Retracing Steps: American Dance since Postmodernism

The 1960s and '70s saw an analytic exploration of pure dance by the first generation of post-modern choreographers, such as Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Trisha Brown, David Gordon, and Lucinda Childs. In the 1980s, a new choreographic impulse burst through this formal austerity. Dancers began to wrestle and juggle, dance to pop music and poetry, tell stories, play characters, wear elegant or outrageous costumes. The nine choreographers featured in Retracing Steps eloquently illustrate the eclecticism found in American dance. Made in 1988, Retracing Steps mirrors the best of the New York dance scene.