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The Grand Union
The Grand Union
ACCIDENTAL ANARCHISTS OF DOWNTOWN DANCE, 1970–1976
WENDY PERRON
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
Middletown, Connecticut
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown CT 06459
© 2020 Wendy Perron
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeset in Miller and Magma
by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
available upon request
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8195-7932-4
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8195-7966-9
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-8195-7933-1
5 4 3 2 1
All photos in this volume appear with the kind permission of the photographer or the photographer’s representative.
Frontispiece: GU at NYC Dance Marathon, 14th Street Y (Emanuel Midtown YM-YWHA), 1971. From left: Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Barbara Dilley, David Gordon. In background: Becky Arnold. Photo: James Klosty.
“Front cover illustration: Grand Union at NYC Dance Marathon, 14th Street Y (Emanuel Midtown YM-YWHA), 1971. From left: Barbara Dilley, David Gordon, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown. Visible in audience center, lying on the floor, Carolyn Brown; sitting behind her, James Klosty. Photo: Susan Horwitz, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.”
This book is dedicated to Sally Banes because we lovedthe same things, and the Grand Union was one of them.
CONTENTS
1 Anna Halprin, John Cage, and Judson Dance Theater / 11
INTERLUDE: Simone Forti’s Life in Communes / 25
INTERLUDE: Philip Glass on John Cage / 46
3 How Continuous Project—Altered Daily Broke Open and Made Space for a Grand Union / 48
INTERLUDE: The People’s Flag Show / 63
INTERLUDE: Richard Nonas’s Memory / 76
PART II: The Gifts They Brought
12 Lincoln Scott and Becky Arnold / 118
INTERLUDE: People Improvisation / 125
PART III: Consolidating the Dare
13 First Walker Art Center Residency, May 1971 / 131
INTERLUDE: Trisha Brown on the Grand Union / 137
14 Oberlin College Residency, January 1972 / 139
INTERLUDE: Nancy Stark Smith on the Small Dance / 150
15 The Dance Gallery Festival, Spring 1973 / 152
INTERLUDE: Douglas Dunn on the “Selfish/Selfless Gamut” / 159
16 First LoGiudice Video, May 1972 / 165
INTERLUDE: Dianne McIntyre and Sounds in Motion / 173
17 Third LoGiudice Video, May 1972 / 179
INTERLUDE: Paxton’s Clarifying Thoughts / 186
