DER US-AMERIKANISCHE TÄNZER, CHOREOGRAPH UND TANZVISIONÄR STEVE PAXTON IST GESTORBEN

Der am 21. Januar 1939 in Phoenix (Arizona) geborene US-amerikanische Tänzer, Choreograph und Tanzvisionär Steve Paxton (Bild) ist am 21. Februar 2024 gestorben. «Er stand im Zentrum der New Yorker Kunstrevolution der 1970er-Jahre. (…) Sein wohl grösstes Vermächtnis an den Tanz ist die Kontaktimprovisation. Steve Paxton begründete die Technik zusammen mit anderen Tänzerinnen und Tänzern. Ähnlich wie Jazzmusiker mit den Tönen ihres Instrumentes experimentierten TänzerInnen mit möglichen Bewegungen von zwei oder mehr Körpern in so genannten Jam-Sessions. (…) In den 1960er-Jahren war Paxton einer der Gründer des Judson Dance Theater in New York. Er wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen geehrt; 2014 bekam Steve Paxton den Goldenen Löwen der Biennale in Venedig für sein Lebenswerk.» (*)

Image: Steve Paxton à Culturgest, Lisbonne en 2018. Derrière lui, une image de Material for the Spine (Contredanse, 2008) – Photo: NosPapillons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki File:Steve_Paxton_talking_about_dance_(Culturgest,_Lisboa,_2019).jpg

Steve Paxton death

The world of dance is in mourning as it bids farewell to Steve Paxton, a visionary and pioneering figure in the realm of experimental dance and choreography, he has passed on February 21, 2024 in US.

Paxton’s journey as an experimental dancer and choreographer began with a background in gymnastics, which eventually led him to delve into the world of dance. One of his most significant contributions was the development of contact improvisation, a form of dance that emphasizes spontaneous movement and physical interaction between participants. This unique approach revolutionized the way dancers engage with each other and their environment, cementing Paxton’s legacy as a trailblazer in the field.

https://www.danzaedanza.com/en/news/death-steve-paxton.html

The Passing of Steve Paxton

La Biennale di Venezia remembers the choreographer and dancer Steve Paxton with great esteem and admiration.

Steve Paxton made history in dance and in the arts in general. A protagonist of the artistic revolution that had its epicentre in New York in the 1970s in the now legendary Judson Church, spreading post-modern American dance and contact improvisation around the world, Steve Paxton is an immense figure, by virtue of his relentless experimentation conducted out of the spotlight and with a coherence of style and way of life. Yvonne Rainer, a companion in his journey both at the Judson and Grand Union, liked to joke that she had invented running and Paxton walking, and in fact many of Paxton’s early works – from Proxy in 1961, Transit in 1962 and English in 1963 to Satisfyin’ Lover in 1967 – made the act of walking a fundamental one.

Celebrated around the world as the author of seminal works, most notably his masterpiece The Goldberg Variations, Steve Paxton had been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Biennale Danza in 2014.

«As he proceeds, Steve Paxton – reads the motivation – has ‘silently’ opened innovative avenues to an experimentation that has crossed the boundaries into all the arts. His constant relearning and attending to the simplicity of the gesture, never routine but common, has shown us how man can expand his perception of the world». On that occasion, he presented Bound: a sequence of episodes performed by the Slovenian dancer Jirij Konjar, to whom Paxton had handed down his place on the stage, each of which represents an isolated microcosm, in an almost numerical process of accumulation.

The President, the Director General, the Director of the Dance Department, and the Board of Directors all express, in the name of La Biennale, their condolences for the death of Steve Paxton.

https://www.labiennale.org/en/news/la-biennale-di-venezia-commemorates-passing-steve-paxton

La mort du danseur et chorégraphe Steve Paxton

Steve Paxton, danseur, chorégraphe et pédagogue américain est mort à l’âge de 85 ans. Steve Paxton est le fondateur du «contact-improvisation», un courant qui s’oppose aux cadres conventionnels de représentation.

https://sceneweb.fr/la-mort-du-danseur-et-choregraphe-steve-paxton/

Addio a Steve Paxton, fondatore del Contact Improvisation

Steve Paxton, figura pioneristica della danza sperimentale dagli anni Settanta fino ai tempi più recenti, è morto nella notte del 21 febbraio negli Stati Uniti. Leone d’oro nel 2014, Paxton è stato ricordato dalla Biennale di Venezia, che ha espresso in una nota il proprio cordoglio.

https://insideart.eu/2024/02/22/addio-a-steve-paxton-fondatore-del-contact-improvisation/

Nachruf auf Steve Paxton

Wir trauern um unseren Wegbegleiter, Dozent, Tänzer, Choreograf, Visionär und Pionier des zeitgenössischen Tanzes, Steve Paxton, der uns im Alter von 85 Jahren verlassen hat. (…)

Wir sind dankbar, dass er seine Leidenschaft und Hingabe für den Tanz sowie das Unterrichten mit uns teilte und für alles, was er der Tanzwelt geschenkt hat!

https://www.impulstanz.com/news/aid1805/

Die Wahrheit liegt in der Improvisation

Lyrischer Tänzer mit athletischem Körper: Steve Paxton fand im Tanz eine Verbindung zum Selbst und in Alltagsbewegungen eine Demokratisierung seiner Disziplin. Zum Tod eines Tanzvisionärs.

Wiebke Hüster

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/zum-tod-von-steve-paxton-die-wahrheit-liegt-in-der-improvisation-19539190.html

Videos:

STEVE PAXTON’S INTRODUCTION TO THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8iTMMKtwYQ

Goldberg Variations 1-15 – Steve Paxton

By J.S. Bach, played by Glenn Gould, improvised by Steve Paxton, filmed by Walter Verdin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J4in0y3at4

Steve Paxton Talking Dance, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_82Od5NM4LI

Steve Paxton – Documentaire Danse Contact Improvisation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A4EVjcseYc