How extraordinary everyday relationships shape dance.
Excursion for Miracles is an intimate portrait of the early choreographic careers of Donya Feuer and Paul Sanasardo, and the artistic significance of their Studio for Dance in New York City. These two dynamic individuals were committed to breaking set ways of thinking about dance in relation to life, and their work with a group of very young children and dancers such as Pina Bausch anticipated radical cultural thought of the 1960s, particularly with the unrecognized masterpiece “Laughter after All.” Author Mark Franko, who danced with Sanasardo for five years, also brings to life the creativity and intimacy involved in four Feuer/Sanasardo evening-length ballets. The book is lavishly illustrated with 75 stunning black and white still shots of the dancers that capture their energy at precise moments, giving sight to the conversation and analyses surrounding them.
“The interplay of memory, critical theory, and history that underlay Franko’s text is fascinating. A unique and valuable document, it offers the opportunity to hear a dance scholar speak about an artist’s work from deep inside the art.” —Janice Ross, author of Moving Lessons
“A fascinating account of a corner of New York culture hidden from view in its own time and passed over by official histories. Concurrent with the more controversial Judson Dance Theater, Sanasardo / Feuer operated in a parallel universe. Franko provides a vivid and scholarly chronicle of their social milieu, aesthetics, and the passionate enclave they created.”—Yvonne Rainer, Filmmaker and Choreographer
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MARK FRANKO is a dancer, choreographer, and Professor of Dance and Performance Studies at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He is the author of The Work of Dance (Wesleyan, 2002) and co-editor of Acting on the Past (Wesleyan, 2000).
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