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Collecting Choreography

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Collecting Choreography is the first major study on the history of dance and performance acquisitions in art museums. Turning to the Museum of Modern Art’s 2015 acquisition of Simone Forti’s Dance ...
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  • Publication Date: 05 January 2027
  • ISBN: 9780520431034
  • Pages: 376
  • Imprint: University of California Press

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Collecting Choreography is the first major study on the history of dance and performance acquisitions in art museums. Turning to the Museum of Modern Art’s 2015 acquisition of Simone Forti’s Dance Constructions (1960–61), a groundbreaking achievement for both the choreographer and the museum, Megan Metcalf examines how performance, especially dance, has informed the experience of preserving and exhibiting contemporary art. Metcalf tracks Forti’s performances from their first appearances in the early 1960s to their institutional acquisition, arguing that dance is still novel for institutional collecting even as it has long been present in museums. In doing so, Metcalf shows that the art museum’s interest in continuing certain dance legacies offers an important yet contested site for “preserving” live performance for the future, while theorizing a larger choreographic model underlying contemporary art and institutional practices in museums, fairs, and biennials worldwide.

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Price: $60.00
Pages: 376
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date: 05 January 2027
Trim Size: 10.00 X 7.00 in
ISBN: 9780520431034
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
Megan Metcalf is Assistant Professor of Art History at New Mexico State University.

Contents


Preface


Introduction


Part I: Dance in and out of the Museum
1. An Enthusiastic yet Haphazard Embrace: Dancing in (Mostly) US Museums, 1918–2018
2. Downtown and Underground: Simone Forti and the Dance Constructions, 1960–1977


Part II: Acquiring Simone Forti’s Dance Constructions (2009–2016)
3. Dance as Art Object: Materializing the Dance Constructions
4. Securing the Dance Constructions’ History and Ensuring Their Authenticity
5. Transforming Conservation into Continuation
6. Huddle’s “Life of Its Own”


Conclusion


Acknowledgments
Biographical Notes: Individuals, Collectives, and Companies
Notes
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index