Dear friends and colleagues,
We invite you to contribute to a chronicle of thoughts, memories, opinions about Merce Cunningham as part of his centennial celebration. Over the next year, the entire dance and art world will be paying tribute to this modern dance legend, and Los Angeles is doing its part to bring attention to his genius.
Works by Cunningham will be performed by professional and non-professional dancers throughout the world. In Los Angeles, dancer students at the Colburn School will perform Cunningham’s Scramble (1967), staged by former Cunningham Company member Susanna Hayman-Chaffey, on both their winter and spring dance concerts. Excerpts of Canfield (1969), staged by former Cunningham Company member Holley Farmer, was performed at REDCAT on The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance’s Winter Dance.
Los Angeles is one of only three cities to present “Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event on Cunningham’s birthday, April 16, 2019. The institutions participating include the Barbican in London, BAM in New York City, and CAP UCLA in Los Angeles. These performances will include 100 solos choreographed by Merce Cunningham.
Merce Cunningham: Clouds and Screens is currently on exhibit at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) through March 31, 2019 featuring Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds and Charles Atlas’s MC9. Warhol’s whimsical Silver Clouds was used as décor for Cunningham’s 1968 dance RainForest and MC9 is short for “Merce Cunningham to the ninth power,” an installation with excerpts from 21 dances for camera and documentary. In an adjacent gallery there are two videos documenting early Cunningham dances: a solo performed by Cunningham titled Changeling (1958), and Night Wandering (1964), a duet for Merce Cunningham and Carolyn Brown.
The Merce Cunningham Trust has posted the entire Centennial Calendar on its website. You can access it at www.mercecunningham.org.
LA Dance Chronicle hopes that you will become part of this historic event by sharing your personal reflections on Merce Cunningham. How did Cunningham and/or his work influence you, your dancing, and/or your choreography? Share your memories of meeting Cunningham, working with him, studying with him or performing his work. What were your impressions after seeing your first Cunningham concert?
We have created a separate page at LA Dance Chronicle devoted entirely for this project which will be updated on a regular basis. If you have photos that you wish to accompany your written submission, please be sure that you have the authority to post them. We do not wish to abuse anyone’s copyrights. Also include names of the person or persons in the photo and, if possible, the photographer’s name.
Please join LA Dance Chronicle in celebrating the Modern Dance pioneer and icon, Merce Cunningham.
Submissions should be sent to mcc@ladancechronicle.com. Please note, the page will be moderated to prevent spamming.
Sincerely,
The LA Dance Chronicle Staff
