Celebrating Choreographer Merce Cunningham
By: Beau Higgins Jan. 23, 2007
CARNIVAL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ANNOUNCES LINEUP
FOR
"MERCE IN MIAMI"
Choreographer Merce Cunningham
and the Miami debut of the Merce Cunningham Dance CompanyFebruary 23 - March 4
From February 23 to March 4, Carnival Center for the Performing Arts will present "Merce in Miami," a landmark cultural event honoring a creative visionary and one of the greatest living artists of our era - Merce Cunningham. The city-wide festival, which showcases the life and work of the legendary choreographer and will feature performances at the Center by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (in its inaugural visit to Miami), includes a music festival featuring the work of Cunningham's collaborators; a live performance by Sigur Rós; a rare public interview with Cunningham; workshops, lectures, and other creative collaborations with Museum of Contemporary Art, New World School of the Arts, Florida Dance Association, Miami Dade College, South Florida Composers Alliance, and the interdisciplinary Sounds Arts Workshop (iSAW) - producer of the Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival.
"Merce Cunningham's pioneering vision has influenced all disciplines of the arts world. Carnival Center's city-wide tribute incorporating dance, music, education, and innovation is the most fitting way to fully represent his 50-year-career and the immense impact he has had on our culture," said Michael Hardy, president and CEO of Carnival Center.
"Merce in Miami," made possible in part through generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will feature performances of five masterworks by the American genius, including the world premiere on February 23 of his newest work eyeSpace, a piece commissioned by Carnival Center for this festival in which Cunningham's choreography is united for the first time with designs by Miami visual artist Daniel Arsham and music by David Behrman. Three other major Cunningham works to be performed on the stage of the Ziff Ballet Opera House include the U.S. premiere of the revival of CRWDSPCR (1993); Crises (1960), which former MCDC Musical Director John Cage described as "a dance concerned with decisive moments in the relationship between a man and four women... When two people are together, they are bound not only by invisible ties, but by actual elastic bands" and Split Sides (2003), which will feature a rare live performance by the Icelandic ambient rockers Sigur Rós and recorded music by Radiohead. Finally, Cunningham's mammoth masterwork Ocean will be staged in the Knight Concert Hall. Fourteen dancers will perform in the round as the audience sits around and above the dancers in a raked, circular stadium configuration, while 112 musicians surround the audience. Tickets are available at www.carnivalcenter.org or by calling (305) 949-6722.
Dance students of the New World School of the Arts will perform a series of free public performances in Carnival Center's lobbies, including two world premieres of site-specific works - an original work created by Cunningham for the Ryder Systems Inc. Lobby in the Knight Concert Hall, as well as One Hand Clapping, created by New World School and University of Florida faculty for the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation Lobby in the Ziff Ballet Opera House.
While Cunningham's dances are performed throughout the complex, Gustavo Matamoros' 19th edition of the Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Festival (ST-19) will present music by many of Cunningham's most distinguished collaborators — John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow, and Morton Feldman, among others — filling the Studio Theater with the sounds that have come to define contemporary American music. One of the many highlights of the 19th Subtropics festival is the performance of an oral history of Cunningham's artistic and life partner John Cage, which was created in collaboration with Laura Kuhn, director of the John Cage Trust, and will feature stories and anecdotes gathered during the festival. Kuhn will also conduct a rare live interview with Merce Cunningham which will take place before a small audience at the Center. See www.subtropics.org for festival updates and detailed information.
In recognition of Cunningham's widespread influence in all aspects of the arts and across all demographics, Carnival Center will also offer residency workshops, master classes and activities on campus and in the community, including collaborations with the Florida Dance Association and Youth Expressions, a nonprofit arts education program for high school students based in Miami's Little Haiti. Miami audiences will be introduced to the historical as well as the innovative aspects of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company through workshops and seminars that will focus on everything from computer-generated choreography to dance lighting and technical production. (A calendar of these events will be available in February).
In conjunction with "Merce in Miami," Carnival Center's festival partner Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) will organize and present a two-part exhibition focusing on Cunningham's pioneering collaborations with visual artists. Part 1, which opens on January 25, features the actual sets and costumes created for MCDC by visual artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Ernesto Neto, Charles Long, Christian Marclay, and Olafur Eliasson. Part 2, opening on June 25, will feature drawings, set and costumes created by 25-year-old Miami artist Daniel Arsham for the performance of eyeSpace that will have premiered during "Merce in Miami" in February.
"With 'Merce in Miami,' Carnival Center aims for what a performing arts center can do best: Provide a home for the finest in the performing arts, reveal connections between who we are and what we create, celebrate artists, nurture new work, collaborate with other arts and teaching organizations to broaden the artistic experience for all our audiences," said Michael Hardy, president and CEO of Carnival Center.
"Merce in Miami" is presented by Carnival Center for the Performing Arts with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Carnival Center's presentation of Merce Cunningham Dance Company in Miami is funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Major support for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company's 2006-2007 season provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg, The Starr Foundation, and Save America's Treasures. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. This performance is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. For additional information, please visit www.merce.org.
