Dancing with Art: Women Artists and Dance in the Modernist Era

The 20^th century saw a radical shift in the relationship between dance, art, and design, a shift which developed in tandem with the rise of modernism in art and design, and both informed and was informed by the modernist movement. A great deal of attention has been paid to male artists collaborating with male choreographers in the modernist era, such as the Ballets Russes in Paris (1909-1929) and its collaborations with Picasso and Matisse for innovative costume and set designs, Balanchine and Chagall for Firebird (1970), or Paul Taylor and Alex Katz for Diggity (1978). But very little study and analysis has been devoted to the equally ground-breaking designs of modernist women artists in set and costume design for theatrical/dance productions. The American sculptor, Louise Nevelson, designed the critically-acclaimed sets and costumes for the St. Louis Opera’s 1984 production of Gluck’s Orfeo e Eurydice. It was her first experience designing for the stage, but it had been an interest of hers since the 1920s, when she studied at the American Laboratory Theatre in NYC, that study itself evidence of the increasing crossover of modernist art into the performing arts. Ruth Asawa, the Japanese-American wire sculptor, collaborated with School of the Arts students and other artists in San Francisco for Breathing (1989), designing lengths of folded paper (origami) which became props and scenery for this inventive production. This session seeks papers analyzing a wide variety of modernist woman artist/dance/performance collaborations, exploring different ethnic, cultural, and national traditions within the modernist movement.