Caitrín Barrett-Donlon (UCL) - 2022-23 Students
caitrin.barrettdonlon.17@ucl.ac.uk

Revisioning: Experimental Dance, Museums and Yvonne Rainer

Dance works are being actively collected by art museums, yet they fundamentally oppose the concepts that frame museum processes. I investigate museum approaches to experimental dance, focusing on Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. I critically analyse the complexities of caring for and presenting experimental dance in museums, centering on the recent work of American choreographer, Yvonne Rainer (b.1934) – a pivotal figure in dance, film, and writing – and her practice of ‘revisioning’, as she terms it. To support this, I apply psychoanalytic and feminist theories. Methodologically, I incorporate archival research, oral-historical interviews, and participant-observation.

Primary supervisor: Prof. Mignon Nixon, UCL
Secondary supervisor: Dr Hélia Marçal, UCL