Valda Setterfield

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Valda Setterfield (born September 17, 1934) is an American postmodern dancer and actress born in England. She is noted for her work as a soloist with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and for her performances in works by her husband, postmodern choreographer and director David Gordon, who died in January 2022. Perron, Wendy (February 2, 2022
"Remembering David Gordon (1936–2022)"
''Dance Magazine'' She has been described as his muse, and together they have been called "The Barrymores of post-modern dance." Their son, playwright, theatrical director and actor Ain Gordon, has worked with Setterfield on a number of projects as well.

Life and career

In England, Setterfield trained in ballet with Dame Marie Rambert and mime with Tamara Karsavina, and performed in English pantomime. She also performed in an Italian revue.Smith, Amanda (February 1981)"David Gordon: Keeping the Options Open" ''Dance Magazine'' In 1958, on the promise of a scholarship to study with José Limón, she came to New York City, Croce, Arlene (November 29, 1982) "Profiles: Making Work" ''The New Yorker'' following her good friend David Vaughan. While taking classes with choreographer James Waring, she met her husband-to-be, David Gordon.

Setterfield appeared with the improvisational dance company The Grand Union and in the works of Yvonne Rainer, Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman and JoAnne Akalaitis. She performed with David Gordon – whom she first met when they were both in the company of choreographer James Waring – at The Living Theatre and Judson Dance Theater, and is a founding member of Pick Up Performance Co(s). She was featured artist on the WNET/PBS Dance documentary ''America’s Beyond The Mainstream'' and in 1987 costarred with Mikhail Baryshnikov in ''David Gordon's Made in USA'' for WNET/PBS ''Great Performances''. In 1988, she returned to Rambert as guest artist, performing in a Gordon’s ''Mates''.

Setterfield played Marcel Duchamp in the Bessie- and Obie Award-winning ''The Mysteries & What’s So Funny?'' (1990) and toured Europe and Japan with the White Oak Dance Project in 1992. She has acted in the work of her son, playwright Ain Gordon, at Soho Rep and Dance Theater Workshop and played herself in his ''Art, Life & Show Biz'' at PS 122 and elsewhere. She danced in Gus Solomons Jr.'s ''A Thin Frost'' in 1994.

In film, Setterfield has appeared in the work of Yvonne Rainer and Brian De Palma, and performed the choreography of Graciela Daniele in Woody Allen's ''Mighty Aphrodite'' and ''Everyone Says I Love You''.

On the afternoon of the 10th of September 2001, Setterfield was rehearsing for a performance that was due to take place within a few weeks on a specially constructed stage in the Austin J. Tobin Plaza of the World Trade Center complex next to World Trade Center 1. The rehearsal was cut short half way through due to the rain. The stage was destroyed the next day in the September 11th attacks. She later said in an interview about the attacks "My father was a golfer and he taught me to recognise the sound of a golf ball hitting its target, when I heard that sound I thought that something has hit its target". She was staying a few blocks away from the World Trade Center and saw the impact of American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 and the subsequent collapse of the towers.

In 2003, she danced at the 25th anniversary celebration of British Dance Umbrella, and in 2004/5 she performed in ''Dancing Henry Five'' at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis, Danspace in New York City, the ODC Theatre in San Francisco, and other venues. She played The Old Woman in Eugène Ionesco's ''The Chairs'' at London’s Barbican Theater, On the Boards in Seattle, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival.

She played the role of Bertolt Brecht in Gordon’s ''Uncivil Wars'', which is based on Brechts's '' Roundheads and Pointheads''.

Setterfield has appeared in Jonah Bokaer's ''Player & Prayer'' (2008), with Carmen De Lavallade and Gus Solomons Jr., ''Anchises'' (2010) and ''Occupant'' (2013).

Awards and honors

In 1984 Setterfield received a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie), and in 1995 she, David Gordon and Ain Gordon received an Obie Award for their performances in ''The Family Business'' at Dance Theatre Workshop and New York Theatre Workshop. She received a second Bessie in 2006 for outstanding achievement.

In August 2017, Setterfield was the sole recipient of the "Fringe Angel" award for that year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which she received for her performance in the title role of ''Lear'', created by Irish choreographer John Scott, based on Shakespeare's ''King Lear''.Brennan, Mary (August 27, 2017
"Fringe Dance review: Lear, Dance Base"
'' The Herald''

In September 2019, Setterfield was the recipient of a Dance Magazine Award with David Gordon. The award noted that they "are renowned for the poignant humor of their work together – his uncanny sense of irony has found the ideal vehicle in her straitlaced, British facade."Stahl, Jennifer (September 9, 2019
"Meet the 2019 Dance Magazine Award Honorees"
'' Dance Magazinie''

See also

*Merce Cunningham
* Ain Gordon
* David Gordon

References

Notes

External links

The Voices of Judson Dance Theater
MoMA Magazine
Valda Setterfield on Random Breakfast
MoMA Audio: Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done
*
Valda Setterfield
at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Setterfield, Valda
English female dancers
Living people
1934 births
Contemporary dancers
American film actresses
American stage actresses
People from Margate
Rambert Dance Company dancers
21st-century American women