Subject: A Pendulum Out of Joint. Two performances by the internationally renowned dancer/performance artist Min Tanaka. Tanaka will perform Subject: A Pendulum Out of Joint, a solo site-specific work, marking the third consecutive year in Tanaka’s 'lifetime contract' with P.S.1, a commitment to return to P.S.1 annually as a point of reflection.
Subject: A Pendulum Out of Joint
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is pleased to present two
performances by the internationally renowned
dancer/performance artist Min Tanaka.
Tanaka will perform
Subject: A Pendulum Out of Joint, a solo site-specific work,
marking the third consecutive year in Tanaka’s "lifetime
contract" with P.S.1, a commitment to return to P.S.1 annually
as a point of reflection.
This project is organized by P.S.1
Adjunct Curator Kazue Kobata in collaboration with P.S.1
Director Alanna Heiss.
Born in 1945, Min Tanaka grew up in suburban Tokyo, where he
studied modern dance and performed in several productions.
In
the early 1970s, he began to create original dance works
exploring the meaning of the body and movement through
improvisation. In an attempt to free the body from functionalism
and conventional aesthetics, his dances were often nude, taking
place in urban as well as natural settings. In 1985, Tanaka
founded Body Weather Farm, a cooperative environment for
dancers and artists who raise crops and animals, exploring the
origins of dance through farming life.
As Kazue Kobata wrote,
"Becoming alert, sensitized, and transmigrating through the
history of life as a whole in this very existence is what [Tanaka]
tries to achieve through dance." His "lifetime contract" offers the
opportunity to witness the constantly evolving forms and
emotions in his dance over time.
Between 1982 and 1986, he worked closely with Tatsumi
Hijikata, founder and powerful guiding spirit of Butoh, the
contemporary dance tradition which originated in post-WWII
Japan. Butoh derives its power from the individual dancer in a
mental and physical sense, relying not on a set choreography,
but rather on individual improvisation and on the directing of
energy from his surroundings to the audience.
Tanaka continues
to be active in collaborating with visual artists, musicians, opera
companies, theater and dance troupes in Japan and
internationally.
Min Tanaka will perform at P.S.1 on Friday, December 14
at 4 pm
and on Sunday, December 16 at 3 pm,
with a
lecture to follow on Sunday at 4:30 pm.
Tanaka will also be performing in New York at Performance
Space 122 (P.S.122) December 6-9 at 8 p.m. For more
information on these events, please call (212) 477-5829.
This series is made possible by The Japan Foundation.
For additional
information, please
contact P.S.1 by
phone or e-mail:
718.784.2084 (t)
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
is located at 22-25 Jackson
Ave
at the intersection of
46th Ave in Long Island
City, 11101.