As part of its new Life/Art exhibition, the Yaffo 23 gallery will operate a multimedia "information and inspiration center" devoted to the life and work of Merce Cunningham, the dance company's legendary choreographer.
The center will be stocked with books, video and music about Cunningham and his influences. It will also host lectures, music performances, encounters with dancers from the company, and a computer/dance workshop about Merce's broad cultural and artistic legacy. These activities will lead up to the company's repertoire performance at Jerusalem's Sherover Theatre on June 6 and its series of five museum Events at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem from June 9-11.
Planning for the Future: The Next Steps
The Legacy Plan
Wednesday June 1 at 7:00 PM
Trevor Carlson, Executive Director, Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Naomi Bloch Fortis, Co-Director, Jerusalem Season of Culture; former Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director, Batsheva Dance Company
How do you immortalize dance? How do you document choreography? If dance is the art of movement in time, then why freeze it? What are the components of dance, and what happens after death?
The Cunningham Dance Foundation's Legacy Plan is a comprehensive roadmap for the future of the Cunningham Dance Foundation. The precedent-setting plan represents Cunningham’s vision for the transitioning of his Company following his death and the preservation of his life’s work.
The Legacy Plan offers audiences the opportunity to celebrate Cunningham’s work through the final, two-year Legacy Tour; preserve his creations for future generations in digital form by creating dynamic “Dance Capsules”; provide the company's dancers, musicians and staff with compensation and resources for career transition upon closure of the troupe; and the formal transition of all assets to Merce Cunningham Trust. Trevor Carlson, leading this initiative, will discuss the details and implications of the Legacy Plan in conversation with Naomi Bloch Fortis.
How to Watch a Merce Cunningham Concert?
Eight entry points and three exit strategies
Thursday, June 2, 7:00 PM
Bonnie Brooks, Dance Department Chair, Columbia College, Chicago; former President and Executive Director, Dance/USA
Four days before the company's opening performance in Jerusalem, the writer, producer and dance advocate presents the core concepts of the Cunningham aesthetic in an informal lecture/demonstration.
Dance Forms
Friday, June 3, 10:00-2:00 PM
Under the Tutelage of Trevor Carlson
A hands-on workshop that will familiarize participants with the unique dance animation software, DanceForms, which Cunningham used as a choreographic tool since 1991.
Trevor Carlson, graduate of the Dance Program at the Julliard School, will lead participants in an exploration of Cunningham’s techniques and allow students to create their own dance ‘Events’ using fellow students. Acting as both choreographers and dancers, the participants will have see the creative process from the perspective of both choreographers and performers.
Please register in advance right here.
The workshop requires computer knowledge and comfortable clothes.
MerceCampus / Music
Saturday, June 4
Curated by Ilan Volkov
5:30 PM, Films on Merce Cunningham and musicians with whom he collaborated: John Cage, David Tudor, Takehisa Kosugi.
8:00 PM, Music Performances
Yossi Mar-Haim – a new musical lecture-performance dedicated to Cage/Cunningham.
Performance of 5 John Cage pieces:
Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (For 12 Radio Receivers and 24 Players)
Child of Tree (Alex Drool) – a work for Cacti
One (Ram Gabay)
Suite for toy piano
Six – a work for percussion instruments
Solo set by Jesse Stiles, a musician of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Art and Dance
Sunday, June 5 at 7.00 PM
A conversation with members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company
A discussion on Merce Cunningham's artistic collaborations with John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Nam June Paik, Radiohead and Sigur Rós in music, video, art objects and stage sets.
Also discussed will be the question of choreography in an art space and Merce Cunningham's Events. Is a gallery a stage? Is a stage a gallery? How do art objects influence the movement of people? What is the difference between artistic collaboration and simultaneous artworks? What can art do to dance and what can dance do to art?
Cunningham: Past, Present and Future
Monday, June 6, 7:00 PM
Trevor Carlson, Executive Director, Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Just two hours before Merce Cunningham Dance Company performs for the first time in Israel, audiences have a chance to speak about Merce with the company's executive director. The talk will end just in time to get to Jerusalem Theatre for the performance.
