Departures of note

Simone Forti (1935–2026) was a seminal figure in postmodern dance and performance art. Born in Florence, Italy, she emigrated to the United States as a child and later studied at Reed College before moving to San Francisco, where she began collaborating with artists such as Robert Morris and Anna Halprin. In the early 1960s she created her influential series of "Dance Constructions," works that treated the body as a sculptural element and emphasized everyday movement.

Forti’s practice blended choreography, sculpture, and improvisation, and she became a key participant in the Fluxus movement, performing alongside Nam June Paik, Steve Paxton, and La Monte Young. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she taught workshops worldwide, wrote several books on movement, and continued to produce new works into her nineties. Her pieces are held in the permanent collections of institutions such as MoMA, the Whitney Museum, and the Stedelijk Museum, and she remained represented by galleries in Europe at the time of her death.

Beyond her artistic output, Forti was celebrated for mentoring generations of dancers and for expanding the possibilities of what dance could be, influencing contemporary performance practices across the globe.