James Waring

For the American educator and physician, see James N. H. Waring. For the American physician, see James Johnston Waring. For the American boxer, see James Warring.
James Waring
(c.1965)
Born(1922-11-01)November 1, 1922[1]
Alameda, California
DiedDecember 2, 1975(1975-12-02) (aged 53)[1]
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Known formodern dance
theatre
poetry

James Waring (November 1, 1922 - December 2, 1975) was a dancer, choreographer, costume designer, theatre director, playwright, poet, and visual artist, based in New York City from 1949 until his death in 1975. He was a prolific choreographer and teacher.[2] He has been called "one of the most influential figures in the New York avant-garde in the late fifties and early sixties",[3] "one of dance's great eccentrics",[1] "a focal point for dance experimentation before the existence of the Judson Dance Theater",[4] and "the quintessential Greenwich Village choreographer in the late 1950s and 1960s".[5] Waring's collage style of building dance works influenced the development of the avant-garde Happenings which were staged in the late 1950s.[3]

According to Leslie Satin, although Waring was a seminal influence on modern and post-modern dance in New York City, his position in both the mainstream and the avant-garde was somewhat tentative, primarily because of the fluidity of Waring's style and the variety of his interests, which sometimes cut against the grain of both worlds.[6] His use of "low" material from the popular arts also worked against his reputation in both contexts.[7]

  1. ^ a b c "James Waring" in Oxford Dictionary of Dance via Answers.com
  2. ^ McDonagh (1971), p. 215
  3. ^ a b Vaughan, David. "James Waring: A Rememberence". Performing Arts Journal v.5 n.2 (1981) abstract
  4. ^ McDonagh (1971) quoted in Chin (2010)
  5. ^ Chin (2010)
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference satin52 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Satin (2003), pp.63-64