Simone Forti, a key figure in the new dance movement in the 1960s and 1970s, will give a lecture/demonstration at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, in Spurrier Dance Studio on the University of Rochester’s River Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Forti will discuss her roots in dance, including her studies in improvisation with “new theatre” pioneer Anna Halprin and her experience with the legendary Judson Dance Theater, which revolutionized dance in New York City in the 1960s.

From her early minimalist dance choreography through her animal movement studies, Forti explores natural forms and behaviors. Over the past 20 years, she has been combining movement and language in a form she calls “Logomotion.”

Forti has been awarded various grants and received a Bessie New York Dance and Performance Award in 1995 for sustained achievement.

Her program is sponsored by the University of Rochester’s Program of Movement and Dance and the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies. For more information, contact (585) 273-5150.