Choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer explores movement as a political act in various contexts, including stage and screen. In this volume, she introduces the concept of the "rant dance," featuring her latest performance piece, "A Truncated History of the Universe for Dummies," which evolved through live presentations in Dublin, Stockholm, and New York before being adapted in written form. Rainer expresses her frustration with contemporary politics through the persona of Apollo Musagète, Leader of the Muses. The book also includes "Pedagogical Vaudeville 3," a collection of emails and diary entries documenting Rainer's creative process in developing a dance. An extensive interview with Douglas Crimp offers insights into her dance origins and her resurgence in the form since 2000. Rainer and Yale professor Emily Coates discuss the revival of "Parts of Some Sextets" (1965/2019), first performed in November 2019. The texts collectively highlight Rainer's ongoing engagement with reinterpreting material across various mediums and provide a unique look into the methods of a leading dance artist. With an introduction by Gregg Bordowitz and an analysis of Rainer's "AG Indexical with a Little Help from H. M." by Anna Staniczenko, the assembled works serve as a revision of Rainer's five decades of production and a timely guide for performance as an act of resistance.
