Feelings are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer
“A riveting documentary… a compelling portrait of a truly original artist, as vital as ever in her senior years.” - San Francisco Examiner
In 1962 a maverick band of choreographers formed Judson Dance Theater. They threw the dance world for a loop, introducing running and walking, screaming, and strange arrhythmic movement into a discipline which had for so long been confined by tradition. Their leader was the defiantly deviant Yvonne Rainer.
From her determination to explore the limits of movement, disregarding all we thought we knew about dance, to her scholarship on coming out as a queer woman, Yvonne Rainer has spent a lifetime subverting norms and challenging the system. In this documentary by Jack Walsh, Rainer’s personal and internal revolutions are relayed alongside stories of her more recognised game changing contributions to the dance, film, and art worlds. As a subject, she is fantastically funny and unforgiving, and clips from her performances are a strange joy to watch.
Feelings are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer is a documentary which can be enjoyed by anyone – dancer, artist, queer or otherwise. Rainer’s philosophy is one of inclusion, her performance work drawing on the talent of those of a wide range of body types, skill levels, and experiences. Described by the Hollywood Reporter as a “gentle immersion into the stormy waters of post-WWII art“, this documentary is the best introduction one could ask for to both a strange art form and a strange woman. Trailer and Tickets here
Co-presented with Carriageworks
