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3/20/2019

The Cunningham Centennial

Portrait by Annie Leibovitz
Merce Cunningham Portrait by Annie Leibovitz 1997

Cunningham Centennial Celebrations

April 13 – 27, 2019


 

Daniel Squire in "Interscape"
“Interscape” photo by Ed Chappell 2000

This April, The Florida State University School of Dance is excited to work in conjunction with the Merce Cunningham Trust, the FSU College of Music, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Student Life Cinema will be hosting a series of Cunningham Centennial Celebrations as part of a global celebration of the life and work of one of the greatest American dance artists, Merce Cunningham and an exploration of his impact into the future. Performances will include:

Musicircus Florida, the Florida premiere of a large-scale Happening with 100 performers, which will intermix approximately 100 performers: musicians, dancers, artists, actors, poets, acrobats and film. It will occur from 6:00 p.m. to 8:02 p.m on Saturday, April 13 at the Museum of Fine Arts. Guests may come and go at any time during the performance. FREE and open to the public.

A Birthday Party for Merce Cunningham, the world premiere of a music theatre work for 8 singers, 4 dancers, and 40 saxophones by Stephen Montague, performed on what would have been Cunningham’s 100th birthday, April 16, 2019. It will feature performers from the FSU College of Music and dancers from the FSU School of Dance, and it will take place on Landis Green at noon. FREE and open to the public.

A live stream of Night of 100 Solos. This event, spearheaded by the Merce Cunningham Trust will be the largest Cunningham event ever staged and will take place in London (7:45PM), New York City (7:30PM), and Los Angeles (8:00PM). Held on what would have been Cunningham’s 100th birthday, 75 dancers (25 in each venue) along with an ensemble of musicians at the vanguard of contemporary music, will perform a distinct, 75-minute work that consists of a unique selection of 100 solos choreographed by Cunningham. A FREE live webstream will be available at http://mercecunningham.org.

Andrea Weber
“Interscape” photo by Tony Dougherty 2005

A screening of Cunningham’s Interscape by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company along with a live musical performance by The Composers Ensemble. The event will be at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17 at the Student Life Cinema. FREE and open to the public.

Collaborations: MoFA Celebrates the Merce Cunningham Centennial, a roundtable discussion with scholars, artists, and performers whose work is cross-disciplinary. Talks will center on what it looks like to have dancers, musicians, and artists collaborating in the contemporary space. The event will occur at the Museum of Fine Arts on the evening of Thursday, April 18 at 6:00pm. FREE and open to the public.

MinEvent, a Cage/Cunningham/Rauschenberg revisit. A sequence of excerpts from dance works by Merce Cunningham re-choreographed by ex-Cunningham dancer Silas Riener on students in the FSU School of Dance. Live music composed and performed by Stephen Montague with set design by Alex Julyan (UK). The work will be shown in the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre during Days of Dance B at 7:30 p.m. on April 20 and 26 and at a 2:00 p.m. matinee on April 27. Tickets for Days of Dance B are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors (62+), $10 for children and non-FSU students, and $5 for FSU students. Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://tickets.fsu.edu.


 

Calendar of Events

4/13 Musicircus Florida 

4/16 A Birthday Party for Merce

A live stream of Night of 100 Solos

4/17 A screening of Cunningham’s Interscape

4/18 Collaborations: MoFA Celebrates the Merce Cunningham Centennial

4/20 MinEvent at Days of Dance B

4/26 MinEvent at Days of Dance B

4/27 MinEvent at Days of Dance B

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