It’s exciting to see the Merce Cunningham Trust kick into high gear, deploying, under strict license and supervision, the master’s iconoclastic choreography onto dance troupes around the world (Cunningham died in 2009).
Over the years, it’s been controversial whether dancers without specific training in Cunningham’s rigorous technique can properly execute his choreography. Clearly, based upon the list below, dancers of all ilks are ready to give it a go.
We recently enjoyed a wonderful staging of “Winterbranch” in Los Angeles (the dark work from the mid-sixties is being performed in further venues, top of the list). It was fun revisiting the Cunningham experience: the seat-squirming, whispering, one guy shouting out “It’s an abomination!” and audience walk-outs. For the faithful, however, rapture.
World: Go experience Merce Cunningham works!
LA Dance Project performing Winterbranch (1964) May 6 – 7, 2013 – Toulouse
May 23 – 25, 2013 – Paris
New World Symphony performing Second Hand (1970), MinEvent, and Field Dances (1963)
February 8 – 10, 2013 – Miami
Barbican Art Gallery exhibit The Bride and the Bachelors: Duchamp with Cage, Cunningham, Johns, and Rauschenberg
February 14 – June 9, 2013 – London
University of Utah performing Cross Currents (1964)
February 28, 2013 – Salt Lake City
Rambert Dance Company performing Sounddance (1975)
March 13 – 16, 2013 – Mold, UK
Rambert Dance Company performing Rainforest (1968) in conjunction with Barbican Art Gallery exhibit The Bride and the Bachelors: Duchamp with Cage, Cunningham, Johns, and Rasuchenberg
March 27, 2013 – Barbican Art Gallery
Deutsche Oper Am Rhein performing Pond Way (1998)
April 12, 2013 (Premiere) – Dusseldorf, Germany
Ballet San Jose performing Duets (1980)
April 19 – 21, 2013 (Premiere) – San Jose, CA
May 29, 2013 – Barbican Art Gallery
Bayerisches Staatsballet performing BIPED (1999)
June 25, 2013 (Premiere) – Munich, Germany
Thank you, Guardian U.K., for the beautiful photos.