Rainer, Yvonne (1934–)

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Rainer, Yvonne (1934–)

American filmmaker, dancer and choreographer. Born in San Francisco, California, 1934; studied dance with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham.

Co-founded Judson Dance Theater (1962); invented the minimalist style of modern dance, resolutely unartificial and unemotional; soon gained a name as a daring choreographer and dancer; by mid-1960s, also began using slides, recorded and live voices, short films and narrative within her pieces, creating what have been likened to performance "collages"; made 1st feature-length film, Lives of Performers (1972), followed by Film about a Woman Who … (1974); later films include Journeys from Berlin/1971 (1980), which won Los Angeles Film Critics' 1st prize for independent film, The Man Who Envied Women (1985) and Privilege (1990); taught at a number of universities and institutes; published The Films of Yvonne Rainer (1989). Received American Film Institute's Maya Deren Award (1988); awarded MacArthur Foundation grant (1990).

See also Women in World History.