NYUAD Arts Center, The Red Theater | 30 Oct, at 8pm
Two masterpieces by Merce Cunningham, one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century: BIPED and How to Pass, Kick, Fall & Run.
A centennial celebration of the pioneering postmodern choreographer Merce Cunningham’s work with two dance performances by Centre national de danse contemporaine d’Angers under the direction of longtime Cunningham collaborator Robert Swinston.
“Modernism had taken dance where it had not been before, yet Cunningham took it further” – The New York Times
Merce Cunningham, one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century, was a many-sided artist. He was a dance-maker, a fierce collaborator, a chance taker, a boundless innovator, a film producer, and a teacher. During his 70 years of creative practice, Cunningham’s exploration forever changed the landscape of dance, music, and contemporary art.
BIPED
The animate and inanimate meet through a fascinating intersection of enthralling choreography and motion-capture technology. The décor for BIPED, from 1999, is an exploration of the possibilities of animation technology and motion capture. The digital artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar collaborated with Cunningham, who, working with two dancers, choreographed 70 phrases that were transposed into digital images. The live performers dance between projections of these animated images, as well as abstract patterns (vertical and horizontal lines, dots, clusters).
The music by Gavin Bryars, also called BIPED, is partly recorded and partly played live on acoustic instruments by Bryars and his ensemble. Suzanne Gallo’s costumes use a metallic fabric that reflects light. Aaron Copp devised the lighting, dividing the stage floor into squares lit in what looks like a random sequence, as well as the curtained booths at the back of the stage that permit the dancers to appear and disappear.
How to Pass, Kick, Fall & Run
Featuring an athletic theme, but without without any specific references to games, this 1965 piece features music by Cunningham’s longtime collaborator John Cage, including stories from Silence, a Year from Monday. The choreography keeps the dancers constantly in motion, never staying in a given place for very long, with two or three things simultaneously occurring on stage at all times.
