David Gordon (choreographer)
| David Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 14, 1936 Lower East Side Manhattan, New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Seward Park High School |
| Alma mater | Brooklyn College |
| Known for |
postmodern dance theatre musical theatre |
| Notable work | (see article) |
| Movement | Judson Dance Theater |
| Spouse(s) | Valda Setterfield |
| Awards | (see below) |
| Website | Pick Up Performance Co(s) |
David Gordon (born July 14, 1936) is an American dancer, choreographer, writer, and theatrical director prominent in the world of postmodern dance and performance. Based in New York City, Gordon's work has been seen in major performance venues across the United States, Europe, South America and Japan, and has appeared on television on PBS's Great Performances and Alive TV, and the BBC and Channel 4 in Great Britain.
Twice a Guggenheim Fellow (1981 and 1987), Gordon has been a panelist of the dance program panels of the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, and chairman of the former. He is a member of the Actors Studio, and a founder of the Center for Creative Research.
Gordon is married to Valda Setterfield, a dancer and actress born in England, who was for 10 years a featured soloist with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. She appears regularly in Gordon's work, and has been referred to as his "muse". Their son, playwright, actor, and theatrical director Ain Gordon, has collaborated with Gordon on a number of projects.
Like most postmodernists in dance, Gordon employs pedestrian movement in his work, but he is notable for his frequent use of spoken dialogue, even in "dance" pieces, as well as his Brechtian rejection of illusion coupled with an interest in theatricality. He is quoted as saying "I [want] to use mundane means to a magical end." A contrarian by nature, Gordon creates works which are founded on structural clarity, which he then undercuts: "I always find some way to screw up a fabulously straightforward structure," Gordon has said, "I can't seem to avoid that."
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