Early Works

Performances by Trisha Brown Dance Company

Barnes Foundation, Annenberg Court
2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130.
Directions and parking information.
Wheelchair accessible

October 18, 2015 || 11am & 2pm
Free || RSVP REQUIRED

“I decided that I should make the structure as visible as the dancing.” Trisha Brown

“[Trisha Brown is a] master of simplicity with a dose of humor. The idea of a line, and the endless possibilities of how it could be assembled and dissolved, was a theme in [her early] work.” Wendy Perron, The New York Times

Trisha Brown’s pioneering Early Works, created between 1968 and 1975, blur the boundaries between performance and visual art. Brown challenged gravity, time, and our usual sense of orientation: she made use of “equipment,” such as ropes and harnesses, and explored motion and counterbalance, having her dancers lean far off center while remaining standing, moving with the help of other bodies. These structures resulted in aesthetically delightful and humorously sly performances. The seminal Early Works are some of Brown’s most radical departures from conventional performance: stripped-down, striking visual events for outdoor and gallery spaces.

The many short works to be performed include Leaning Duets, Sticks, Spanish Dance, Group Primary Accumulation, and Figure 8. From the playful to the complex and mysterious, these dances flow into different sections of the space; audiences traverse the space from one location to the next along with the dancers.

Photo: John Mallison