Score for DEAD and DEAD have been published in Out of Character: Rants, Raves and Monologues from Today’s Top Performance Artists (Bantam, 1996) and in Footnotes: Six Choreographers Inscribe the Page (G+B Arts, 1998).
SCORE FOR D E A D
D E A D is a solo dance/performance piece created 8 June 1981 as part of a celebration of my 30th birthday.
A. On the evening before performing the dance, pre-record a list of every death I can remember which has occurred during my lifetime. Allow pauses for memory lapses. Even if I am not sure a death happened in the last 30 years, if it seems like a real death in the moment, I must say it. Allow for people and pets I've known personally; relatives of people I've known; deaths of celebrities I've experienced through the news media; and fictional characters whose deaths seem real to me at the time.
B. On the day of performance play the tape.
C. For the first 3 or 4 names stand still and as I hear each name make the American Sign Language sign for DEAD. (I.e., left hand open with palm facing downward and right hand open with palm facing upward. Turn both hands over so that they are in the opposite orientation from their starting positions.)
D. When I hear a name that has a particular resonance for me fall down to the floor in some emblematic way and try to rise again before the next name is called. As the next, and the next and then the next names are spoken repeat the falling to the floor and rising dance for each name.
E. Try not to anticipate a death. Try not to remember the death until I hear myself speak it on the tape. Try to respond to the death in the moment. Try to let go of the death as I rise from the floor.
F. Continue until there are no more names, (about 10 minutes). Allow myself to become exhausted with the effort. Don't stop until the dance is over.
D E A D
JFK RFK Martin Luther King Fred Hampton Field Marshall Cinque Jim Jones Kitty Genovese Grandma Shadwick Grandpa Shadwick Aunt Sister Uncle Son Adrian James Charlie Jones Jones, Charles H. USMC Cathy Noland Nick Adams Monty Jean Seberg John 23 Paul 6 John Paul 1 LBJ Hubert Humphrey Martha Mitchell Judy Garland Hop-a-long Cassidy Jacque Brel Phil Ochs Rango Nugget the First Nugget the Second Zincy Roy Campanella Joe Louis Ezra Charles Emile Griffith Bob Crane Sal Mineo Clark Gable Marilyn Patrice Lumumba Joseph Kasabuvu All 8 except Corazón Amuro Jack Ruby Joe Kennedy Franco Eichmann Gary Gilmore Reza Pahlavi Ike Mamie Warren's mother Warren's father Jeff's grandmother Kathy's sister Larry's dog Ginsberg's mother Ginsberg's father Jim Morrison Jimi Hendrix Gus Grissom Janis Joplin Gracey Allen Jack Benny Spanky Charlie Chaplin The man who used to sing on Jackie Gleason One of the Rolling Stones John Lennon Maria Callas Queen Fredericka King Paul The Duke of Winsor Duke Ellington John Wayne Superman Lassie Ramón Navarro Patsy Cline Michael Bloomfield Sharon Percy Sharon Tate Inga Stevens Jayne Mansfield Bess and Harry Truman De Gaulle/ Piaf/ Malcolm X/ Helen Keller/ Sid Vicious 2 at Jackson State 4 at Kent State A lot at My Lai Less than a thousand at Jonestown Wil Jonnson Charles Geary Manya Starkman Miss Kunkel Wally Cox James Dean Ernie Kovac Joan Crawford Khrushchev Dag Hammarskjöld Madam Nu's Husband Louis Armstrong Golda Meir
