The performance is in partnership with Center for the Art of Performance at the University of California, Los Angeles (CAP UCLA), and is part of the Trisha Brown Dance Company: The Retrospective Project.
Since its debut on the rooftops of New York’s SoHo in 1971, the work has become legendary over the years as a result of photographic documentation. Roof Piece was recently remounted in 2011 on the High Line in New York City. The two Getty Center performances feature Trisha Brown Dance Company members wearing fire-red costumes and performing in locations spanning the entire site. This is the first time Roof Piece will be performed in the context of an architectural structure specifically devoted to art.
“What makes Roof Piece so fascinating is that the performance is completely dependent upon the day and place where it is being staged, and provides an experience for the viewer that can’t be replicated anywhere else” explains Laurel Kishi, public programs manager at the J. Paul Getty Museum. “The Getty is an excellent setting for the West Coast premiere of the piece, as its position on a hill high above the Los Angeles cityscape is thrilling for viewers and dancers alike.”
Trisha Brown, one of the most widely acclaimed choreographers to emerge in the postmodern era, first came to public notice in the 1960s with the Judson Dance Theater. Along with like-minded artists—such as Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, and Simone Forti—Brown pushed the limits of what was considered appropriate movement for choreography, thereby changing modern dance forever. Many of the Company’s early dances for alternative spaces harnessed rooftops and walls in order to use and defy gravity in surprising choreographies. Brown has received countless accolades for her choreography including the National Medal of Arts, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and the title of Commandeur dans L’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government. She was also the first woman choreographer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
CAP UCLA’s Trisha Brown Dance Company: The Retrospective Project is a weeklong celebration of this renowned choreographer and her company, presenting selections that highlight the tapestry of Trisha Brown’s exceptional body of work. Complete details and descriptions of all the Retrospective Project performances can be found online.
Trisha Brown Dance Company: Roof Piece
Saturday, April 6, 2013, 1pm and 3pm
Getty Center, site-wide
Free; no reservations required