Viola Farber (February 25, 1931 – December 24, 1998) was an American choreographer and dancer.

Biography

Viola Farber was born on February 25, 1931, in

Heidelberg, Germany Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. In Germany, Farber began dancing. However, at the age of six she was told by her parents, “No, you cannot do this anymore”. At the age of seven, Farber and her family moved to the United States. Even though her parents did not allow her to dance, Farber continued dancing on her own, though she focused more of her energy on learning to play the piano. During the one year that Farber spent at the University of Illinois studying music, she began taking dance classes from Margaret Erlanger. When Farber transferred to

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

, she focused on both music and dance. By 1952, Farber had transferred once again, to

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...

was dance with Katherine Litz and music with

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...

. In 1953, Farber became a founding member of the

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

Dance Company. She created many roles in Cunningham's works, such as ''Crises'', ''Paired Rune'', and ''Nocturne''. Farber is described as being “one of the great individualists of the company”. At this time, she also took various dance classes from

Margaret Craske Margaret Craske (26 November 1892 – 18 February 1990) was a British ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher of ballet. Life Margaret Craske was born on 26 November 1892 in Norfolk, England,Debra Craine, Judith Mackrell (2010). ''The Oxford Di ...

and Alfred Corvino in New York, and from Erika Thimey in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Farber was dancing with other choreographers. She performed the role of the vampire in Litz's ''Dracula'' as well as dancing with Paul Taylor's early company. Farber was the only female pianist in the first performance of

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

's ''

Vexations ''Vexations'' is a musical work by Erik Satie. Apparently conceived for keyboard (although the single page of manuscript does not specify an instrument), it consists of a short theme in the bass whose four presentations are heard alternatingly ...

'' (organized by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

, and lasting over 18 hours). In 1965, she left Cunningham's company and in 1968, began her own company.

Viola Farber’s Dance Company and style

Through having her own dance company, The Viola Farber Dance Company, Farber was able to develop her own dance style. She often used improvisation in her rehearsals and in some of her first works. She allowed her dancers to rearrange and reshape the movement, however she set explicit limits. Her dancers were allowed to do whatever they wanted ”. Farber would almost ask dancers to manipulate the phrase and provided cues for beginning different sections. Although, these cues were never related to the music. Jeff Slayton, a member of the company and Farber’s longtime partner and ex-husband, commented that “if a dance had internal or set musical cues, we changed the music”. Her work challenged audiences and was often found compelling. The pieces ''Poor Eddie'' (1973) and ''Willi I'' (1974) were described as sadomasochistic, while ''No Super, No Boiler'' (1974) and ''Lead Us Not into Penn Station'' (1975) had humorous themes, and ''Dune'' and ''Nightshade'' (both choreographed in the early 1970s) had quiet themes. Most of the Farber's pieces were set to original scores, or were performed in silence. However, a few of her pieces were choreographed to classical music. For example, Nightshade was set to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14. Farber died on December 24, 1998, in Bronxville, New York.

Works

Choreography by Viola Farber for Viola Farber Dance Company

1968 * ''Excerpt'' 1969 * ''Duet For Mirjam and Jeff'' * ''Quota'' * ''Passage'' * ''Standby'' 1970 * ''Tendency'' * ''Area Code'' * ''Curriculum'' * ''Co-Op'' * ''Mildred'' 1971 * ''Survey'' * ''Patience'' 1972 * ''Default'' * ''Route 6'' * ''Dune'' * ''Poor Eddie'' 1973 * ''Soup'' * ''Spare Change'' 1974 * ''Willi I'' * ''Some of the Symptoms'' * ''Dinosaur Parts'' * ''No Super, No Boiler'' * ''Defendant'' * ''Houseguest'' 1975 * ''Motorcycle/Boat'' * ''Night Shade'' * ''Duet For Willi and Susan'' 1976 * ''Five Works For Sneakers'' * ''Some Things I Can Remember'' * ''Sunday Afternoon'' 1977 * ''Brazos River (Collaboration with Robert Rauschenberg, David Tudor, Fort Worth Museum – Dance on Camera)'' * ''Lead Us Not Into Penn Station'' * ''Solo'' 1978 * ''Turf'' * ''Doublewalk'' * ''Private Relations'' * ''Dandelion'' * ''Local'' 1979 * ''Duet'' * ''Ledge'' * ''Tide'' 1980 * ''Tracks'' * ''Bright Stream'' 1981 * ''Bequest''

Choreography for Viola Farber Dance Company while in residency at Le Centre National de Dance Contemporaine d’Angers (The French National Center for Contemporary Dance) 1981-1983

