Steve Paxton

Steve Paxton

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Experimental dancer and choreographer. Founding member of the Judson Dance Theater and the improvisational dance group Grand Union. Developed the dance form known as Contact Improvisation.

Most Known for...

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Trio Film 1968

Two nudes, a man and a woman, interact with each other and a large balloon in a white living room. Performed by Steve Paxton and Becky Arnold. Camerawork by Phill Niblock.
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Antic Meet 1964

Performed like a series of vaudeville scenes that overlap, Antic Meet consists of ten playful and comedic numbers. The curtains opened with Cunningham moving among the other dancers as a clown-like figure "who falls in love with a society whose rules he doesn't know," and concludes much in the same way, as he attempts to keep up with the dancers, each with their own movements, as they dance diagonally across the stage. Cage provided the musical accompaniment, using a version of Concert for Piano and Orchestra, and Rauschenberg designed the costumes, which included fur coats and parachute dresses over black leotards.
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Dr. Chicago 1968

A surgeon is on the run from the police for unacknowledged reasons.