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Two Muses

Two Muses TWO MUSES Spencer Baker Stephen Petronio Company, in a dance performance. The Joyce Theater,  New York, April 18–23, 2006. he  Stephen  Petronio  Company  dances  gracefully  and  moves  with  ease  from  one  contradictory  juxtaposition  to  the  next.  It  is  by  turn  classical  and  postmodern,  stunning  and  grotesque,  conventional  and  avant-garde, rebellious and mainstream.  Tripping along historical lines, Petronio  falls rhythm and sway to a time honored  tradition  of  subversive  expectations  in  dance,  from  the  ballet,  through  Nijinsky, crosses over Judson-era dance, and  lands  squarely  in  our  present  with  his  contemporaries  Bill  T.  Jones,  Mark  Morris, and Michael Clark. In his book,  The Male Dancer, Ramsey Burt outlines  this curious and tattered history. Unlike  some of his generational contemporaries,  Petronio’s work never falls into the category of pastiche, instead relying on the  grounded  and  workmanlike  substance  acquired from his longstanding interest  in the technique of Trisha Brown. And  like Morris, Clark, and Jones, no matter  what the subject matter, it is impossible  to  deny  the  seductive  effect  of  impeccably  sinuous  yet  classically  derived  movement. T It was in works such as Trisha Brown’s Set and Reset  (1983)  that  Petronio  himself  (as the first male member of the Trisha  Brown Company) danced a male duet.  In that work (as in the earlier work of  Merce  Cunningham),  Brown’s  dancers  are  stone-faced;  passion  is  kept  to  a  minimum  and  gender  and  sex  distinctions are a non-issue. The men move as  fluidly as the women and contact each  other with intimacy and sensuality, but  not sexuality.  Perhaps  Brown’s  contemporaries  Steve  Paxton  and  David  Gordon  did  more  than she to deliberately upset the traditional  norms  of  gender  and  display  in  male  dancing.  In  Paxton’s  Flat  (1964),  Paxton  disrobes  in  slow  motion  to  a  Muybridge-like display of images. When  he  hangs  his  suit  jacket  from  clothes  hangers taped across his body, it is as if  to ask, “What is this all about?” Petronio  and his contemporaries seized this question head on during the 80s, when they  flayed open the whole stylistic legacy of  dance—from Graham to Balanchine— to reconfigure gender-coded expectations  for a new time. It has become normal for  © 2006 Spencer Baker 72    PAJ 84 (2006), pp. 72–76.  a  male  dancer  to  dance  sensually  with  another  man,  and  for  female  dancers  likewise. Petronio and his then-partner,  Michael Clark, once even engaged in sex  acts during a dance performance (at the  Anthony d’Offay gallery in 1989). Audiences, surprisingly, became accepting of  this provocatively new gendered stance  largely because of the return of choreographic  heroic  virtuosity  and  balletic  line, stylistic qualities that had become  obscure  during  Judson-era  dancing.  In  addition, Clark and Petronio introduced  http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art MIT Press

Two Muses

Baker, Spencer
PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art , Volume 28 (3) – Sep 1, 2006
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Publisher
MIT Press
Copyright
© 2006 Spencer Baker
ISSN
1520-281X
eISSN
1537-9477
DOI
10.1162/pajj.2006.28.3.72
Publisher site
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Abstract

TWO MUSES Spencer Baker Stephen Petronio Company, in a dance performance. The Joyce Theater,  New York, April 18–23, 2006. he  Stephen  Petronio  Company  dances  gracefully  and  moves  with  ease  from  one  contradictory  juxtaposition  to  the  next.  It  is  by  turn  classical  and  postmodern,  stunning  and  grotesque,  conventional  and  avant-garde, rebellious and mainstream.  Tripping along historical lines, Petronio  falls rhythm and sway to a time honored  tradition  of  subversive  expectations  in  dance,  from  the  ballet,  through  Nijinsky, crosses over Judson-era dance, and  lands  squarely  in  our  present  with  his  contemporaries  Bill  T.  Jones,  Mark  Morris, and Michael Clark. In his book,  The Male Dancer, Ramsey Burt outlines  this curious and tattered history. Unlike  some of his generational contemporaries,  Petronio’s work never falls into the category of pastiche, instead relying on the  grounded  and  workmanlike  substance  acquired from his longstanding interest  in the technique of Trisha Brown. And  like Morris, Clark, and Jones, no matter  what the subject matter, it is impossible  to  deny  the  seductive  effect  of  impeccably  sinuous  yet  classically  derived  movement. T It was in works such as Trisha Brown’s Set and Reset  (1983)  that  Petronio  himself  (as the first male member of the Trisha  Brown Company) danced a male duet.  In that work (as in the earlier work of  Merce  Cunningham),  Brown’s  dancers  are  stone-faced;  passion  is  kept  to  a  minimum  and  gender  and  sex  distinctions are a non-issue. The men move as  fluidly as the women and contact each  other with intimacy and sensuality, but  not sexuality.  Perhaps  Brown’s  contemporaries  Steve  Paxton  and  David  Gordon  did  more  than she to deliberately upset the traditional  norms  of  gender  and  display  in  male  dancing.  In  Paxton’s  Flat  (1964),  Paxton  disrobes  in  slow  motion  to  a  Muybridge-like display of images. When  he  hangs  his  suit  jacket  from  clothes  hangers taped across his body, it is as if  to ask, “What is this all about?” Petronio  and his contemporaries seized this question head on during the 80s, when they  flayed open the whole stylistic legacy of  dance—from Graham to Balanchine— to reconfigure gender-coded expectations  for a new time. It has become normal for  © 2006 Spencer Baker 72    PAJ 84 (2006), pp. 72–76.  a  male  dancer  to  dance  sensually  with  another  man,  and  for  female  dancers  likewise. Petronio and his then-partner,  Michael Clark, once even engaged in sex  acts during a dance performance (at the  Anthony d’Offay gallery in 1989). Audiences, surprisingly, became accepting of  this provocatively new gendered stance  largely because of the return of choreographic  heroic  virtuosity  and  balletic  line, stylistic qualities that had become  obscure  during  Judson-era  dancing.  In  addition, Clark and Petronio introduced 

Journal

PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art – MIT Press

Published: Sep 1, 2006

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