Interview by Debra Craine

It’s a milestone in postmodern dance. The American choreographer Trisha Brown is celebrating the 40th anniversary of her company, one of the most radical and singular troupes in the history of 20th century dance. Today she enjoys her status as the triumphant survivor of 1970s experimentation, and at the age of 73 can bask in the knowledge that she is more popular than ever.
 
Not that Brown is the type to revel in success, she’s far too retiring for that. But she is thrilled that this year’s Dance Umbrella is celebrating four decades of her work through performances, film and installations. “I’m honoured to be getting this retrospective,” Brown says. “Dance Umbrella is important to me. I’m very grateful to the festival for showcasing my work over the years in Britain.”
 
In fact, Brown’s company made its first appearance at Dance Umbrella 27 years ago and this year marks her seventh visit. The Queen Elizabeth Hall season features such luminous classics as Glacial Decoy (1979) and Opal Loop (1980), along with her newest creation, L’Amour au théâtre (2009) and a revival of Floor of the Forest, an installation of pipes densely threaded with clothes. And from 1995 comes the duet, You Can See Us, developed from the solo If You Couldn’t See Me (1994), performed with the dancer’s back to the audience throughout. A wider representation of Brown’s creativity is harder to imagine.
 
“Trisha Brown is, without question, one of the world’s greatest living choreographers, whose artistry and innovations have had a profound effect on a whole generation of dance artists,” says Betsy Gregory, artistic director of Dance Umbrella. “We are pleased and proud to be celebrating Trisha, her company’s 40th anniversary and her long relationship with Dance Umbrella.”
 
How does Brown feel about revisiting a repertoire that goes back as far as 1971’s Accumulation, which will form part of a special programme of early works at Tate Modern? “I’m not tempted to rewrite my own history because I always want to move forward with my art,” she says. “But although I’m a little removed from them now, I’m proud of these dances. In the early days my work was considered a disgrace, people even walked out when I was performing. But I had a lot of nerve as a choreographer and I didn’t know then that we were forming an entirely new way of looking at dance in the 1970s.”
 
In those days, Brown literally had her dancers climbing up walls and dancing on Manhattan rooftops. Indeed, architecture and visual art have been her lifelong inspirations. Glacial Decoy, for example, which features decor and costumes by the late artist Robert Rauschenberg, is more like living artwork than pure choreography. “Bob was intrigued by the fact that I had engineered someone walking down the side of a building for one of my dances and he was an adventurous guy himself,” she remembers. “There was a lot for me to feed on in our collaborations. He was a very big presence in my life and a very big influence.”
 
But if you think that Brown is a serious-minded, high priestess of the dance, think again. “I do have a sense of humour in my work. You can see it in Sticks and Spanish Dances, which will be performed at Tate Modern. And with Floor of the Forest I suspended the choreography on a frame that was woven with all these ropes that were threaded with clothes. It was the kind of piece most people wouldn’t think of doing but it was meant to be fun for the audience.” When Floor of the Forest is seen in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer, spectators will be invited to move around the grid as the performers dress and undress their way through the structure.
 
Brown has always had the ability to take spontaneous, everyday movements and graft them onto rigorous geometric structures. The result is often beautiful and wonderfully relaxing, the dance equivalent of cool abstract poetry. “I wouldn’t take the position that I know well what I am doing.” she says. “I would take the position that this is something that speaks to me, it burns in my heart and keeps me happy. That’s the best answer I can give as to why I make dances.”
 
And her commitment to her art has paid off. “We are touring more than ever. It’s unbelievable, we are more popular than ever. Why? The early work was so underfed and unrecognised that not many people knew about it. It was too brazen, and I think that as a young woman I also wasn’t taken seriously. But I think the world is waking up to Trisha Brown now. They think they have discovered me.”

© Donald Hutera, 2011