Steve Paxton

Steve Paxton (born 1939, Tucson, Arizona) is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. He was a founding member of the experimental, Grand Union, and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation, a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers.

Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to the dance form, and so began his great interest in pedestrian movement. After working with Cunningham and developing chance choreography, defined as any movement being dance, Paxton's interest in the boundaries of movement was ignited. Paxton is one of the most influential dancers of his generation whose approach has influenced choreography globally. In 1994, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. He attempts to remain reclusive, except when performing, teaching and choreographing internationally.

Contact Improvisation

Paxton was influenced by the experimental arts and performance scene in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, and he was interested in how the body could create a physical playground. Contact Improvisation developed out of an exploration of the human body and under the supervision of Paxton. Its roots trace back to 1972. Contact Improvisation, usually done in duets, pulls elements from martial arts, social dance, sports, and child’s play.^[1] Upon entering a Contact Improv structure, two bodies must come together to create a point of contact (i.e., back to wrist, shoulder to thigh, head to foot, back to back, the options are endless), give weight equally to each other, and then create a movement dialog that can last for an undetermined amount of time, as long as both participants are fully engaged.

Contact Improvisation can be done by any person because the emergence of a movement vocabulary depends on a specific touch and the initiation of weight exchange with another person. Paxton in the late 1970s focused on teaching, performing, and writing about Contact Improvisation around the country and in Europe.^[2] Now Contact Improvisation is taught around the world by people like Nancy Stark Smith, who worked closely with Paxton, and by others who have been exposed to it by different dancers, choreographers, teachers, and contact improvisers.

Last Updated-2011
Accessed-Tuesday 7th February 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Paxton

Author-Jordi Bover

Accessed-Tuesday 7th February 2012

http://www.shift.jp.org/en/archives/2009/05/steve_paxton.html