Choreographing American Dance Archives: Artist-Driven Archival Projects by Eiko & Koma, Bebe Miller Company, and Jennifer Monson

Abstract

Choreographers have begun experimenting with artist-driven archives using digital technologies, exhibitions and installations, and live performance as a way to generate new work from their own archival materials and increase access to their body of work for audiences. This article focuses on three recent artist-driven archive projects by notable American choreographers Eiko & Koma, Bebe Miller Company, and Jennifer Monson. Drawing on interviews with the choreographers as well as on analyses of the three projects, I suggest that these projects' most important contribution is the idea that archives are not separate from a choreographer's body of work, but are indeed a part of his or her creative process and artistic production.

Introduction

“…In this new environment, YouTube has become a valuable reference point and is beginning to provide an accessible store of dance films, whilst also emphasizing the importance of expertly curated dance archives. At the same time, dance practitioners are themselves getting more directly involved in building their own archival collections, or "artist-driven archival projects" (Candelario, 2018), in an effort to take more control over their representation and legacy, even if disregarding more traditional archive methods.…”