|
||
|
IDENTIFICATION AND BIO: A pathbreaking performance artist and dancer, John Bernd melded dance with "out" gay performance, thereby establishing himself as a prime mover in the downtown performance scene. Also an activist and organizer, Bernd organized a weekly improvisation group called "Open Movement" held at P.S. 122. Originally from Nebraska, Bernd graduated from Antioch College in Ohio with a B.A. in Dance and Performance Studies. After moving to New York, he worked at P.S. 122 and frequently collaborated with Tim Miller. He was one of the first New York performers to die of AIDS.
KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
Tim Miller, ex-lover and friend
Annie Iobst and Lucy Sexton, friends
Dona McAdams, photographer and friend
Ishmael Houston-Jones, friend
HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
Other dancers who knew or worked with Erickson include Joe Pupello, Suchi Bronfman, Deborah Oliver, and Donald Byrd.
VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
The John Bernd Papers at Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University, comprise six boxes of unprocessed material, including production files, sketchbooks and notebooks, slides and photographs, audio and video tapes, clippings, and advertising and other printed material. Permission to use the collection must be requested from the curator. Harvard research and reference librarian Annette Fern (see below) reports that the Bernd collection includes many videotapes, and that they are in multiple formats, some of which are unplayable at the Houghton Library. The collection was the gift of Maryette Charlton, a New York artist and filmmaker who had a particular interest in performance art and apparently knew Bernd. Contact information for the Harvard Theatre Collection is as follows:
Frederic Woodbridge Wilson, curator
PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
She shot practically everything he did at P.S. 122 and most pieces at other places as well. A beautiful photo of John, as well as some of his drawings, appears in her book Caught in the Act (Aperture). Also Tom Brazil in New York has numerous performance photographs of John. On a sad note the photographer Kirk Winslow, with whom John collaborated on several projects, passed away from AIDS complication this summer [2002]. Kirk was the son of the artist Maryette Charlton who is responsible for getting John's archives to Harvard. Miller (1 August 2000), adds that two additional photographers shot Bernd's work: Gene Bagnato (for The Advocate) and Peter Moore (freelance dance photographer).
MOVEMENT NOTATION
PRODUCTION MATERIALS
ORAL HISTORY:
PERSONAL PAPERS
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
An incomplete list: Be Good To Me (n.d.)—at P.S. 122 with Anne Iobst, Jennifer Monson, and a boy named "Youngblood" Emmanuel according to Lucy Sexton article. Monkey Go West (n.d.)— at P.S. 122; solo work. Live Boys (1980)—ongoing collaboration with his then lover, Tim Miller; a dance/text/slide creation following two boys through their love affair on the Lower East Side.
Surviving Love and Death (1982)—about the breakup of relationships; AIDS was referred to as "the new gay cancer"; this was also possibly the first performance to discuss AIDS in the first person according to Advocate article (see below). Untitled (1983)—at the Sternzeichen Festival in Frankfort at the Theater-am-Turm. Untitled (1984)—at the Tanz Fabrik in West Berlin as part of the Mann Tanz Festival; improvised duet with John Bernd, and Ishmael Houston-Jones Lost and Found: Scenes From a Life (1986)—awarded a Bessie; there were three versions:
Odyssey on Art on the Beach (1986 or 87)—sponsored by Creative Time; Houston-Jones describes the performance as "a wild outdoor spectacle version." Two on the Loose (1988)—at P.S. 122, Bernd's final performance, a duet with Jennifer Monson.
|
||
|
index of choreographers »
TOP |
