Dance is Hard to See: Transmitting Trio A and other Acts of Preservation

Yvonne Rainer’s work Trio A (1966) will be discussed through the lens of bodily and verbal transmission, methods of remembering and material pedagogical tools. Other case studies including Punt.Point, a performative work by Wookey in the collections at the Van Abbemuseum, will be shared to amplify the complexities and possibilities of seeing works into the future. In the desire for reactivation and preservation of dance and expanded choreographic practices in the art museum, what might be missing in the performance archive in recording of transmissions processes and how might conservation and collection practices be informed by collaborative, cross-disciplinary methodologies from dance and embrace multiple knowledges?