This review takes stock of the iterative, evolving nature of Yvonne Rainer’s “magnum opus,” The Mind Is a Muscle (1966–68), based on an April 1968 presentation of the evening-length work at the Anderson Theatre. Don McDonagh characterizes the work as pluralistic, highly personal, engaged with the task-like manipulation of basic props, and invested in process over product. His judgment is ultimately negative, as he compares the overall effect to “the looks of an unorganized day,” but his observations are nevertheless an accurate portrayal of the means and aesthetics of Rainer’s contribution to experimental performance, process art, and postmodern dance, which her peers and later audiences would come to celebrate. Of note, the reviewer’s fixation on Rainer’s props getting in the way of “‘purer’ dance choreography” (the preferred element here) parallels the response of critics to John Cage’s theatrical use of everyday objects in his music compositions.
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| Title | “Miss Rainer Offers ‘Mind Is a Muscle,’” New York Times |
| Maker | Don McDonagh (American, 1932–2019) |
| Date | 12 April 1968 |
| Type | press clipping |
| Location | Getty Research Institute, Yvonne Rainer Papers, 2006.M.24, box 22, folder 4 |
Cite
McDonagh, Don. “Miss Rainer Offers ‘Mind Is a
Muscle,’” New York Times, 12 April 1968.
Getty Research Institute, Yvonne Rainer Papers,
2006.M.24, box 22, folder 4. In
The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music,
Art, Poetry, and Dance, 1950–1975, ed. Michael Gallope, Natilee Harren, and John
Hicks. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2025.
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