Collaborative Performance
December 28, 1971 at 20:40 112 Greene Street/Workshop
Collaborative Performance, audience view, 1971. Photo: Glenda Hydler.
Fernando Torm (piano) and Susanne Harris, Collaborative Performance, performance view, 1971. Photo: Glenda Hydler.
Exhibition Description
After a spontaneous decision to perform together, the group worked for a brief period to develop materials and rehearse. The performers wore elaborate costumes; activities included Suzanne Harris’ climbing into the piano. Fernando Torm played Carl Orff’s “Dulcissime” from Carmina Burana; Frederico Garcia Lorca’s Eleven Popular Songs; Giuseppi Verdi’s Aria from La Boheme; Gurdjieff’s Journey to Inaccessible Places (scored by Thomas de Hartmann); Bach-Schubert’s ‘Ave-Maria”; Eric Satie’s “Gymnopedies Vocalise” (adapted by Torm and Guinez); Joseph F. Lamb’s “Alabama Rag” and “The Old Home Rag”; Puccini’s Aria from Madame Butterfly; and Verdi’s “Brindis” from La Traviata.
The performance lasted three and one-half hours. Judith Padow recalls that a distinctive quality of the event was the exceedingly enthusiastic audience response and the positive feelings of the performers.
Excerpted from Brentano, R., & Savitt, M. (1981). 112 Workshop, 112 Greene Street: History, artists & artworks. New York: New York University Press.
Collaborative Performance, audience view, 1971. Photo: Glenda Hydler.
Fernando Torm (piano) and Susanne Harris, Collaborative Performance, performance view, 1971. Photo: Glenda Hydler.
