In this seminar students will have the opportunity to create artistic work related to the work of Judson Dance Theater. Judson Dance Theater was a collective of dancers, composers, visual artists and film makers that existed from 1962 to 1964. Performances and weekly workshops of the group took place at the Judson Memorial Church in New York City, from which the group took its name. The Judson Dance artists rejected notions of virtuosity and were interested in everyday movements, chance operations, improvisational structures and cross-disciplinary experimentation.
In the first half of the semester we will be reading about and discussing the history of Judson Dance Theater and its social political as well as artistic context. This will include associated artists und movements such as Fluxus, Happening, Minimal Art…
The second half of the semester will be dedicated to creating work in response to artists from Judson Dance Theater and its associates. These could be performances, reconstructions, reenactments, lecture demonstrations etc. The seminar is related to the exhibition “BÄNG! Radikale Künstlerinnen aus dem Archiv Sohm” (“BÄNG! Radical femal artists from the Archiv Sohm“), which will open in October 2026 at THE GÄLLERY – Raum für Fotografie of the Staatsgalerie. The exhibition will present works by and references to the artists VALIE EXPORT, Charlotte Moormann, Yoko Ono, Yvonne Rainer and Carolee Schneemann (https://www.staatsgalerie.de/de/ausstellungen/vorschau/baeng)
There will be an opportunity for students to show the performances in the frame of the exhibition BÄNG! in October 2026.
The seminar will be held in English. A reading list and presentation dates for the performances will be announced in the first session.
- Kursleitung: Christian Grueny