Introduction

Yvonne Rainer attempted to do away with 'rules' altogether, although, paradoxically, the negation of traditional methods and products of dance making resulted in the affirmation of another kind of approach, perhaps equally constraining (or enabling, depending on one's view). Her statement of denial of the theatricalism of theatre dance exemplifies one of the postmodern imperatives to strip dance down to its essential components . This philosophy of dance was followed in spirit, if not exactly in letter, by the generation of choreographers/performers working during the 1960s and early 1970s. As Banes described, 'movement itself became like an object, something to be examined coolly without psychological, social or even formal motives' (1986: 43).