The Trisha Brown Dance Company (TBDC) has joined forces with the Merce Cunningham Trust to present Dancing with Bob: Rauschenberg, Brown and Cunningham Onstage in celebration of American artist Robert Rauschenberg’s centennial. This year-long tour will feature Set and Reset choreographed in 1983 by Trisha Brown and Travelogue choreographed in 1977 by Merce Cunningham. The set and costumes for both works were designed by Rauschenberg and each will be performed by members of the Trisha Brown Dance Company. The tour began on June 12 and 13, 2025, at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC, and will appear in Los Angeles at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts May 6 -8, 2026. Tickets are on sale now.
Robert Rauschenberg (1997) – Photographer Ed Chappell, Photograph Collection – Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives, New York
Rauschenberg’s collaborative relationship with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company lasted from 1952 through the end of the MCDC’s World Tour in 1964. The two artists reunited in 1977 for Cunningham’s Travelogue, in 2000 for Interscape and in 2007 for XOVER. Brown collaborated with Rauschenberg during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
LA Dance Chronicle writer Jeff Slayton met on Zoom with TBDC’s Executive Director Kirstin Kapustik, Associate Director of Licensing for the Merce Cunningham Trust, Andrea Weber, and TBDC dancer Savannah Gaillard to learn more.
It was the former Executive Director of the Cunningham Trust, Ken Tabachnick, who suggested this project to the Trisha Brown Dance Company. Ken Tabachnick had worked as Production Manager with TBDC during the development of Set and Reset and it was he who chose Travelogue to be part of Dancing with Bob.
Kapustik felt that this was such an important project that she and Tabachnick started right away raising the funding and planning the tour. Since the Merce Cunningham Dance Company was no longer in existence, it was decided that based on the TBDC dancer’s abilities, they could perform both works.
“It’s pretty amazing to see it come to fruition almost two years later,” Kapustik said. Their hard work paid off and currently there is a seven city with hope that the tour will be extended beyond LA to include a European tour.
I asked if this project would go on past Rauschenberg’s centennial year.
Merce Cunningham – Photo and copyright by Annie Leibovitz (1997) Courtesy of the Merce Cunninhgam Trust and Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library
“I don’t think we can answer that right now,” Kapustik said. “This is a program full of powerhouses and a full evening of dance.” Weber agreed and added that other special events are being planned such as a MinEvent performed by OSU students at the Wexner Center, and at Iowa State students will perform Trisha Brown’s Foray, Forêt choreographed in 1990.
Because the Trisha Brown movement style is so very different than that of Merce Cunningham’s, I asked TBDC dancer Savannah Gaillard, with her training, how it is to go from one dance to the very different style of the other.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company in “Travelogue”, Choreography by Merce Cunningham – Dancers L-R: Chris Komar and Meg Harper – Photo by Charles Atlas.
“Today was the first day we rehearsed Cunningham’s Travelogue and Brown’s Set and Reset together, “Gaillard stated. “Even though they require very different techniques, each complements the other really nicely. The clarity and the sharpness I find in Cunningham can inform my perspective and execution of Trisha’s work. Surprisingly, it’s an enjoyable switch.”
“Since each dancer has their unique experience with Cunningham’s body of work, we take the time to practice the technique before performing Travelogue, so there is a specific, detailed, physical group embodiment of the movement,” Gaillard continued. “I feel everyone takes a very fearless jump into both worlds.”
Trisha Brown Dance Company in Travelogue (1979), Choreography by Merce Cunningham – Dancers Savannah Gaillard, Spencer Weidie, Catherine Kirk, Burr Johnson, Patrick Needham, Jennifer Payán, Claude CJ Johnson. Ashley Merker – Photo by Ben McKeown, courtesy of the American Dance Festival.
“This current company is quite informed about Merce’s work. All have taken class and have had some sort of connection to it, whether it’s been their own delving into it or having studied it in school. There are moments in Trisha’s work where you can see these little flecks of Cunningham come out of fingertips, bodies and toes.” Weber said.
Weber added, “The Cunningham Trust already had an archival process with Travelogue so it seemed relevant to find a way to restage it. Travelogue also marked Rauschenberg’s reunion with Cunningham after the two artists had parted ways in 1964. Travelogue had not been seen since 1979 so reconstructing it in its entirety was exciting.”
Trisha Brown – Photo by Marc Ginot.
Because the original sets and costumes for both works are the property of museums, TBDC collaborated with the Cunningham Trust to have them reconstructed. Weber feels that the sets and costumes for Travelogue are extraordinary and was thrilled with the material that we found to realize Rauschenberg’s design. “They’re just gorgeous,” she gushed. “They have the same color palette as the originals. I’m very happy!”
Kapustik said that Trisha’s exploration of visibility and invisibility in Set and Reset is reflected in the set and the translucent costumes designed by Rauschenberg. The set, a geometric construction on which newsreel footage is projected, hovers above the dancers, creating a vibrant environment that is full of activity and engagement
Trisha Brown Dance Company – Set and Reset (1983), Choreography by Trisha Brown – Dancers Catherine Kirk, Ashley Merker, Jennifer Payán, Spencer Weidie – Photo by Ben McKeown, courtesy of the American Dance Festival.
Gaillard said “Trisha created sequences of movement that were called walls, and there were four walls that the dancers go through. “The original cast improvised through each wall and would reset back to the beginning to solidify their improvisation. This is the movement we learn today. The dancers improvise and then kind of reset.”
My final question was if there was anything that we had not discussed that they felt our readers should know.
Kapustik said, “I think, for me, this is about honoring Rauschenberg and his contribution to dance. You have these two incredible choreographers, and they both collaborated so differently with Rauschenberg to create these phenomenal works of art on stage. We hope that this program will elevate contemporary dance to the level of visual art.”
Trisha Brown Dance Company – “Set and Reset” (1983), Choreography: Trisha Brown – Dancers: Jennifer Payán, Patrick Needham, Spencer Weidie, Catherine Kirk – Photo: Ben McKeown, courtesy of the American Dance Festival.
Weber jumped in to add, “I think it’s a beautiful testament to the versatility of your dancers as well. Also, I just have to say it’s difficult to move one person’s choreography forward in the world, and the mission that you have to bring new work in is incredible. So, for us, it’s about moving forward.”
“Dancing With Bob: Rauschenberg, Brown and Cunningham Onstage” appears at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Thursday – Saturday, May 6-8, 2026 with two performances on Saturday. This is a historical event, so try not to miss it.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts website.
To learn more about the Trisha Brown Dance Company, please visit their website.
For more information on the Merce Cunningham Trust, please visit their website.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Trisha Brown Dance Company in Travelogue (1979), Choreography by Merce Cunningham – Dancers Savannah Gaillard, Spencer Weidie, Catherine Kirk, Burr Johnson, Patrick Needham, , Jennifer Payán, Claude CJ Johnson – Photo by Ben McKeown, courtesy of the American Dance Festival.
