Eliot's account of Catherine Kerr's role in the making of
Merce Cunningham's choreography reveals the extent to which the dancer's physicality plays an important role in shaping the choreographic vision.
And while the definitive biography remains to be written, the strength of
Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years is, as its title suggests, in its archival record-keeping (especially since the 1975
Merce Cunningham, edited by James Klosty, marks the only example of a book-length study of this dancer/choreographer).
"
Merce Cunningham: Common Time," curated by Fionn Meade and Philip Bither with Joan Rothfuss and Mary L.
The crew has gone on to film in New York, Los Angeles, and Moscow, and will document the final weeks of the
merce Cunningham Dance Company.
But
Merce Cunningham was, as usual, ahead of the curve.
ROBERT SWINSTON, a graduate of the Juilliard School, danced with the Martha Graham Apprentice Group, Jose Limon Dance Company, and with Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre before joining the
Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1980.
One of the earlier pieces, the lyrical, Satie-inspired Experiences, was written for dancer-choreographer
Merce Cunningham, Cage's partner and artistic collaborator for almost five decades.
It had been more than three years since New Yorkers had seen a
Merce Cunningham evening (Cunningham's company ended its Legacy Tour in 2011), and the young French dancers of Compagnie CNDC-Angers/Robert Swinston bristled with the alertness that makes the master's choreography so bracing.
Given
Merce Cunningham's lifelong capacity for reinvention, it is no surprise that he is posthumously pushing the Walker Art Center to rethink how and what it collects.
THE
MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE Company made a world tour in 1964.
It's been more than four years since the
Merce Cunningham Dance Company took its last bow.