In We Shall Run (1963), dancers in everyday street clothes jog in groups across the stage, splintering off into smaller or larger groups over the course of the performance. At times, all the dancers join together in one forward motion; at others, they split into groups of equal size or smaller pods (of one to three people) splinter away, crossing the others’ paths and eventually rejoining the larger group. From time to time, a sole dancer weaves through an existing group in motion. There is no narrative context, just the music of the “Tuba mirum” passage from Hector Berlioz’s Requiem, which provides a surprising contrast to the generic affect and unchanging pace of the dancers’ collective movement. This performance of We Shall Run was also captured by Babette Mangolte in photographs.
Used with Permission. © Yvonne Rainer.