About Merce Cunningham Dance Company
MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY (MCDC) came into being in the summer of 1953, when Cunningham took a group of dancers who had been working with him in New York to Black Mountain College, the progressive liberal arts school near Asheville, North Carolina. John Cage was music director and David Tudor the company musician. In June 1964, as the company began its second decade, it set off on a world tour that was to last six months, with performances in Western and Eastern Europe, India, Thailand, and Japan. The recognition, by audiences and critics alike, of the importance of the work of Cunningham and Cage and their associates made this tour a turning point in the company's history. Extended domestic tours and New York seasons were soon part of the annual schedule, as well as further trips abroad.
John Cage's association with the company continued until his death in August 1992, when David Tudor succeeded him as music director. Tudor died in August 1996. In 1995, Takehisa Kosugi was appointed music director. From 1954 to 1964, Robert Rauschenberg was the company's resident designer. The following decade saw a number of celebrated collaborations with visual artists such as Jasper Johns (who was appointed artistic advisor in 1967), Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and Robert Morris. Mark Lancaster succeeded Johns as artistic advisor in 1980, and was in turn succeeded by William Anastasi and Dove Bradshaw, from 1984 to 1995.
Since the 1970s, Cunningham has choreographed a number of video- and film-dances in collaboration with Charles Atlas and with Elliot Caplan. The collaboration with Atlas resumed with the production of the documentary Merce Cunningham: a lifetime of dance, shown in the PBS "American Masters" series in December 2001. In August 2004 Cunningham and Atlas collaborated on a new work realized in two versions, Views on Camera and Views for Video. This has been adapted for the stage as Views on Stage, first performed in Edinburgh at the conclusion of the company's UK tour in October 2004.
In July 2005 the Company opened the Lincoln Center Festival in New York with a revival of the 1994 work Ocean, which was also performed in London in September 2006. The original version of Ocean was seen at Le Zenith in Montpellier in June 1998 (its only performance in France). In October 2006 the Company performed Merce Cunningham's latest work, eyeSpace, at the Joyce Theater in New York.
Commissioned by Miami's new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, "Merce in Miami" is a two-week celebration showcasing the life and work of legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. For more information, visit www.merceinmiami.org
Friday, February 23
New World School of the Arts
One Hand Clapping
NWSA dancers perform a site-specific work created by faculty member Dale Andree, in collaboration with University of Florida's multi-media composer James Oliverio. For more information, please visit www.merceinmiami.org
7 p.m.
Free Admission
Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation Lobby (Ziff Ballet Opera House)
Carnival Center Presents
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Merce In Miami
eyeSpace—World Premiere
Cunningham's latest work, a piece commissioned by Carnival Center for this festival in which his choreography is united for the first time with designs by Miami visual artist Daniel Arsham and music by David Behrman.
&
CRWDSPCR (1993)
Choreography by: Merce Cunningham
Music by: John King (blues 99)
Costumes, décor and lighting by: Mark Lancaster
Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
$65, $55, $45, $30, $15
8 p.m. Ziff Ballet Opera House
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Saturday, February 24
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival (ST-19)
In a 50-year partnership Merce Cunningham and John Cage together and separately remade notions of music and dance. Artistic Director Gustavo Matamoros has dedicates the 19th edition of this annual festival to Cage and his influence. ST-19 focuses on past and present Cunningham collaborators, the revolutionary Fluxus movement and features short evenings and long marathons (both dear to Cage's heart).
Takehisa Kosugi, electronics and violin
7 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
9:30 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Sunday, February 25
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
(See February 24)
John King, electric guitar
1 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
3 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
New World School of the Arts
One Hand Clapping
Free Admission
(See February 23)
6:30 p.m.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Merce In Miami
Crises (1960)
Choreography by: Merce Cunningham
Music by: Conlon Nancarrow (Rhythm Studies #1, #2, #4, #6, #7)
Costumes by: Robert Rauschenberg
Lighting by: Megan Byrne
Crises, John Cage wrote, is "concerned with decisive moments in the relationship between a man and four women. The atmosphere is harsh and erotic. When two people are together, they are bound not only by invisible ties, but by actual elastic bands."
&
Split Sides (2003)
Choreography by: Merce Cunningham
Music by: Radiohead and Sigur Rós
Décor by: Robert Heishman and Catherine Yass
Costumes by: James Hall
Lighting by: James F. Ingalls
In this work each design element, including choreography, has been made in two parts either by one or two artists or in the case of the music, by two bands. The order in which each design element is presented is determined by chance procedure on the day of the performance. This performance boasts a special appearance by Sigur Rós.
Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
$65, $55, $45, $30, $15
7:30 p.m. Ziff Ballet Opera House
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
I, IV, V by 5 - The Music of John Cage
Composed Improvisation (which premiered in its duet version during Subtropics 3 in 1991) was written by John Cage for bassist Robert Black and percussionist Jan Williams and will be the center piece of a concert of Cage's music that will bring them back together again, 15 years after Cage's death. Other works will include One, Four6 and Five and Ryoanji.
