The author in Natural Settings (2016)

I originally made this list back in Winter 2021 after seeing several Facebook posts from colleagues one week, seeking resources for courses exploring site-specific dance. I thought I would make a post to share a few of my favorites here. Please add yours in the comments section below as well! Thank you.

My MFA thesis explored site-specific dance in the United States, so this is near and dear to me.

In 2021, I also had the honor to help behind the scenes with the editing process of Stephan Koplowitz's book On Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation. It is a truly wonderful and thorough book. I highly recommend using it within a course.

-Jill Randall

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BOOKS

On Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation – by Stephan Koplowitz

Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces – edited by Melanie Kloetzel and Carolyn Pavlik

Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance – edited by Victoria Hunter

Tandem Dances: Choreographing Immersive Performance – by Julia M. Ritter

Dance Works: Stories of Creative Collaboration – by Allison Orr

The Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making – by Andrea Olsen (sections of the book)

 

ARTICLES, INCLUDING POSTS FROM THE BLOG

Joanna Haigood by Maura Keefe (Jacob's Pillow website)

Artist Profile: Jo Kreiter (Life as a Modern Dancer)

Artist Profile: Steve Koplowitz (Life as a Modern Dancer)

"Out of Site: Trisha Brown's Roof Piece" – by Amanda Jane Graham (Dance Chronicle)

"Companies Are Rethinking Live Performance—and Coming Up With Many Creative Solutions" – by Nancy Wozny (Dance Magazine)

"Dance as Event: An Interview with Lauren Simpson about DANCE EXHIBIT" – by Jill Randall (Life as a Modern Dancer)

Moving Truck: 5 Questions for Lauren Simpson – by Jill Randall (Life as a Modern Dancer)

A Practice of Unknowing, Breaking Away from Structures and Habits: An Interview with San Francisco Dance Artist Jennifer Perfilio – by Jill Randall (Life as a Modern Dancer)

 

ARTISTS TO EXPLORE/VIDEOS

Forklift Danceworks

Joanna Haigood/Zaccho Dance Theatre

Steve Koplowitz

Jo Kreiter/Flyaway Productions

Bandaloop

Online Discussion with Joanna Haigood, Lenora Lee, and Nina Haft (Moderated by Jill Randall)

 

REVIEWS OF SITE-BASED WORK

"Rachel Tess, early in the morning" – Jamuna Chiarini (Oregon ArtsWatch)

About Joe Goode's Still Standing

About Doug Varone's piece Neither in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

About Bandaloop's Harboring

An Afternoon Walk and Dance Through Glen Canyon Park: FACT/SF’s “Diffusion” – Molly Rose-Williams

Zaccho Dance Theatre’s "Love, a state of grace": aerial, ethereal, magical – Sima Belmar

 

CHOREOGRAPHIC TOOLS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUTDOOR SITE-SPECIFIC DANCE

Please find here a vocabulary list I made during graduate school. I pulled the text from my thesis to share it here:

Download Choreographic Tools and Considerations

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