work in the 80's consisted of public improvisation solos. He also performed in work choreographed by Yvonne Rainer. He also collaborated with postmodern choreographer, Trisha Brown.

Paxton questioned the parameters of dance and wanted to push it's boundaries.  He incorporated pedestrian movements like walking and running into his dances; elements that previously had not been considered dance. He believed anyone, even those not classically trained, could dance. More recently, he experimented with the blind and disabled to create work.

Contact Improvisation is, by far, Paxton's biggest contribution to the dance world. He is very interested in physical laws like friction, momentum, gravity and inertia. In his work, he explores how these laws effect the dynamic between two dancers. These concepts were the seeds that he grew into contact improvisation. In this technique a partner's body becomes a playground on which a dancer can explore these physical laws. It is a technique that requires a great amount of trust, commitment and strength from everyone involved.

Created by Rachel and Carrie