In 2012 Danspace Project presented two historic Platforms, Parallels and Judson Now. In 2013 we continue to explore artistic constellations and lineages. What web of connections do new generations of artists trace? Who are their influences?

This season we will ask each artist to share a significant artistic influence. Below is Douglas Dunn’s response – an excerpt from Dancer Out of Sight, The Collected Writings of Douglas Dunn, shortly to be available via Amazon.com.

Douglas Dunn:

“Everything that enters through the five senses, and whatever stirs in his sixth, are influences that become part of the work in ways he doesn’t analyze. All the same, he is aware of noticing some things more than others: the gaits of individuals and animals; architecture’s effect on ambiance; the individuality of trees. Rhythm and texture are everywhere: grass blowing in the wind, a rock bouncing down a mountainside, a coil of cable on the floor backstage. As for dancers to whom he’s paid special attention, Merce Cunningham, Kenneth King, Steve Paxton, Jean Guizerix, Edward Villella, Rudolf Nureyev, James Truitt, Barbara Roan and Sally Silvers are prominent. The people who dance in his company, though he doesn’t ask them to invent movement, bring out choreographic potentials he might not otherwise discover. Likewise, the artists and composers with whom he collaborates make the fish of his inner lake jump.”

Douglas Dunn. Photo: Nathaniel Tileston.

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Douglas Dunn & Dancers Cassations runs Thursday, February 7 – Saturday, February 9, 2013 at Danspace Project.