Simone Forti, Leading Figure of New York’s Judson Dance Theater Scene, Has Died at 91
Simone Forti, a key figure in New York’s Judson Dance Theater scene of the 1960s and an influential contributor to postmodern dance, Minimalism, and Fluxus, died in Los Angeles at age 91, according to her gallery Raffaella Cortese. Forti worked alongside artists including Trisha Brown, Steve Paxton, and Yvonne Rainer, and collaborated with choreographers such as Anna Halprin, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham. Her “Dance Constructions” (1960–61), first shown in Yoko Ono’s Chambers Street Loft Series, introduced rule-based performance tasks, including the well-known work Huddle (1961). Forti also produced writing, video, sculpture, and holograms, and Rainer credited her with expanding what could count as “dance.”
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This story was covered in Museums Unmasked, Heritage Rewritten