 In 1970, feeling that the Judson Poets Theatre had passed its peak, four artists involved in it – Bartenieff, his wife at the time, dancer Crystal Field, director Larry Kornfield and Theo Barnes – wanted to start their own "cross-disciplinary theater which emphasized poetic language", according to Bartenieff.The Westbeth Artists Community had just started at the time, and a large space appropriate for performance became available in the complex.This was the beginning of Theatre for the New City, which still exists, albeit in other quarters.