March 11, 2005

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Close "Encounters" of the Cunningham kind

by Robyn Israel

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company first performed "Suite For Five in Space and Time" on May 18, 1956. The modern-dance company was just 3 years old, and its maverick choreographer had collaborated on the piece with avant-garde composer John Cage and artist/designer Robert Rauschenberg.

Nearly 50 years later, the piece is still in the company's repertoire (it is now called "Suite for Five") and will be performed this weekend at Stanford's Memorial Auditorium.

The program will also feature the North American premiere of Cunningham's "Views on Stage," co-commissioned by Stanford Lively Arts, as well as the West Coast premiere of "Split Sides," which features music by Radiohead and Sigur Ros. The latter exemplifies Cunningham's "dance by chance'" approach: The audience is treated to separate rolls of a die before the curtain rises, to determine which musical score, sets, costumes, lighting and choreography will be used (there are two of each). With 32 possible combinations, the piece is pure Cunningham: wildly innovative and incredibly imaginative.

Presented by Stanford Lively Arts, the two performances will cap off a week-long residency for the New York-based company. The residency is part of "Encounter Merce," Stanford University's largest-ever interdisciplinary arts project focused on the life and art of Cunningham.

It's a coup for Stanford, as the company has appeared at Cal Performances during its previous Bay Area tours. Viewers will be treated to three works by an 85-year old master of modern dance, who has choreographed more than 150 pieces for his company -- not to mention works for the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Paris Opera Ballet.

"He revolutionized the modern dance world because of his ideas," said dancer Andrea Weber.

Weber, the newest member of the company, said she is honored to be dancing in the classic "Suite for Five." As in all Cunningham pieces, there is no narrative, no characters -- just the dancers and their movements. Though music accompanies the piece, it is not necessary, as the dance should be able to speak for itself. That is the Cunningham philosophy.

"It's simple, but the choreography is just beautiful," Weber said. "I remember first seeing the opening duet and just going, 'Wow.' Cage's music is very minimal. It's just the relationship between a man and a woman, and there's something very sensual about it, which I don't think everyone sees. It can be just a glance or the fact that the man is dancing to the back of her head. It's very special."

In rehearsing "Suite for Five" at Stanford this week, Weber also got to meet Carolyn Brown, with whom Cunningham first danced the piece.

"It's a very scary piece for me -- It will be my second time dancing it!" said Weber, who first joined the 14-member company in January 2004. "But Carolyn definitely allowed the rehearsal to not be intimidating. She completely understood."

"Suite for Five" has moments of stillness, where one dancer will be moving, while the rest remain still. That took some getting used to, Weber said, but under Cunningham's tutelage she has learned to cope with the stillness -- and calm her nerves.

"In my life I'm anxious," Weber said. "But I've learned from Merce to be present in every moment of the piece."

Upon graduating from Juilliard, Weber took classes at Cunningham's studio, eventually becoming an understudy in July 2002.

"The training is an extensive process," she said. "They teach you classic old works, then you watch the company and study the new works. You're constantly learning the material from his repertoire in the studio. It's intense."

Dancer Jonah Bokaer's entree into the company was a little different than Weber's. A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts (located in Winston-Salem, N.C.), Bokaer tried out for the company in a rare open audition. The company had at the time weathered a wave of departures, and was seeking to fill a number of vacant slots. Ten months after his audition, Bokaer was accepted in June 2000.

Asked why they were selected to join the prestigious company, Bokaer replied, "I think a lot is timing. Merce looks for personalities, but also people who focus on the task. He chooses dancers who are very dedicated. And sometimes I think if you have physical attributes of the person who's left, that also factors in. I was the same height (6"1) and I fit into the costume of the person I replaced."

"Merce also hires taller dancers, compared to other companies, so maybe there's an aesthetic thing" added the 5 foot 8 inch Weber. "There's so much emphasis on the gestures of the arms and the legs. Even the shorter people in the company have long legs."

Cunningham dancers are trained in his complex technique, which requires feats of technical virtuosity.

"He uses all parts of the body, with limbs gesturing in all directions," Weber said. "And parts of the body are worked in opposition to each other: the legs against the torso, against the arms, against the head. There's a lot done on one foot, a lot of jumping, turning, adagio, allegro. A lot comes from ballet, with added torso movements."

Bokaer compared Cunningham's choreography to cubist paintings by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

"You're not seeing one dimension of the painting; you see all of the planes imposed on each other. (With our company) there's not a frontal relationship to the stage; wherever you're facing is the front, rather than thinking the front is where the audience is. You could have 14 dancers, all with a different front." Merce totally changed stage space."

Both dancers stressed the importance of taking Cunningham's classes (he teaches two classes, Monday and Thursday), to maintain the master's specific technique.

"Merce's movements are combined in an inorganic way, and the classes offer a system to stay connected throughout the works," Bokaer said. "It's easy to let things erode when you're not constantly doing it. You have to fine-tune your technique; Robert (Swinston, Cunningham's assistant, and a member of the company since 1980) always says that."

Now 85, the arthritic Cunningham still produces a new piece each year, relying on a software program called DanceForms to sculpt his dancers.

"The body is rendered in space, and he works with the parts to come up with different coordinations," Bokaer explained. "It's very fractal. This movement pushes your body to its extreme range of motion."

With bodies configured in a multitude of ways, Weber said there are "endless possibilities" for the company's seven men and seven women.

"And because everything can be dissected, it's easy to find where your weaknesses are -- one person may have neck problems, another person -- like me -- may have hyper-extended legs. The technique really helps you learn about your joints."

The duress of dancing -- as well as the regular touring -- can curtail a dancer's career, but Cunningham remains an inspiration to his company. He continued to dance into his 70s, and his company boasts 53-year Swinston and two 39-year-old dancers.

"He's an inspiration to be around, to watch him work. He continually pushes us, in a way I didn't know I could be pushed," Weber said.

What: Stanford Lively Arts presents the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The program will feature the North American premiere of Cunningham's "Views on Stage," co-commissioned by Stanford Lively Arts, the College of St. Benedict-Benedicta Arts Center in St. Joseph, Minn., the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Dance Umbrella in London, England. Also on the program is the West Coast premiere of "Split Sides" and the classic "Suite For Five." A post-performance discussion with the company will take place after tonight's show and will be free and open to the public.

Where: Stanford's Memorial Auditorium

When: Tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Cost: Tickets are $44/$38/$26 adults. Half-price tickets are available for people age 15 and under and discounts are available for students.

Info: For tickets and more information, contact the Stanford Ticket Office, located at Tresidder Memorial Union, at (650) 725-ARTS (2787) or go online to http://livelyarts.stanford.edu.
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company will also perform on Saturday at 2 p.m. in front of the Stanford book store. In the case of rain, the company will perform at Dinkelspiel Auditorium. Accompanying the dancers will be 17 musicians, who will perform Mark Applebaum's newest piece, "The Bible without God." Applebaum is assistant professor of composition and theory in the department of music at Stanford.

In 1963 a New York Times critic argued that the Merce Cunningham Dance Company would be more successful without John Cage and his music. Village Voice dance critic Jill Johnston responded that this would be like "the Bible without God."

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