Anna Halprin

Anna Halprin traces the life's work of this radical dance-maker, documenting her early career as a modern dancer in the 1940s through to the development of her groundbreaking approach to dance as an accessible and life-enhancing art form. Now revised and reissued, this book: sketches the evolution of the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop, exploring Halprin's connections with the avant-garde theatre, music, visual art and architecture of the 1950s and 60s offers a detailed analysis of Halprin’s work from this period provides an important historical guide to a time when dance was first explored beyond the confines of the theatre and considered as a healing art for individuals and communities. As a first step towards critical understanding, and an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

List of figures Acknowledgements 1 LIFE AND WORK 2 THEORY AND PRACTICE 3 THE MOUNTAIN PERFORMANCES, CIRCLE THE EARTH AND THE PLANETARY DANCE 4 PRACTICAL EXPLORATIONS Bibliography Contacts Index

Helen Poynor is an independent movement artist specializing in environmental, site-specific and autobiographical performance and cross art-from collaborations. She runs the Walk of Life Workshop and Training Programme. She is Visiting Professor of Performance at Coventry University, UK and a Registered Dance Movement Therapist. Libby Worth is a movement practitioner focusing on collaborative art processes, performer training, and responsive performance. She is a Reader in Contemporary Performance Practices at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Both authors trained with Anna Halprin in the early 1980s.