 Founded in 1980 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, Performance Space New York has hosted thousands of world-premiere and ongoing works by such artists as Eric Bogosian, Spalding Gray, Karen Finley, Penny Arcade, chameckilerner, Eddie Izzard, John Leguizamo, DANCENOISE, John Jesurun, Ethyl Eichelberger, Ron Athey, niv Acosta, Big Dance Theater, Annie Dorsen, Elevator Repair Service, Tim Etchells, Lawrence Goldhuber, Maria Hassabi, Emily Johnson, Taylor Mac, Sarah Michelson, Rabih Mroué, Okwui Okpokwasili, Julie Atlas Muz, Reggie Watts, and Adrienne Truscott, companies such as Big Art Group, Proto-type Theater, Young Jean Lee's Theater Company and New York City Players, Viveca Vázquez, Nahshon Dion Anderson, as well as countless other emerging artists.The former elementary school was abandoned and in disrepair when a group of visual artists began to use the old classrooms for studios.In 1979, choreographer Charles Moulton began holding rehearsals and workshops in the second-floor cafeteria, and invited fellow performers Charles Dennis, John Bernd and Peter Rose to collaborate in the administration and use of the space.