Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Yvonne Rainer Grand Union Performance Videotape Collection

Call Number

MSS.174

Date

1972

Creator

Rainer, Yvonne, 1934-

Extent

4.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

Materials are in English

Abstract

The collection consists of seven videotapes which document a series of Grand Union performances that took place on May 28, 1972 at the Joe LoGiudice Gallery at 59 Wooster Street in SoHo.

Historical Note

The Grand Union was a collective of nine choreographers/ dancers who performed group improvisations from 1970 to 1976. The group evolved out of work by Yvonne Rainer, in particular, Continuous Project-Altered Daily, yet Rainer purposefully subverted her role as leader; each member had an equal give-and-take in the creation and process of the performance. The Grand Union embraced dance, theater, and theatrics in an ongoing investigation into the nature of dance and performance. Performers included David Gordon, Stephen Paxton, Barbara Dilley, Nancy Lewis, Lincoln Scott, Becky Arnold and Douglas Dunn.

Grand Union's performances included both spontaneous and choreographed behaviors-using gesture, dance and voice-manipulating objects or bodies as objects, accompanied by a loosely constructed soundtrack of contemporary songs, music and silence. As Sally Banes writes in Terpsichore in Sneakers, "Just as their concerns varied, the persona each member of the Grand Union projected in performance could shift enormously from one night to the next, from one section of a single performance to another… widely divergent styles and concerns, working within a framework that encouraged provocation, as well as cooperation." Each performance was unpredictable, unrepeatable and ephemeral.

Arrangement

Material is arranged according to preexisting numerical order. Tape 2 was not part of acquisition.

Missing Title

  1. Series I: Video recordings - The Grand Union, May 1972

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of seven videotapes which document a series of Grand Union performances that took place on May 28, 1972 at the Joe LoGiudice Gallery at 59 Wooster Street in SoHo. The performers are Trisha Brown, Barbara Dilley, Douglas Dunn, David Gordon, Nancy Green, Steve Paxton, and Yvonne Rainer. The original footage was shot on ½" open reel videotape by Gary Bower, Ron Clark, and Jamie Dearing and produced by Carlota Schoolman. In the late 1970's, Schoolman made ¾" U-Matic dubmasters of the original reels. In a letter to Yvonne Rainier, Schoolman suggested that this second set was incomplete, "missing the second half," possibly because she sent a tape to someone in London. In 1992, Middlemarch Films made another set of ¾" U-Matic dubs from the dubmasters for a documentary on postmodern dance. The material was not used in the documentary because of objections from Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton. In 2002, this set was given to the Fales Library and Special Collections by Yvonne Rainer. Preservation masters and research copies of the 7 tapes were made in April 2003 by Vidipax (Job #3947). Original numbering of tapes, eg. #D222, was applied by Middlemarch Films. Fales Media Object ID numbers, eg. #174.0001, were assigned in October 2005.

Access Restrictions

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Use Restrictions

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); The Yvonne Rainer Grand Union Performance Videotape Collection; MSS 174; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.

Provenance

The videotapes were donated to the Fales Library by Yvonne Rainer in 2002.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Access copies for some materials are available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Please contact fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Separated Material

There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.

Related Material at Fales Library and Special Collections

Robert Alexander Papers (MSS.114)

Judson Memorial Church Archive (MSS.094)

Collection processed by

Processed by Brandon Stosuy, 2003, with additional research by Pamela Smith and Huiming Yu. Additional media processing by Luke Martin and Brent Phillips, 2008.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:16:15 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Revisions to this Guide

October 2019: Updated by Kelly Haydon to reflect the removal of VHS access copies

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from Rainer, Yvonne videotapes\finding aid.doc

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012