Sarah & Simone in Unbuttoned Sleeves (2005) Photo by Carol Petersen
"The liveliest of the original mavericks of postmodern dance.” - New Yorker Magazine, 2001
Sarah has been working with Simone Forti since 1998, exploring improvisations, writing, and performing. Together with improvisation artist Luke Johnson and musician/composer Douglas Wadle, they collaborated on five evening length works, performing together as Simone Forti & The Sleeves in Los Angeles. Their anthology, Unbuttoned Sleeves, was published by Beyond Baroque in 2006, edited by Fred Dewey. Watch joyland, a solo created for Simone by Sarah from To Borrow Salt.
Sarah gives workshops in the Practices of Simone Forti, and performs News Animations and classic solos.
Sarah is the principal stager and the International Performance Coordinator of Forti's seminal 1960's oeuvre,
Dance Constructions, acquired by MoMA in December 2015. For Dance Constructions loan information, contact Ana Janevski.
At Work With The Dance Constructions
By Sarah Swenson - Perspectives Magazine, National Gallery Singapore, July 2, 2021
RAI Television Documentary: Simone Forti.The Art of Movement. RAI Television.
View on RAIPLAY.it, register for free to view, click registrati
Simone Forti is represented by The Box Gallery, Los Angeles, and Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano.
Getty Acquires Simone Forti Archive
Sarah gives workshops in the Practices of Simone Forti, and performs News Animations and classic solos.
Sarah is the principal stager and the International Performance Coordinator of Forti's seminal 1960's oeuvre,
Dance Constructions, acquired by MoMA in December 2015. For Dance Constructions loan information, contact Ana Janevski.
At Work With The Dance Constructions
By Sarah Swenson - Perspectives Magazine, National Gallery Singapore, July 2, 2021
RAI Television Documentary: Simone Forti.The Art of Movement. RAI Television.
View on RAIPLAY.it, register for free to view, click registrati
Simone Forti is represented by The Box Gallery, Los Angeles, and Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano.
Getty Acquires Simone Forti Archive
Photo by Sarah Swenson, 2004
Simone Forti - a rain or shine backyard performance - October 17, 2004
Venice – Simone Forti and guests graced the front and back yards of the Beyond Baroque Literary Center on Sunday
afternoon, with selections from Forti’s repertoire spanning four decades. Surrounded by loyal fans, friends, and other
artists, the program began with Huddle (1961), a living, moving sculpture, performed with necessary concentration and
agility by regular attendees of Forti’s Friday afternoon Logomotion workshop. Moving to the backyard, Forti continued with
her 1975 improvisational solo, Striding Crawling, based on her observation and exploration of the movements of other
species. Using her trademark Logomotion form, Ms. Forti occasionally spoke while moving, commenting on the quality, shape
and motivation of various animals; her embodiment of birds was particularly lovely and evocative. See Saw (1960) was
performed by local choreographer Carmela Hermann and video artist Andre Andreev. This structured improvisational
relationship set atop an actual see saw, elicited anticipation from the viewers and developed nicely with a sense of tension,
finding a calm resolution. The program concluded with one of Ms. Forti’s ongoing News Animations - this one commenced
with her struggle to unfold a representation of an American flag and to lie uncomfortably beneath it. Very moving, and often
humorous, Forti uttered a stream of consciousness dealing with militarism, the meaning of home, life in the garden, and the
heartbreaking toughness and fragility of our existence. Soon to be 70 years old, Simone Forti was a beauty this overcast
afternoon, moving with compelling freedom and honesty from her heart, soul and very vibrant consciousness.
Venice – Simone Forti and guests graced the front and back yards of the Beyond Baroque Literary Center on Sunday
afternoon, with selections from Forti’s repertoire spanning four decades. Surrounded by loyal fans, friends, and other
artists, the program began with Huddle (1961), a living, moving sculpture, performed with necessary concentration and
agility by regular attendees of Forti’s Friday afternoon Logomotion workshop. Moving to the backyard, Forti continued with
her 1975 improvisational solo, Striding Crawling, based on her observation and exploration of the movements of other
species. Using her trademark Logomotion form, Ms. Forti occasionally spoke while moving, commenting on the quality, shape
and motivation of various animals; her embodiment of birds was particularly lovely and evocative. See Saw (1960) was
performed by local choreographer Carmela Hermann and video artist Andre Andreev. This structured improvisational
relationship set atop an actual see saw, elicited anticipation from the viewers and developed nicely with a sense of tension,
finding a calm resolution. The program concluded with one of Ms. Forti’s ongoing News Animations - this one commenced
with her struggle to unfold a representation of an American flag and to lie uncomfortably beneath it. Very moving, and often
humorous, Forti uttered a stream of consciousness dealing with militarism, the meaning of home, life in the garden, and the
heartbreaking toughness and fragility of our existence. Soon to be 70 years old, Simone Forti was a beauty this overcast
afternoon, moving with compelling freedom and honesty from her heart, soul and very vibrant consciousness.
-Sarah Swenson
Windows on the World - Claudia La Rocco on Simone Forti
Artforum Summer 2023
Dancer Simone Forti's moving survey show at MOCA
by Christopher Knight - LA Times, March 16, 2023
Simone Forti’s Experiments Transcribing Bodies in Motion
by Jori Finkel - New York Times, February 8, 2023
All Positions Possible: Simone Forti Across Time, Through Community
by Catherine Wagley -Momus.ca, January 31, 2023
Simone Forti: Fortissimo
Fjord Review January 2023, by Victoria Looseleaf
News Animations book launch
NYC 12-9-21
with Simone Forti, Luca Lo Pinto, Cristiana Perrella, Sarah Swenson, Ana Janevski
Simone Forti: A Collection of Materials Related to the Transmission of My Work
October 2021: Pompeii Commitment English Italian
Capisco il mondo, ma a modo mio. Un dialogo con Simone Forti
Flashart.it, October 6, 2021
Illuminations with Charlemagne Palestine & Sarah Swenson at Centro Pecci finissage di Senza Fretta
Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, September 2021
Simone Forti.Senza Fretta
Centro Pecci WebTV, August 2021
YouTube
Al Pecci di Prato la grande mostra di Simone Forti, la prima in un museo italiano
Arte Magazine, June 21, 2021 Capisco il mondo, ma a modo mio.
Un dialogo con Simone Forti
Video Huddle in MoMA at NGV, National Gallery Victoria 2018
with Christian Rattemeyer & Sarah Swenson
Moving In, Moving On
By Ann Haskins
LA Dance Chronicle, March 26, 2020
Getty Acquires Simone Forti Archive
NewsGetty.edu, 2-27-2020