Viola Farber


Viola Farber was an American choreographer and dancer.

Biography

Viola Farber was born on February 25, 1931, in Heidelberg, Germany. In Germany, Farber began dancing. However, at the age of six she was discouraged by her parents. At the age of seven, Farber and her family moved to the United States. Even though her parents did not allow her to dance, Farber continued dancing on her own, though she focused more of her energy on learning to play the piano. During the one year that Farber spent at the University of Illinois studying music, she began taking dance classes from Margaret Erlanger. When Farber transferred to George Washington University, she focused on both music and dance. By 1952, Farber had transferred once again, to Black Mountain College was dance with Katherine Litz and music with Lou Harrison.
In 1953, Farber became a founding member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. She created many roles in Cunningham's works, such as Crises, Paired Rune, and Nocturne. Farber is described as being “one of the great individualists of the company”. At this time, she also took various dance classes from Margaret Craske and Alfred Corvino in New York, and from Erika Thimey in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Farber was dancing with other choreographers. She performed the role of the vampire in Litz's Dracula as well as dancing with Paul Taylor's early company. Farber was the only female pianist in the first performance of Erik Satie's Vexations. In 1965, she left Cunningham's company and in 1968, began her own company.

Viola Farber’s Dance Company and style

Through having her own dance company, The Viola Farber Dance Company, Farber developed her own signature dance style. She often used improvisation in her rehearsals and in some of her first works. She allowed her dancers to rearrange and reshape the movement, however she set explicit limits. Her dancers were allowed to do whatever they wanted ”. Farber would almost ask dancers to manipulate the phrase and provided cues for beginning different sections. Although, these cues were never related to the music. Jeff Slayton, a member of the company and Farber’s longtime partner and ex-husband, commented that “if a dance had internal or set musical cues, we changed the music”. Her work challenged audiences and was often found compelling. The pieces Poor Eddie and Willi I were described as sadomasochistic, while No Super, No Boiler and Lead Us Not into Penn Station had humorous themes, and Dune and Nightshade had quiet themes. Most of the Farber's pieces were set to original scores, or were performed in silence. However, a few of her pieces were choreographed to classical music. For example, Nightshade was set to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14.
Farber died on December 24, 1998, in Bronxville, New York.

Works

Choreography by Viola Farber for Viola Farber Dance Company

1968
  • Excerpt
1969
  • Duet For Mirjam and Jeff
  • Quota
  • Passage
  • Standby  
1970
  • Tendency
  • Area Code
  • Curriculum
  • Co-Op
  • Mildred
1971
  • Survey
  • Patience
1972
  • Default
  • Route 6
  • Dune
  • Poor Eddie
1973
  • Soup
  • Spare Change
1974
  • Willi I
  • Some of the Symptoms
  • Dinosaur Parts
  • No Super, No Boiler
  • Defendant
  • Houseguest
1975
  • Motorcycle/Boat
  • Night Shade
  • Duet For Willi and Susan
1976
  • Five Works For Sneakers
  • Some Things I Can Remember
  • Sunday Afternoon
1977
  • Brazos River
  • Lead Us Not Into Penn Station
  • Solo
1978
  • Turf
  • Doublewalk
  • Private Relations
  • Dandelion
  • Local
1979
  • Duet
  • Ledge
  • Tide
1980
  • Tracks
  • Bright Stream
1981
  • ''Bequest''

    Choreography for Viola Farber Dance Company while in residency at Le Centre National de Dance Contemporaine d’Angers (The French National Center for Contemporary Dance) 1981-1983

1981
  • Cinq Pour Dix
  • Attente
  • Villa-Duage
1982
  • Etudes
  • Echanges
1983
  • ''Écritures Sur L’Eau''

    Other works choreographed by Viola Farber

1965
  • Seconds
1965
  • Notebook
1968
  • Time Out
  • Legacy
1969
1970
  • Passengers
1971
1972
  • Window
1973
  • Untitled Work
1975
  • Minnesota Mash
1976
  • Untitled Work
  • Temporary Site
1977
  • Autumn Fields
  • Untitled Work
  • Transfer
1979
  • Jeux Choréographique
  • Clearing
1980
  • Untitled Work
  • Just Correspondence
1981
  • Tea For Three
  • Untitled Work
  • Untitled Work
1982
1983
  • Untitled Work
1984
  • Last Waltz
  • Day’s Return
  • Venom and Antidotes
  • Autumn Edge
1985
  • January –
1987
  • Bank Holiday
  • Passing
  • Winter Rumors
  • Take-Away
  • Preludes
1988
  • Preludes
1989
  • Last Call
1992
  • Ainsi de Suite
1994
  • Threestep –
  • ''It’s Been A While''

    Notable projects

  • 1970s: Brazos River, video collaboration with Robert Rauschenberg and David Tudor
  • 1974: Made site-specific dances at the Bronx Botanical Gardens and in the Staten Island Ferry waiting room.
  • Sunday Afternoon and Private Relations : Farber choreographed these works with a more relaxed feel.

    Teaching career

  • Adelphi University
  • Cunningham Studio
  • Bennington College
  • Appointed by French government to artistic director of Centre National de Danse Contemporiane in Angers
  • Sarah Lawrence College Director of Dance Department