Background Information

Steve Paxton: Background Information

Steve Paxton, 1984, Peggy Jarrell Kaplan

http://www.movementresearch.org/criticalcorrespondence/blog/?p=2778

            Steve Paxton, born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1939, is well-known for his impact in creating contact improvisation. As a child, he trained in gymnastics and began his dance training with Jose Limon in 1960. His biggest influence was Merce Cunningham.

            Steve Paxton was a part of Cunningham's company when he established the choreographic process known as "chance operations." This process began by identifying a range of topics and movements to choose from. Through "chance" someone would pick a movement and Cunningham would string together a series of these movements. Cunningham's work was often times not only physically challenging but also mentally difficult. Because his choreography was decided by chance, the dancers often times had to move quickly from one movement to the next with no transition. This process challenged dancer's minds and bodies by discovering how they could move through this choreography.

Steve Paxton and Merce Cunningham in “Antic Meet,” 1964. (Photo by Jack Mitchell)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/merce-cunningham-dancer-steve-paxton-recalls-early-days/2011/12/01/gIQAkoQ6GO_blog.html

          Paxton was deeply invested in this process and with fellow members of Cunningham's company gathered to explore and expand upon ways of choreographing. This collective group became known as  The Judson Dance Theatre, named after the church they gathered in. This group expanded upon Cunningham's initial challenge and rejection of his modern dance predecessors. Their work was characterized by repetition, disconnect with or no music at all, pedestrian movement, verbal noises, props, and lack of emotion.

        After Judson, Paxton focused his work on contact improvisation in which two or more people share each other's weight in a continuous effort acting and reacting to movement. Collaborator, Nancy Stark Smith, has continued on Paxton's legacy by providing spaces and events where dancers can experience contact improvisation. A video titled "Fall After Newton"documents Paxton and Stark Smith's collaboration over 11 years with videos from these contact improvisation performances and jams.