Browse by Artist: CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY, MERCE

Artist:	CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY, MERCE
Title:	Suite For Five - Summerspace - Interscape
Label:	ARTPIX
Format:	3DVD
Price:	$51.00
Catalog #:	MC 1200DVD

"In 1954, Robert Rauschenberg became the Resident Designer to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, a position he held for ten years. During that time these friends and collaborators, along with the musician John Cage, created some of the most iconoclastic artworks of the 20th century. This three-DVD set showcases these great artists' work, along with the work of another, filmmaker Charles Atlas. The DVDs are accompanied by an illustrated essay by Bonnie Brooks. Charles Atlas has directed and collaborated on over 35 film or video projects with Merce Cunningham and served as the company's filmmaker-in-residence for ten years (1974-1983). The three films in this collection showcase Atlas's direction and editing of films and include the 2003 revival of Suite for Five, the 1999 revival of Summerspace, and the original cast of Interscape in 2000. Suite for Five (1956) is one of Cunningham's most enduring explorations of time and space. Combined with Cage's chance-derived score and Rauschenberg's costumes and design, the work is a classic of the choreographer's repertoire. In Summerspace (1958) each creative element -- Morton Feldman's score, Rauschenberg's decor and costumes, and Cunningham's choreography -- were conceived and created independently of one another. Despite this separation, the elements meld to give the audience an impression of a balmy summer day. Interscape (2000) explores the transitions between darkness and light, stillness and exertion, and silence and sound. A detailed and beautifully rendered work, Interscape showcases the essence of the artists Cage, Cunningham and Rauschenberg." NTSC all region format. Running times: Suite For Five: 25:58; Summerspace: 22:05; Interscape: 47:05.

Artist:	CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY, MERCE
Title:	Split Sides
Label:	ARTPIX
Format:	2DVD
Price:	$34.00
Catalog #:	MC 980DVD

"Merce Cunningham's Split Sides (2003) captures the iconic modernist choreographer's most radical use of chance procedures. As the title implies, the piece is divided into two parts. Each 20-minute part features one of two options for the different creative elements of the piece: set design, costumes, lighting, music, and choreography. The order in which each element appears during a given performance is determined by an onstage dice roll before the performance, captured on full screen for the live audience. There are thus 32 possible combinations for any performance of Split Sides. In addition to Merce Cunningham's two choreographic segments, the work features two set designs (one by Robert Heishman and one by Catherine Yass), two sets of costumes (by James Hall), and two lighting plots (by James F. Ingalls). Original scores, composed specifically for this collaboration by the British alternative rock group Radiohead and the Icelandic experimentalist group Sigur Rós, offer the two choices of music. This two-disc DVD set, by giving viewers the opportunity to alternate soundtracks, presents 4 of the 32 possible variations of the work. Filmmaker Charles Atlas masterfully captures the dance with Merce close at his side. Cunningham calls the films Split Sides 45 and Split Sides 46, because they capture the 45th and 46th performances of this epic collaboration." NTSC, Region 0 (All Region) format. Total running time: 2 hour, 6 minutes.

Previous Page Index of Artists Next Page