Explore the groundbreaking performances and creative collaborations of
iconic Scottish dancer and choreographer Michael Clark.
Hailed as British dance's true iconoclast, Michael Clark is a defining
cultural figure in the contemporary dance world. Since emerging in the
early 1980s as a prodigy at London's Royal Ballet School, Clark has
remained at the forefront of innovation in dance, working in close
collaboration with a broad range of pioneering artists such as Sarah
Lucas, Leigh Bowery, Charles Atlas, Cerith Wyn Evans, Peter Doig,
Elizabeth Peyton, Wolfgang Tillmans and musicians such as Mark E. Smith,
Wire, Scritti Politti, and Relaxed Muscle. As a young choreographer,
Clark brought together his classical ballet training with London's club
culture, fashion, and punk rock to establish himself as one of the most
innovative artists working in modern dance. His work--variously
referencing punk, rock, and pop--is marked by a mixture of technical
rigor and experimentation in a way that disrupts and reimagines our
understanding of dance. This book features a series of enlightening
essays and vivid illustrations of Clark's best-known performances,
alongside archival material. Loosely tracing the chronological evolution
of his career, a variety of cultural figures--ranging from Jarvis Cocker
to Charles Atlas--write about the countercultural undercurrents with
which Clark's work connects.
