Meredith Monk

As one of site-specific performance's pioneers, Meredith Monk expanded the boundaries of postmodern music and dance. Her earliest experiences started during the late 1960s. After utilizing non-traditional performing spaces, other directors and choreographers were introduced to the challenge of identifying and using alternative performing spaces as well. She is well known as a visionary artist in terms of film, theater, music, and dance, as her career lasted for about four decades. She has received recognition and a number of different awards: the MacArthur “Genius” Award, a Brandeis Creative...

As one of site-specific performance's pioneers, Meredith Monk expanded the boundaries of postmodern music and dance. Her earliest experiences started during the late 1960s. After utilizing non-traditional performing spaces, other directors and choreographers were introduced to the challenge of identifying and using alternative performing spaces as well. She is well known as a visionary artist in terms of film, theater, music, and dance, as her career lasted for about four decades. She has received recognition and a number of different awards: the MacArthur “Genius” Award, a Brandeis Creative Arts award, two Bessie awards for Sustained Creative Achievement, and several others. This chapter provides an interview with Monk in her New York loft on October 14, 2006 in which she articulates how she had been able to incorporate layering, multiplicity, time as a sculptural element, dialogue, framing, and other concepts into her work.