Stephen Petronio Continues Tributes to Postmodern Dance-Makers

By September 14, 2016 News

Originally posted August 10, 2016 by Joshua Baron of The New York Times.

Stephen Petronio Continues Tributes to Postmodern Dance-Makers

The choreographer Stephen Petronio’s “Bloodlines” series, in which he revives classic works of the dance-makers who influenced him, will return for a third year, to pay homage to the postmodern masters Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton and Anna Halprin.

Dates have not been set, but the Stephen Petronio Company’s “Bloodlines” season will return to the Joyce Theater next spring.

The mixed bill includes Ms. Rainer’s “Trio A” (1966), “Chair Pillow” (1969) and “Diagonal” (1963), as well as an excerpt from Mr. Paxton’s 1986 take on Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” and Ms. Halprin’s 1999 solo “The Courtesan and the Crone,” performed by Mr. Petronio.

In a statement, Mr. Petronio said, “Decades later, I feel I can approach these masterpieces with a level of intellectual and physical rigor that finally matches my personal awe and emotional connection.”

The program, as in previous editions of the series, will include a premiere of a work by Mr. Petronio. This piece, “Untitled Touch,” is meant to explore the repercussions of skin-to-skin contact and features an original score by the musician Son Lux.

Mr. Petronio was the first male dancer in Trisha Brown’s company; in the second season of “Bloodlines,” his troupe performed her debut proscenium work, “Glacial Decoy” (1979). The series has also featured Merce Cunningham’s “RainForest” (1968), a collaboration that included Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns.

Photo by Chaffa Deus. Not included in New York Times article.

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