Rainer, Yvonne

Rainer, Yvonne

(1934– ) modern dancer, choreographer, filmmaker; born in San Francisco. She trained at the Martha Graham School in New York and with Ann Halprin in California before studying with Merce Cunningham and Robert Dunn in the early 1960s. A pivotal member of the Judson Dance Theatre, she choreographed and appeared in the majority of their works. In 1970 she choreographed Continuous Project—Altered Daily for her own company. She then turned to making experimental films such as Lives of Performers (1972) and Privilege (1990). In 1990 she won a MacArthur Foundation grant.