Carmen Beuchat

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Carmen Beuchat
Carmen Beuchat - Getting Off the Ground.jpg
Born
Carmen Luz Beuchat Leiva

(1941-12-27) 27 December 1941 (age 82)
Santiago, Chile
Alma mater University of Chile
Occupation(s)Choreographer, dancer
Awards Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit (2005)
Website carmenbeuchat.org

Carmen Luz Beuchat Leiva (born 27 December 1941) is a Chilean artist, choreographer, and dancer recognized for her development of postmodern dance in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.

Contents

Biography

Carmen Beuchat was born in Santiago, Chile in 1941. She began her career in classical and modern dance as a student of Yerka Luksic, at four years of age. [1] She continued her studies at the Dance School of the University of Chile with professors such as Patricio Bunster  [ es ], Joan Turner, and Sigurd Leeder. [2]

In 1964 she formed Trío 65, the first Chilean independent dance company, with dancers Gaby Concha and Rosa Celis. [3] Towards the end of the same decade, she migrated to the United States, actively participating in the New York art scene. A founding member of the collective The Natural History of the American Dancer, [4] Carmen Beuchat developed a link between her visual and choreographic work with a strong emphasis on spatial composition, incorporating the use of mobile structures in her choreography, presenting her work in spaces such as the 112 Greene St. Gallery, Whitney Museum, The Kitchen, Judson Church, Everson Museum of Art, and the Bronx Museum, among many others. [5] [6]

During her life, Carmen Beuchat has collaborated with artists such as Juan Downey, Gordon Matta-Clark, Richard Nonas, and Enrique Castro-Cid. [5] She was an assistant to Robert Rauschenberg, danced in the first company of Trisha Brown, [6] and in Kei Takei's Moving Earth Dance Company. She participated in projects with Jaime and Alfonso Barrios and photographer Marcelo Montealegre.

Two Not One (1975) Two Not One (1975).jpg
Two Not One (1975)

In Chile she is recognized as the originator of contact improvisation and other postmodern dance techniques. In the midst of the military dictatorship, during her trips to Chile in 1977 and 1985, she conducted dance workshops promoting an aesthetic transformation in the local scene, promoting a philosophy of democratization around the body in movement. [7]

In the 1990s she settled in Chile, serving as director of the Dance School of University ARCIS, and generating a series of creative and educational projects in Santiago and Valparaíso. [6]

She currently lives in Quetroleufú, Araucanía Region, where she receives constant visits from students, dancers, and creators.

Distinctions

Works

Collaborations

  • 1969 - Light (Kei Takei's Moving Earth Company)
  • 1969 – Lunch (Kei Takei's Moving Earth Company)
  • 1970 – Floor of the forest (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1970 – Leaning Duets (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1971 – Walking on the Wall (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1971 – Leaning Duets II (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1971 – Rummage Sale and the Floor of the forest (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1972 – Theme and Variation (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1972 – Energy Fields (Juan Downey, New York)
  • 1973 – Accumulating Pieces (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1973 – Group Accumulation (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1973 – Group Primary Accumulation (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1973 – Roof and Fire Piece (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1973–1976 – Structured Pieces I (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1974 – Figure 8 (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1974 – Drift (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1974 – Spiral (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1974 – Structured Pieces II (Trisha Brown Dance Company)
  • 1974 – Debriefing Pyramid Video Trans America (Juan Downey, Everson Museum of Art, New York)
  • 1974 – Videodances (Barbara Dilley & Juan Downey, Byrd Hoffman Studio, New York)
  • 1974 – Las Meninas (Juan Downey, New York)
  • 1989 – The Last Rice Field (Kei Takei's Moving Earth Company)

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References

  1. McColl Crozier, Jennifer (2010). Carmen Beuchat: modernismo y vanguardia [Carmen Beuchat: Modernism and Avant-garde] (in Spanish). Editorial Cuarto Propio. p. 27. Retrieved 20 January 2018 via Google Books.
  2. McColl Crozier, Jennifer (2010). Carmen Beuchat: modernismo y vanguardia [Carmen Beuchat: Modernism and Avant-garde] (in Spanish). Editorial Cuarto Propio. pp. 31–32. Retrieved 20 January 2018 via Google Books.
  3. Rangel, Gabriela (1 July 2012). "Carmen Beuchat and Interdisciplinary Pollinations in the 1970s". BOMB Magazine . Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. Avalanche, Issues 4-8. Kineticism Press. 1972. p. xli. Retrieved 20 January 2018 via Google Books.
  5. 1 2 López, Paz (10 June 2017). "La obra de Carmen Beuchat, la legendaria bailarina chilena que marcó época en la danza contemporánea" [The Work of Carmen Beuchat, the Legendary Chilean Dancer Who Marked the Era in Contemporary Dance]. El Desconcierto (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Valdez, Rocío (8 May 2010). "Carmen Beuchat, de ayudante de Rauschenberg a pionera de la danza experimental" [Carmen Beuchat, From Rauschenberg's Assistant to Pioneer of Experimental Dance]. La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. McColl Crozier, Jennifer (2010). Carmen Beuchat: modernismo y vanguardia [Carmen Beuchat: Modernism and Avant-garde] (in Spanish). Editorial Cuarto Propio. p. 67. Retrieved 20 January 2018 via Google Books.
  8. "Cuatro destacadas mujeres recibieron la Medalla Pablo Neruda" [Four Distinguished Women Receive the Pablo Neruda Medal] (in Spanish). Radio Cooperativa . Retrieved 18 January 2018.