Sundays on Broadway: Aileen Passloff

By Cathy Weis Projects

Oct 20  |  Culture

Cathy Weis Projects – SoHo Broadway Events

Sundays on Broadway and guest curator Wendy Perron present an evening of dance and film by Aileen Passloff.

The evening features five works choreographed by Passloff, including He Dreams of Small Battles, a work dedicated to her mentor James Waring, Measuring, Veni, Nocturne for Bob, and The Interview, a new solo performed by Passloff. Dancers include Chelsea Ainsworth, Louis Benkelman, Andy Chapman, and Charlotte Hendrickson. Passloff will also share excerpts of two films by Marta Renzi: Arthur and Aileen, which documents the rehearsal process between Arthur Aviles and Passloff, and Her Magnum Opus, featuring Passloff as the central character with footage of her performing Table Dance and dancing in Remy Charlip’s April and December.

Artist’s Bio:

Aileen Passloff‘s work was included in the recent exhibition at MoMA of the Judson Dance Movement. She was called a pioneer of the Judson Dance Theater. Her background is in classical ballet, but her work has been considered avant-garde. She was the director of Aileen Passloff and Dance Company from 1958 to 1968 and has choreographed over two hundred dances during her career. All kinds of good dancing interest her. Aileen received her B.A. from Bennington College. She has choreographed and acted in plays at The Living Theater, The Judson Poets Theatre, and The Theatre for the New City. She appeared in Obie winning productions of Gertrude Stein’s What Happened and Ruth Krause’s A Beautiful Day. She considers herself lucky to have worked extensively with Maria Irene Fornes in The Annunciation, A Vietnamese Wedding, Aurora, Washing, and The Diary of Evelyn Brown. Her directing credits included Flo and Max, Fanon’s People and Waiting by Toby Armour. She choreographed the original production of The Song of Songs at Judson Church and later the reconstruction of it at the Fountain Theater in Los Angeles in 2003. In 2004 she taught an intensive workshop in performance for professional dancers at the Conservatory of Dance in Madrid. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the program for Cultural Cooperation between the Spanish Ministry of Culture and U.S. Universities. She was named a Post-Doctoral Fulbright Scholar for Research in Spanish Dance in Madrid in 1992. Passloff was the L May Hawver and Wallace Benjamin Flint Professor of Dance at Bard College. She says that dancing and teaching dance have always been deeply connected to her. She has loved them both for as long as she can remember. If she has a legacy, it is the dancing of Arthur, Charlotte and all her many wonderful students.

Photos L and Center: Aileen Passloff, screenshots from film; R: Aileen Passloff by Robert Ferran

Sundays on Broadway is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

LMCC empowers artists by providing them with networks, resources, and support, to create vibrant, sustainable communities in Manhattan and beyond.

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