One, Amy Williams or Helena Bugallo
Ryangi, Amy, Helena, Joan Labarbara, Robert, and Jan
Composed Improvistation, Robert Black and Jan Williams
Furniture Music Etcetera, Amy and Helena/ 4-hands
Four6, Jan Joan, Robert, and Gustavo Matamoros
Five, Amy, Helena, Jan, Joan, Robert
9:30 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Monday, February 26
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Robert Black, double bass
Christin Wolff's String Bass Exercise from Bandeitra Rossa (1975)
James Tenney's Beast (1971)
Christian Wolff's Look She Said (1991)
John Cage's 26'1.1499 for string instrument (1955)
7 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
8:15 p.m. Studio Theater
Free Admission
Graphic Music Concert
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Earle brown, Morton Feldman
Robert Black, Helena Bugallo, Joan LaBarbara, Amy Williams and Jan Williams perform the music of Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, and others.
9:30 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Open Interview with Merce Cunningham
Laura Kuhn, director of the John Cage Trust will conduct a rare public interview with Merce Cunningham. Admission is free and limited to 50 persons on a first-come, first-served basis.
5 p.m. Carlin Banquet Room, Ziff Ballet Opera House
Tuesday, February 27
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Joan Labarbara: Singing Through Cage
Composer-vocalist Joan La Barbara performs an evening of Cage's vocal music as interpreted on her famous compact disc Singing Through Cage.
7 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
8:15 p.m.
Free Admission
Bugallow/Williams, Duo
Conlon Nancarrow
On their second visit to Miami, the Bugallo/Williams Duo will perform all of the Nancarrow works in their repertoire, including Studies for Player Piano #3b, #20, #9, #32, #44 (aleatory canon), #18, #6, #15. and Sonatina. The duo will also perform music for two pianos by Feldman and Sciarrino.
Conlon Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano #3b, #20, #9
Conlon Nancarrow's Sonatina
Conlon Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano #32, #18, #6, #15
Morton Feldman's and Sciarrino's Sonata for Two Pianos
9:30 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Wednesday, February 28
Merce In Miami
SubTropics Marathon - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
The festival's 19th Subtropics Marathon will continue its tradition of presenting South Florida composers, musicians and sound artists in performance mingled with guest artists from around the world
7 to 10 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Thursday, March 1
New World School of the Arts
Inlets 2
Students from the New World School of the Arts pre-professional dance division, under the direction of Dean Daniel Lewis, will perform Inlets 2 from the Cunningham repertory.
The Ryder Systems Inc. Lobby (Knight Concert Hall)
Free Admission
7 p.m.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Merce In Miami
Ocean (1994)
Conceived by: Merce Cunningham and John Cage
Orchestral music by: Andrew Culver (Ocean 1-95)
Electronic score by: David Tudor (Soundings: Ocean Diary)
Production design by: Marsha Skinner
Associate lighting design by: Aaron Copp
Associate costume design by: Suzanne Gallo
A 90-minute masterwork with 14 dancers performing in the round. The audience sits around and above the dancers in a raked, circular stadium configuration, while 112 musicians surround the audience. "Magnificent!" —The Village Voice
Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
$60, $50, $40, $30, $15
8 p.m. Knight Concert Hall
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Merce In Miami
SubTropics Marathon - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Helena Bugallo, piano
Morton Feldman's 70 minute long Triadic Memories for solo piano
7 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Music by LaMonte Young.
9:30 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Friday, March 2
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Merce In Miami
Ocean
(See March 1)
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
New World School of the Arts
Untitled new work by Merce Cunningham
(See March 1)
The Ryder Systems Inc. Lobby (Knight Concert Hall)
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
FIU New Music Ensemble
Music by Earle Brown, Lou Harrison and Morton Feldman
7 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Part two of iSaw's oral history project in collaboration with Laura Kuhn, director of the John Cage Trust. The performance will feature stories and anecdotes about John Cage gathered during the festival.
9:30 pm Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Saturday, March 3
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Merce In Miami
Ocean
(See March 1)
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
New World School of the Arts
Untitled new work by Merce Cunningham
(See March 1)
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Fluxus Fair
New compositions and Fair-style arrangements of old classics from the Fluxus repertoire set up as outdoor activities for the enjoyment of all in the family.
2-5 p.m. Parker and Vann Thompson Plaza for the Arts
Free Admission
A concert of Fluxus pieces featuring Alison Knowles, Larry Miller, Russel Frehling, Gustavo Matamoros, and others.
9:30 p.m. Studio Theater
Tickets: $20
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722
Sunday, March 4
Merce In Miami
SubTropics - Miami Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Erik Satie: Vexations
Over 36 pianists from Miami's music community come together to perform this 18 hour long marathon piano work by Erik Satie.
6 a.m. to 12 a.m. The Ryder Systems Inc. Lobby (Knight Concert Hall)
Tickets: $10
Tickets will be on sale on Monday, Jan 29. To purchase, please visit www.carnivalcenter.org or call (305) 949-6722.
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