"Analog Among Nations / WB: Sewing Circle" and "Trio A with Flags": Performances by Renée Petropoulos and Yvonne Rainer

The Broad and the Wende have come together to present two performances by artists Renée Petropoulos (Analog Among Nations: 2022 / WB: Sewing Circle) and Yvonne Rainer (Trio A with Flags, 1970) that engage issues of identity, national symbolism, and globalization. In conjunction with The Broad and the Wende’s respective exhibitions exploring the meanings and inferences of national flags, the first performance will take place at The Broad as part of their special exhibition This Is Not America’s Flag on Saturday, August 27. On Sunday, August 28, the Wende will host the second performance underneath the flags of our current exhibition, The Medium is the Message: Flags and Banners, with doors opening at 6 p.m. for the performance, which will include a reception prior to the event start as well as during intermission.

Renée Petropoulos’ Analog Among Nations: 2022 is a work that begins as a consideration of national anthems. It features various voices describing, singing, and remembering pasts and histories that call forth the specificity of place. Through sound, the cacophony of feeling intertwined with faith can reveal the constructions of our societies of nations.

Trio A with Flags (1970), a version of Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A (1966, originally titled The Mind is a Muscle, Part 1), was first performed in Judson Memorial Church in 1970 by members of the Grand Union at the opening of The People’s Flag Show, an art exhibition mounted to protest the recent arrests of people purportedly ‘desecrating’ the American flag. This iteration of the dance was performed wearing “only an American flag tied like a bib around the neck.” Rainer described the performance as “a double protest” against both censorship and war, and in her book, WORK 1961-73, she writes, “To combine the flag and nudity seemed a double-barreled attack on repression and censorship.” Yvonne Rainer granted permission for her Trio A with Flags to be taught by Brittany Bailey to Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi.

Choreography: Yvonne Rainer

Reconstructor: Brittany Bailey

Performers: Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi

Yvonne Rainer was a cofounder of Judson Dance Theater in 1962. She made dances from 1960 to 1973, made feature-length films between 1972 and 1996, and returned to dance in 2000. A memoir, Feelings Are Facts: A Life, was published in 2006 by MIT Press.

Brittany Bailey has trained with Merce Cunningham as well as whirled with the dervishes of the Mevlevi Order. Bailey has performed at MoMA with Yvonne Rainer in the exhibition, Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done (2018) and in Marina Abramović’s retrospective, The Artist is Present (2010). In 2011, Bailey was a member of the Michael Clark Company for performances at the Tate Modern. Bailey currently studies at Columbia University and has worked with Yvonne Rainer since 2016.

Mike Tyus was Born in Seattle, Washington and raised in Los Angeles, California where he first started training in dance, gymnastics, and wrestling at several academies throughout the city. Each teacher invoked a different movement style and provided a unique drumbeat for Tyus. This would inform him for years to come has he redefines dance in a modern world. Tyus has been performing and creating dance for the stage, print, and screen for over 15 years. He has worked with Cirque Du Soleil, Pilobolus Dance Theater, Whim Whim Contemporary Dance, Apple, Veuve Clicquot, Facebook, FKA Twigs, Sia, MTV, Danny Elfman, Sidi Larbi Cherkoui, WMagazine, The Broad’s L.A. Intersections: Music, Language, Movement series, and Jacob Jonas The Company. His pursuit for truth and human connection through the performing arts continues to lead him on quite an adventure, 20 countries and four continents. Traveling has given him a broader perspective on how to relate to the world through story and given him a thirst for diverse interactions. Through his experience as a performer, he’s gained insight on how to lead artists to finding their individual voice and crafting visually exciting moments that evoke emotion on stage. Community and Creation are at the core of Tyus’ mission and continue to drive his efforts in crafting work that feeds the human spirit and reflects the times in which we live in.

Luca Renzi is a choreographer, movement /creative director and video artist. He was born in Bern, Switzerland and is based in Los Angeles, CA. He trained at the University of Zurich under Jochen Heckmann (Germany) and Andrea von Gunten. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts with his Masters of Fine Arts in Dance with a concentration in Choreography & Dance/Technology under the direction of Sean Curran. Renzi was a member of the Vivo Ballet Contemporary dance company in New York. Luca was on tour with recording artist INNA from Rumania, danced in music videos for Jackson Wang and directed music videos for Soaky Siren. Recently he is assisting Mike Tyus & Co. in videography and choreography.

Please note: that this performance includes nudity.

These performances will be filmed. By attending you consent to be photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded and to any use of resulting media throughout the universe in perpetuity.

Parking at the Wende will be limited due to Fiesta La Ballona. We encourage guests to consider utilizing carpooling and public transit. 

Free. RSVP Here.