The space to make the body dance: Trisha Brown's dance and drawing

Abstract

Trisha Brown, who is a founding member of Judson Dance Theater, has been interested in the relation between the moving body and the surrounding space—the space not only as room in which the body moves but also as device which instructs and inspires the body how to move. As the minimalist object is the function of the space, her dance is highly influenced by the condition of what is surrounding the body. The aim of this paper is to focus on this relation examining her different but connecting two fields of practice that is to say dance and drawing.
Many of Brown's drawings are drawn with one stroke, where the line on paper is the trace of continuous movement of body. The aesthetical criteria look less important. Nevertheless the eye plays leading role there, because some rules concerning the points to pass are given. The hand led by eyes must choose one point to pass among the apexes of imaginary grid each time. This game-like drawing keeps her conscious of present.
The same approach can be seen in her dance piece. In Locus (1975), Brown invented “Imaginary cube.” The dancer is at the center of Imaginary cube and touches each apexes according to the given order. By doing so, she unexpectedly leave dance between two apexes. The rule is not in dancer but in space, and the dancer keeps referring to the cube around her. Dancer's body is now free of role of expressing any idea. On the other hand, Imaginary cube works as tool to invent choreography.
Since 1979, Brown has given performances at theater with proscenium arch. She questions the theatrical space and tries to turn its stressing atmosphere into advantage. For example she invents the floor pattern according to which one dancer's movement interferes with another dancer's movement. The space with some rules can be used as device to make dance.