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An ARTPIX release.
In the spring of 1961 Simone Forti presented a program titled Five Dance Constructions and Some Other Things in a concert series organized by her friend, composer La Monte Young, at the New York loft studio of Yoko Ono. These radically new dances created circumstances for the performers' direct, non-stylistic actions. Each of the pieces was performed in a different place in the loft, with the audience moving from location to location to view them. Some of the pieces required elementary structures - a hanging rope, rectangular wooden boxes - which were placed throughout the loft like a sculptural installation.
In 2004 the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles invited Forti to re-create these dance constructions at the Geffen Contemporary space, in conjunction with the exhibition A Minimalist Future Art as Object 1958-1986. This DVD documents that evening and includes Huddle, Slant Board, Platforms, See Saw, Roller Boxes and Accompaniment for La Monte's 2 sounds and La Monte's 2 sounds. The soundtrack of La Monte Young's 2 Sounds has been re-mastered and the composer's notes accompany the video. In addition, there is a question and answer session with Forti at the conclusion of the performances.
| Catalog Number: MC-986 |
Type: Feature |
Genre: Dance |
| Copyright: 2009 |
Length: 88 minutes |
Format:
DVD Region: 0 |
| TV System: NTSC |
ISBN: |
UPC/EAN: 880198098696 |
| Label: Artpix |
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 This program is closed captioned
This is a Microcinema Exclusive title.
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Films In Compilation
Huddle directed by
Simone
Forti
USA,
Dance,
2009,
00:00:00
Huddle is to be performed by no less than five and no more than eight people. They begin by standing very close together facing in towards the center. They form the huddle by bending forwards, arms around each other’s shoulders and waist, positioning themselves this way and that to mesh as a strong structure rather than leaving the center empty. One person detaches and begins to climb up the outside of the huddle perhaps placing a foot on someone’s thigh, a hand in the crook of someone’s neck and another hand on someone’s arm. He pulls himself up, calmly moves across the top of the huddle and down the other side. He remains closely identified with the mass, resuming a place in the huddle. Immediately someone else is climbing. It is not necessary to know who is to climb next. Sometimes two are climbing at once. That’s OK. And sometimes sounds of laughter come from the huddle. The duration should be adequate for the viewers to observe it, walk around it, get a feel of it in its behavior. Ten minutes is good.
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Slant Board directed by
Simone
Forti
USA,
Dance,
2009,
00:00:00
Slant Board requires a wooden ramp eight feet square leaned against a wall so that it forms a surface inclined at a 45-degree angle to the floor. Along the top of the inclined plane, five or six holes are drilled and a rope fastened into each. The ropes are knotted at approximately one-foot intervals, and when not in use, reach to the bottom of the board or just short or somewhat past it. The piece begins when three or possibly four people, wearing tennis shoes for traction, get on the ramp. They have been instructed to keep moving from top to bottom and from side to side of the board, which can be done only by using the ropes. The movement should not be hurried, but calm, and as continuous as possible. The activity of moving around on such a steep surface can be strenuous even when done casually. If a performer needs to rest, she may do so by using the ropes in any way she can to assume a restful position. But the performers must stay on the board for the duration of the piece, long enough for the audience to walk around and observe it. Ten minutes is good.
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Platforms directed by
Simone
Forti
USA,
Dance,
2009,
00:00:00
The piece Platforms requires two wooden platforms and two performers. It has overtones of romantic love and so far has always been performed by a man and a woman. The platforms should each be long enough and high enough to hide a person but they should not be exactly of the same proportions and should be placed at some distance apart. The man helps the woman get under her platform, walks over to his and gets under it. Under the platforms, the two gently whistle back and forth and listen to each other. Each inhalation should be silent and as long as in normal breathing. If the floor is of wood, the boxes act as resonating chambers making the sound clear and penetrating. The cement floor at MOCA-Geffen required adding a small block of wood to just lift the end of each platform enough to let the sound out. The piece goes on for about ten minutes. The man should wear a watch, so he knows when the designated time is up. He emerges from under his platform, and helps the woman from under hers.
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See-Saw directed by
Simone
Forti
USA,
Dance,
2009,
00:00:00
See-Saw requires a plank about eight feet long fixed so it can balance securely on a saw horse. Attached to the bottom of one side of the see- saw is a noise-making toy that goes “moo” every time it is tipped. A man and a woman climb onto opposite ends of the see- saw. Holding the see-saw delicately level or getting it to tilt in either direction requires coordination between their movements. This piece has a theatrical tone, highlighting the relationship between the performers, with moments of cooperation, resistance or down right ignoring each other, leaving the board to do what it will and scrambling to adjust. At one point the man settles in to read a newspaper while she seems to take a nap. About fifteen minutes into the piece, I approach the see-saw, sing a cowboy song, make the "moo" toy sound one last time, signaling that it’s time for the couple to descend.
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Rollers directed by
Simone
Forti
USA,
Dance,
2009,
00:00:00
The piece Rollers requires three wooden boxes approximately one foot and a half wide, two and a half feet long and one foot deep. These are open at the top and set on swivel wheels. Each box has holes drilled toward the top of each of two opposite sides and a rope approximately six feet long fastened to each hole. A performer sits in each box while other performers pull on the ropes giving them a wild ride. The riders sing single tones, full out, as the pullers send them careening through the space. Originally, audience members had been invited to give the singers in the boxes their ride.
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2 sounds directed by
Simone
Forti
USA,
Dance,
2009,
00:00:00
This piece is an accompaniment for 2 sounds by La Monte Young, recorded together with Terry Riley in 1960 at the studio of Anna Halprin. 2 sounds consists of two continuous, very loud and complex sounds, one of very low and one of very high frequency, playing simultaneously. The accompaniment requires one rope and one person to ride in the rope. The rope forms a long loop which is fastened to the ceiling and hangs to within a foot of the floor. Ideally, the rope should be discretely positioned in the room, indicating that it is an accompaniment to the principal event, La Monte’s music. The piece begins when a person places a foot into the loop of the rope and hoists herself up to stand there, like standing on a low swing. A second person starts the recorded sound, slowly turns the person in the rope round and round and round until the rope is completely wound up, and walks away. The sound fills the space. The rope unwinds, then rewinds on its own momentum, unwinds and rewinds until it becomes still. The unwinding finishes many minutes before the sound is over. The person remains hanging, standing in the loop of the rope and listening to the sound.
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2010-02-02 Educational Media Reviews Online
By Laura Jenemann
Simone Forti: An Evening of Dance Constructions, presents a 2004 performance recorded at The Geffen Contemporary at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. This performance of six pieces is a reconstruction of a 1961 performance at Yoko Ono’s New York loft.
In Dance Constructions, performers experiment with movement, interacting with objects and sounds, and improvising with each other. In the piece See-saw, a man and woman ride a wooden see-saw rigged with a device that makes an occasional mooing sound. The see-saw becomes a device for a subtle experimentation in movement, as when the man raises his arms, when the performers turn to sit side-saddle, and at one point, the man reads a newspaper. Thus it is not dance in its most stylized forms, but the question of dance at its barest, in the form of motion, that seem to concern Forti in the works shown on this DVD. |
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