Seeing the Big Picture of Merce Cunningham’s Dance Revolution
According to the late modern-dance titan Merce Cunningham, music, dance, and art were all of a piece, not separate entities—a belief he put into practice through collaborations with such storied peers as John Cage, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Rei Kawakubo. The Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis, and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago co-present “Merce Cunningham: Common Time,” the largest survey ever mounted of the artist (now through September 10).
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Merce Cunningham Company dancers in Rei Kawakubo dresses.
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The Merce Cunningham Dance Company performing “Event for the Garden” at the10th Anniversary of Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
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“Dance Works III” presents a selection of Rei Kawakubo’s costume pieces from the Walker’s Merce Cunningham Dance Company Collection.
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Merce Cunningham and company performing “TV Rerun” at Westbeth in January 1975.
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Merce Cunningham and company performing “TV Rerun” at Westbeth in January 1975.
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Merce Cunningham and Carolyn Brown performing in Cunningham’s Ballet “Variations V” at the Norddeuscher Runfunk TV studios in Hamburg, 1966.
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Merce Cunningham, 2008.
