The ICA presents the first comprehensive American exhibition of performative objects, video installations, and interactive sculptures of the internationally celebrated choreographer William Forsythe.

World renowned, Forsythe is counted among the foremost choreographers of our time. For over four decades he has created productions that redefine classical ballet’s vocabulary, and his groundbreaking approach to choreography, staging, lighting, and dance analysis has influenced countless choreographers and artists. Since the 1990s, parallel to his stage productions, Forsythe has developed installations, sculptures, and films that he calls Choreographic Objects. Blurring the lines between performance, sculpture, and installation, his Choreographic Objects invite the viewer to engage with the fundamental ideas of choreography. These site-responsive, interactive works are designed to stimulate movement from visitors through interactions with kinetic sculptures, video projections, and architectural environments. The exhibition features large-scale installations, including several works developed for the ICA. Via the artist’s instructions for action posted on the wall next to the works, visitors are invited to move freely through the performative exhibition and generate an infinite range of individual choreographies.

William Forsythe: Choreographic Objects coincides with Forsythe’s five-year residency at the Boston Ballet, providing audiences with instrumental insight into his pioneering choreographic work across different platforms. The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated publication featuring writers from the disciplines of both dance and art.

William Forsythe was born in New York in 1949, and resides in Vermont. Trained in classical ballet in Florida and New York, Forsythe joined the Stuttgart Ballett in 1973 and went on to direct the Ballett Frankfurt for twenty years. He directed the smaller, more specialized Forsythe Company, in Frankfurt and Dresden, from 2005 to 2015. His Choreographic Objects have been exhibited globally in venues such as Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, the Venice and Sydney Biennales, La Villette/Grande Halle, Paris as part of Festival d’automne, and museums such as Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, and Hayward Gallery, London. He has received numerous awards and in 2010 was honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.