Sally Gross - The Pleasure of Stillness

Sally Gross - The Pleasure of Stillness Synopsis

Sally Gross - The Pleasure of Stillness is a 60 min. documentary about the critically acclaimed New York-based modern dancer and choreographer, Sally Gross. Called 'the most poetic of minimalist modern-dance choreographers' by New York Times dance critic Jennifer Dunning, Sally has been dancing for more than fifty years. Now in her seventies, Sally continues to perform every year. Sally Gross - The Pleasure of Stillness is an intimate film about the life and times of this remarkable and charismatic true New York artist who continues to create experimental work with an unwavering and gentle determination.

Sally Gross was born and grew up in the Lower East Side of New York City during the late 1930's and 1940's. Her first language was Yiddish. She was the last of eight children born to a Polish-Jewish immigrant family with little money and often helped her father sell fruit and vegetables from a horse-drawn wagon as well as acting as a translator for her parents who hardly spoke any English.

Sally's life was very much shaped by the history of the Jewish Settlements in the Lower East Side. At the age of 13, Sally discovered dance during summer camp, sponsored by the local settlement house The Educational Alliance, which to this day has a commitment to fostering connecting and invigorating Jewish life. She then went on to study dance at Henry Street Settlement Playhouse located in the Lower East Side where she studied with celebrated choreographer Alwin Nikolais. There she discovered improvisation, one of the foundations for her dance style.

In the 1950's she became affiliated with the so-called Beat Generation and appeared in the cult avant-garde classic film PULL MY DAISY by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie (1959). Early in the1960's she was part of the Judson Dance Theater, a group of choreographers, visual artists, musicians and writers considered one of the founders of Post Modern Dance. All the while, she remained living in the Lower East Side of New York City.

All through her creative life, Sally has stayed close to her Lower East Side roots. Her past experiences very much inform her choreography. A lot of her dances, specifically her solos, are autobiographical and touch upon themes like her parents' immigrant experience, motherhood, the mother-daughter relationship, mysticism and general meditations on life.