We are in the middle of the Merce Cunningham Centennial year in celebration of the Legendary American modern dance choreographer Merce Cunningham born on April 16, 1919 in Centralia, WA. and died in New York City on July 26, 2009. After dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company for several years, Cunningham began working with American composer John Cage in the early 1940s. At Black Mountain College in 1952 the two of them presented the first performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company which sadly disband two years after Cunningham death.
Merce Cunningham. Photo by Jack Mitchell courtesy of Getty Images.
Dance Camera West, headed by Executive Director/Artistic Director Kelly Hargraves, is celebrating this historic year by presenting the Merce Cunningham Centennial Film Series, Thursday, October 24 -Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at four different venues that include USC Kaufman School of Dance – Kaufman Dance Center, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), UCLA Kaufman Hall, Studio 200, and Sharon Disney Lund Theater on the CalArts campus.
The films will include films by Charles Atlas who worked collaboratively with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1975 – 1983). According to Wikipedia, “Before his time as the Cunningham company’s filmmaker-in-residence (1978 – 1983), when he made 10 dance films, Atlas was an assistant stage manager for the company, and was already filming Cunningham in little experimental movement studies during breaks from rehearsal”.
Admission is free with reservations.
SCHEDULE AND FILMS:
Thursday, October 24 at USC 6pm-7:30pm
USC Kaufman School of Dance – Kaufman Dance Center,
849 W. 34th Street Los Angeles, CA 90089 Room: KDC 235, (second floor)
● Biped (2005, Charles Atlas)
● Locale (1979, Charles Atlas)
● Events (2006, Charles Atlas)
+++
Saturday, November 2 at MOCA 11am-4pm
250 South Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA
● Biped (2005, Charles Atlas) Screened live
● Locale (1979, Charles Atlas) Screened live
● Events (2006, Charles Atlas)
● Mondays with Merce #15: John Cage
● Interscape, a Film by Charles Atlas.
● Beach Birds
● Split Sides 46 by Charles Atlas
+++
Monday, November 4 at UCLA Art, 4:30pm-6pm
UCLA Kaufman Hall, Studio 200, 120 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
● Mondays with Merce #15: John Cage
● Interscape, a Film by Charles Atlas.
● Beach Birds
+++
Tuesday, November 5, CalArts, 1:30pm-3pm
Sharon Disney Lund Theater on the CalArts campus,
2700 McBean Pkwy, Valencia, CA 91355 USA
● Split Sides 46 by Charles Atlas
● Split Sides 45 by Charles Atlas
This Film Series is Made Possible by the Merce Cunningham Trust.
For more information contact: amber@dancecamerawest.org
To make reservations, click here.
To visit the Dance Camera West website, click here.
Featured image: Merce Cunningham – Photo by Annie Leibovitz
