TitleInterview with Merce Cunningham, 1980-02-04/1980-12-07
NamesMerce Cunningham Dance Company (Associated name)Cunningham, Merce (Interviewee)Vaughan, David, 1924- (Interviewer)
CollectionMerce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1980-02-04Date Created: 1980-12-07
Library locationsRodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded SoundShelf locator: *LTC-A 1193
TopicsAtlas, CharlesCunningham, MerceMerce Cunningham Dance CompanyDuets (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Event (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Landrover (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Locale (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Merce by Merce by Paik (Motion picture)Rebus (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Seasons (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Torse (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Westbeth (Choreographic work : Cunningham)ChoreographyDance in motion pictures, television, etc
GenresInterviews
NotesContent: Title provided by cataloger based on audition and handwritten note on original cassette.Content: Handwritten note on original cassette: "1. Interview with Merce Cunningham, 7 December 1980 ; 2. Interview with Merce Cunningham (for Sorce) 4 February 1980".Content: David Vaughan interviews Merce Cunningham, probably in New York, New York, on February 4, and December 7, 1980. This interview was created as research for David Vaughan's book, Merce Cunningham: Fifty years (New York, Aperture).Numbering: Donor's inventory number: C370.Venue: Recorded in, [New York, New York], 1980 February 4 and December 7.Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical DescriptionAudiocassetteExtent: 1 audiocassette (78 minutes) : analogSound quality is mostly good; at times the interviewee is muffled or speaks away from the recording microphone but is mostly audible.
DescriptionStreaming file 1, December 7: Begins abruptly, Merce Cunningham speaks with David Vaughan about creating Westbeth (1974), his first video collaboration with Charles Atlas; more on each of the sections in Westbeth, including the use of three cameras in the shooting and the incorporation of material from Suite for five (1956); changes made to Westbeth for the Dance in America series filming and for live performances as part of Events; Cunningham speaks about the complicated steps and longer phrases in Rebus (1975) that originated in his technique classes; the challenge for dancers to learn and independently maintain complicated steps; his attempts to push the boundaries of complexity in his choreography; concurrent to Rebus rehearsals, structuring his classes with accompanist, Pat Richter, to explore phrasework with different timelines; Cunningham briefly speaks about creating his own role in Rebus; his scheme to shift the repertory around and the challenges of re-mounting Rebus, including rehearsing the work and re-learning the steps; the origins of collaborating with Nam June Paik on Merce by Merce by Paik (1973), and creating the piece, including why it was a solo for Cunningham; briefly, after filming Merce by Merce by Paik, returning to Paris to re-stage Un jour ou deux (1973); choreographing Torse (1976) by use of the I Ching for the ordering the steps and phrases; Cunningham describes the process by which he adds dancers to later versions of Torse; checking the steps against his choreographic notes; the repetition of the steps and variations in spacing for Torse; ends abruptly.
Streaming file 2, February 4: Begins abruptly, Merce Cunningham speaks with David Vaughan about the critic Nigel Gosling's comparison of Cunningham to Sergei Diaghilev in his collaborative work with visual artists; briefly, collaborating with [Isamu] Noguchi on the Seasons (1947); he speaks about a practical reason why his visual design and musician collaborators work independently; Bob [Robert] Rauschenberg's creation of the backdrop for Summerspace (1958) and props for Travelogue (1977); Cunningham speaks about how his collaboration with Charles Atlas on dance for camera requires closer working processes; rehearsing the piece Locale (1977) with Atlas and his cameras prior to the dancers' involvement; more on the process of creating Locale, including pre-planning edit cuts and working with two cameras for a section; Cunningham explains why he didn't use chance methods in Locale mainly due to the technical challenges of working with dance on camera; briefly, on creatively engaging the restrictions of dance on camera; his re-use of sections from dance on camera pieces in his Events; the process of transferring works from film to stage such as for Locale, and, Fractions (1978); Cunningham speaks about how the editing process with Atlas has revealed images that the eye misses in a live dance; briefly, the current piece Cunningham is choreographing, Duets (1980); briefly, on the Irish folk drumming music Cage recorded for Duets; more on the choreography of Duets; rehearsing Roadrunners (1979) and the challenge of keeping the shapes particular; Cunningham expresses his hope that audiences will come to see the works; ca. 27:08, abruptly ends and new recording begins; Cunningham speaks with Vaughan about the re-construction of Landrover (1972) using his notes and videotapes; his conceptions that inspired Landrover; the compromises that working with dance on camera requires by its limitations; ends abruptly.
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 900292851NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20516337Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 8bf41690-b82d-0133-e45e-60f81dd2b63c
Rights StatementThis item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
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