1981 * ''Cinq Pour Dix'' * ''Attente'' * ''Villa-Duage'' 1982 * ''Etudes'' * ''Echanges'' 1983 * ''Écritures Sur L’Eau''

Other works choreographed by Viola Farber

1965 * ''Seconds'' (Solo for Viola Farber) 1965 * ''Notebook'' (Quartet for June Finch, Margaret Jenkins, Dan Wagoner, and Rosalind Newman) 1968 * ''Time Out'' (Solo for Viola Farber) * ''Legacy'' (Solo for Viola Farber) 1969 * ''Tristan and Iseult'' (Duet collaboration with Don Redlich) * ''The Music of Conlon Nancarrow'' (Collaboration with Peter Saul) 1970 * ''Passengers'' (Repertory Dance Theater- Utah) 1971 * ''Pop. 18'' (Ohio State University, Columbus) * ''Pop. 11'' (NYU Performing Arts) * ''Five In The Morning'' (Repertory Dance Theater) 1972 * ''Window'' (Ruth Currier Dance Company) 1973 * ''Untitled Work'' (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) 1975 * ''Minnesota Mash'' (University of Minnesota, Minn.) 1976 * ''Untitled Work'' (Margaret Jenkins Workshop in San Francisco) * ''Temporary Site'' (Nancy Hauser Dance Company, Minneapolis) 1977 * ''Autumn Fields'' (Ballet Theatre Contemporaine, Angers) * ''Untitled Work'' (Viola Farber Workshop, NYC) * ''Transfer'' (Nancy Hauser Dance Company, Minneapolis) 1979 * ''Jeux Choréographique'' (Ballet Theatre Français and Larry Clark in Lyon, France) * ''Clearing'' (Solo for Ze’eva Cohen) 1980 * ''Untitled Work'' (Janet Gillespie and Present Co.) * ''Just Correspondence'' (Duet/collaboration – Viola Farber and Jeff Slayton) 1981 * ''Tea For Three (Duet for Viola Farber and Sarah Stackhouse)'' * ''Untitled Work'' (Solo for Susannah Payton-Newman) * ''Untitled Work'' (Viola Farber Workshop, NYC) 1982 * ''Meanwhile Back In the City'' (Duet/collaboration Viola Farber and Jeff Slayton) 1983 * ''Untitled Work'' (Duet/collaboration Viola Farber and Jeff Slayton) 1984 * ''Last Waltz'' (Duet/collaboration Viola Farber and Jeff Slayton) * ''Day’s Return'' (Long Beach Summer School of Dance – CSULB) * ''Venom and Antidotes'' (London Contemporary Dance School) * ''Autumn Edge'' (London Contemporary Dance School) 1985 * ''January'' – (Last performance of Viola Farber Dance Company – Dance made for television in Devon, England – Television South West London) 1987 * ''Bank Holiday'' (London Contemporary Dance School) * ''Passing'' (London Contemporary Dance School) * ''Winter Rumors'' (Extemporary Dance Theatre, London) * ''Take-Away'' (Extemporary Dance Theatre, London) * ''Preludes'' (Nation Youth Dance Company, London) 1988 * ''Preludes'' (New Dance Ensemble – Minneapolis, Minn.) 1989 * ''Last Call'' (Solo for Douglas Nielsen) 1992 * ''Ainsi de Suite'' (Duet/collaboration Viola Farber and Mathilde Monnier) 1994 * ''Threestep (Ship Wreck)'' – (Duet/collaboration Viola Farber and Ralph Lemon 1996 * ''Dreams of Wind and Dust'' (CE DE CE, Setubal, Portugal) * ''It’s Been A While'' (Duet/collaboration Viola Farber and Jeff Slayton)

Notable projects

*1970s: ''Brazos River'', video collaboration with

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

and

David Tudor David Eugene Tudor (January 20, 1926 – August 13, 1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music. Life and career Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan ...

*1974: Made site-specific dances at the Bronx Botanical Gardens and in the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

waiting room. *''Sunday Afternoon'' (1976) and ''Private Relations'' (1979): Farber choreographed these works with a more relaxed feel.

Teaching career

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

(1959–1967) *Cunningham Studio (1961–1969) *

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

(1967–1968) *Appointed by French government to artistic director of Centre National de Danse Contemporiane in Angers (1981–1983) *

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

Director of Dance Department (1988–1998)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farber, Viola 1931 births 1998 deaths American choreographers Black Mountain College alumni American women choreographers 20th-century American dancers American female dancers 20th-century American women People from Heidelberg German emigrants to the United States Adelphi University faculty Bennington College faculty Sarah Lawrence College faculty