Oberlin Beginnings. Oberlin faculty member, Brenda Way, pulls together the Collective. Original Collective Members: Doug Baxter, Kimi Okada, Sue Peffley, Doug Winter, Laura Thrower, Brenda Way, Peter Klein, Chris Peck, Beverly Vaughn, Marc Beckerman, Nancy Stark Smith, Sam Felder, Michelle Goldfarb.
Warner Gym
(Kimi Okada)
1972
The Collective spends its first summer on Martha's Vineyard. They build a stage in sand dunes and sleep in tents.
(Photo by Doug Winter)
The Collective's initial foray into site specific work: Chappaquidick by Peter Klein
(Photo by Doug Winter)
Brenda begins work on Randolph Coleman's 6-part improvisational music series. A range of formal numerical systems drive the work.
(Photo by Doug Winter)
Visual artist Jean Kondo choreographs Especially in Those Red Sneakers
(Photo by Doug Winter)
1973
Brenda Way creates the site-specific Museum Piece Part I at the Oberlin Arboretum: 600 feet of fabric outline the contours of the landscape.
In Part II: At the Warner Gym, architecture of the building dominates the investigation.
Brenda brings the Grand Union - David Gordon/Yvonne Rainer/Douglas Dunn/Steve Paxton/Barbara Dilley - to Oberlin for a month-long residency during which Steve Paxton gives birth to contact improvisation.
Kimi rehearsing at Warner Gym at Oberlin College.
(Photo by Doug Winter)
The making of Niobe's Dream.
(Photo by Doug Winter)
1974
Kimi creates Time and Again, a polyphonic rhythm piece danced to music created by body percussion.
(Photo by Doug Winter)
Brenda dancing in Time and Again
Brenda Way and Pam Quinn choreograph A Natural History.
(Photo by Doug Winter)
1975
In a departure from formal constraints, Brenda Way explores autobiography as source and choreographs Niobe's Dream to a commissioned score by Fred Israel.
The Collective makes a three-week tour of the Northwest: Oregon, Seattle, and Vancouver.
(Seattle Tour Photo by Paul Dorpat)
1976
KT joins the Collective.
Brenda, on sabbatical from Oberlin college, buys the legendary yellow school bus which takes the Collective to San Francisco where they find and renovate their first home at 223 Mississippi Street and set up shop: two studios, a visual arts gallery and a correcting selectric typewriter.
The Collective offers contemporary dance classes for adults and runs seasonal workshops. The Performing Arts Forum launches featuring monthly performances by Bay Area artists. New Performance Journal is published, dedicated to the discussion of art and performance-Brenda Way, Pam Quinn, Michael O' Connor take editorial lead, with graphic design by Doug Winter. Contributors over four years include: Susan Sontag, Moira Roth, Michael Walsh, Roger Copeland, Irene Oppenheim, Winston Tong, Brenda Way, Wendy Rogers, Athena Tacha, George Coates, and Michael O' Connor.
(Photos by Doug Winter)