Title: Portrait of Francoise
Premiere: Commissioned by and performed at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in 1992 as part of the evening, “Picasso and Friends.” Presented by Ann Arbor Dance Works. Subsequently performed at the UM Slusser Art Gallery, on the occasion of Francoise Gilot’s visit to UM as commencement speaker and exhibitor for the School of Art (4/94).
Duration: 8 minutes
Text: Excerpts from my Life with Picasso by Francoise Gilot, and Picasso: Creator and Destroyer, by Arianna Huffington
Music: Stephen Rush and the following works by Erik Satie:
I. Passacaille
II. Enfantillages Pittoresques
a. Petite Prelude a la journee
b. Berceuse
III. Pieces Froides: Troisieme Danse de Travers
IV. Prelude d'Eginhard
Dancer: Jessica Fogel
Narrator: Leigh Woods
Costume: Susannah Keith
Mask for 1994 performance: Ted Ramsay
Props: Jessica Fogel
Description: Commissioned by the University of Michigan Museum of Art in 1992, this dance is a ten minute excerpt from a 45-minute performance, which, it its entirety, was entitled An Evening with Picasso and Friends. The performance was created to celebrate the museum's exhibit of newly acquired Picasso paintings, one of which was a portrait of Francoise Gilot. The performance consisted of narrative text, slide projections, dance and music interludes, and was based on Picasso's circle of friends. In 1994 the University of Michigan School of Art was awarding Francoise Gilot an honorary doctorate and heard about the solo I had created based upon Picasso’s portrait of her. THey asked if I would perform the solo at a private dinner held on her behalf in the Slusser Gallery. I agreed, on the condition that I first let Francoise know that there was quite a lot of text about her difficult relationship with Picasso. They arranged to call her on the phone in Paris, and I told her about the nature of the solo. She replied, “Well my dear, I lived through it with Picasso. I think I can see a dance about it!” From the 1994 press release: “[The] solo paints a dramatic portrait of painter Francoise Gilot and her stormy relationship with Pablo Picasso. Using a baby carriage, paintbrush and tree branch, Ms. Fogel traces the tension of their decade long relationship.”
Preview photo of Fogel, Ann Arbor News
Letter from Dean Allen Samuels
Francoise Gilot, Stephen Rush, Jessica Fogel. Photo taken after the 1994 performance in the Slusser Gallery at University of Michigan.