merce cunningham post

7/29/2019 Merce Cunningham Post

1/19

Merce Cunningham

QuickTime and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Ms. Oliver

Dance History Unit

The only way to do it is to do it

- Merce Cunningham


2/19

What do you already know

about Merce Cunningham? Write down on your worksheet anything

that you know about:

Merce Cunningham

Merce Cunningham Company

Cunningham Style


3/19

Who is this guy?

Dancer

Choreographer

Contributor to the Avant Garde

Considered to be postmodern


4/19

Where did he come from?

QuickTime and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare n eeded t o s ee t his pic ture.

Born April 16, 1919

Centralia, Washington

Tap and Ballroom

Dance is most deeply concerned with

each single instant as it comes along.

Cornish College of the Arts


5/19

Early Years

Met John Cage his musical director

Mills College

Moved to New York

1939-1945 for Martha GrahamsCompany

QuickTime and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decom pressor

are needed to see thispi cture.


6/19

Early WorkQuickTime and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Grahams Company

The Wind Remains 1943 for Paul Bowles

1st solo concert with John Cage in NY

1944

What is dance? Where is it performed?

What is it about? - Cunningham in 1940s


7/19

Merce Cunningham Dance Company

Founded in the summer of 1953

Black Mountain College, NC Still active with 14 dancers

Works with both composers and artists

Choreographed 200 dances for company


8/19

Cunningham Style

QuickTime and aTIFF ( Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to s ee this picture.

Dance, music, and art exist

independently

The use of chance in choreographingphrases

Use cards, coins, and dice for

choreography


9/19

Cunningham Style (contd)

QuickTime an d aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor


Influenced by:

Albert Einstein

Zen

Dadaism

Abandoned:

Conflict & Resolution

Cause and Effect

Climax and Anti-ClimaxQuickTime and a





10/19

Vocabulary

Change of direction

Change of facing

Rebound

Weight Shift

Rhythm

SpaceTime


11/19

Famous Cunningham Works

Suite for Five

Split Sides

Crises

Sound Dance

Fabrications CRWDSPCR

Crises


12/19

Companies Performing

Cunningham

New York City Ballet

The Ballet of the Paris Opera American Ballet Theatre

Boston Ballet

White Oak Dance Project

Pacific Northwest Ballet

Pennsylvania Ballet

Zurich Ballet

Rambert Dance Company


are needed to s ee this picture.

QuickTime and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompress orare needed to see this picture.


13/19

Dance forms

No longer can

dance

Developed

Lifeforms

Still choreographs

Now Danceforms


are needed to see this p icture.


14/19

Interesting facts

Twyla TharpsAfter Suite

Andy Warhol collaboration

50 years

Dance worlds EinsteinQuickTime and a



15/19

Postmodern Dancers Like

Cunningham Judson Dance Theater

Murray Louis

Mark Morris

Alwin Nikolais

Yvonne Rainer

QuickTime and a







16/19

ClosureYou have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you

nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no

paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in

museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing

but that fleeting moment when you feel alive. It is notfor unsteady souls.- Merce Cunningham

QuickTime and a



17/19

What have you learned about

Merce Cunningham? Is your worksheet done?

Can you answer the questions from the

beginning of the presentation?

Is there anything you want to know

about Cunningham?

Who else would you like to know about?


18/19

Resources http://www.merce.org

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/cunningham_m.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merce_Cunningham

http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3715&source_type=A

http://www.abt.org/education/archive/choreographers/cunningham_m.html

Dance Spirit Vol. 10 No. 10 December 2006

Merce Cunningham: Dancing in Space and Time edited byRichard Kostelanetz


19/19

NC Competency Goals

Technology/Computer Skills:

Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use ofcomputer and other technologies.

Goal 3: The learner will use a variety of technologies to access, analyze,

interpret, synthesize, apply, and communicate information. Dance:

Goal 3: The learner will understand that dance can create and communicatemeaning.

Goal 4: The learner will apply and demonstrate critical and creative thinkingskills in dance.

Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate and understand dance in various

cultures and historical periods.

Goal 7: The learner will make connections between dance and othercontent areas

Goal 8: The learner will understand dance as an art form with a range ofopportunities for involvement.

merce cunningham post

Documents