Iconoclasts

One of the true wonders of La Biennale di Venezia is their incredible Historical Archive – ASAC. Not only is it a treasure trove of preserved institutional knowledge and essential artefacts from the world’s most historic festivals, but it is also replete with memories, meanings and other stories that these documents, films and photographs reveal when we encounter them afresh today. Correspondences from and with the most important artists of their time are stored alongside those from individuals often overlooked in our time, and only when we venture back do we uncover the most potent golden thread which connects, distils and fosters dialogue with our most vital cultural capital.

In dance, we have been notoriously remiss in capturing our form in the moment – often excused by a medium that celebrates the ephemeral and the transitory, perhaps at the expense of legacy. And yet, when we do collect and are able to trace back, when we have the rare opportunity to piece together our danced fragments by placing each in a timeline of experimentation, innovation and evolution, we are able to understand, embody and experience the complete work afresh. In this way, archives are as much a quest forward as they resonate today with a finely retuned sense of wonder as when they were created, invigorating and vibrant – alive – in a necessary contemporary context.

This fragment of our living archive of dance in Venice, ICONOCLASTS, connects the female pioneers and adventurers who have shared their radical art with us in the lagoon, and in doing so have challenged the conventions of their times, transcended boundaries, advanced their unique perspectives and propelled us towards what is possible. We stand on the shoulders of giants – some of whom you may be familiar with and others who may well be revelatory – yet each contributes to our palimpsest of global movement geniuses.

Pioneering, adventurous, radical, iconoclastic, determined professionals – women artists – conquered and illuminated Venice. Since the early twentieth century, female choreographers and dancer‐authors, challenging themselves relentlessly on a par with their male colleagues, friends and rivals, have thrown themselves into the fray of the art of the body, defying tradition and conventions. Creation remains an essential priority, unafraid of the judgement of audiences and critics, both male and female. Classical and modern European dance are represented in Venice and at La Biennale, first and foremost in the programmes of the International Festival of Contemporary Music, featuring world‐class artists; after World War II, the work of epoch‐making choreographers came from the United States and around the world to Venice. The new Germany arrived with a portfolio of Stücke by Pina Bausch and her Wuppertal Tanztheater in 1985 at the International Theatre Festival. After the Dance Department was established in 1999 with Carolyn Carlson, an incisive succession of programmes was developed, punctuated by works created by women, with two choreographers from the New World – Karole Armitage and Marie Chouinard – directing innovative international festivals, and a lengthy series of Golden and Silver Lions awarded to female artists of esteemed value in a kaleidoscopic variety of styles and poetics.