It is almost day five of the Merce Cunningham Summer Dance Intensive. Part of my scholarship allows for participation in the week-long program that offers a deeper insight into the work itself. Each day I take class at 10AM as usual - along with the other 35 participants from all over the world - get a lunch break, then we finish the day learning a piece of repertory till 4PM. Here is the info on the piece we are currently learning:
Change of Address, 1992
First Performed: Austin, TX; 31 Jan 1992
Music: Walter Zimmermann
Design: Marsha Skinner
Dancers: Merce Cunningham Dance Company
CAROL TEITELBAUM, Faculty Chair is leading us in the workshop. She was in the company for years and has this down-to-business drive that I am drawn to in a studio. She teaches class every day, is responsible for passing on the original material, organizing 40 bodies in one giant room, making sure our questions are answered, giving us as much information about Merce, the company, and the work as possible, and learning all of our names. Let me tell you, she’s doing a damn good job. She was also in the original cast of “Change of Address”, so it’s really interesting to learn about the piece from a direct line to the first process.
The piece itself is in true Cunningham form and is very challenging - to say the least. Somehow the stars aligned and I ended up with a pretty difficult part - not much luck in his work, all the parts are pretty difficult. I am now known as “Jennifer” in rehearsals. We do one section where Jennifer has to go from a position with the legs in parallel, knees bent, arms and spine curved over in a low ‘C’ shape to the exact same shape facing the other way 180 degrees away - only in between these two shapes, you have to jump in the air kicking your legs behind you, reaching your arms and torso into an arch looking at the ceiling. Jennifer happens to do the most of these jumps in a row - bringing her grand total to a whopping 13 at hyper speed. Immediately after this sequence we create a circle going backwards with the most difficult step in the piece - if you ask me. It involves traveling with your head/spine over in a curve, then flipping one leg from back attitude (a dance term describing a leg that is extended to a bent position still maintaining its highest height) to front attitude (turned out), then keeping that same leg in attitude, jumping off the standing leg into a full rotation while rolling your head and upper back in a simultaneous circle. Hard to picture! Hard to do. Rewarding to try.
We are showing the 15 minute section (with two different casts) today at 3:30PM. It is open for anyone who wants to come and watch, who knows who will show up! As of right now we still have a few sections to learn - only a few hours to go. Wish us luck!
http://dlib.nyu.edu/merce/mwm/2009-07-06/
This is a link to a video series on the website called Mondays with Merce. They’re all very interesting - gives you a better idea of what the work is like. Check out ‘Episode 007 Cunningham Events’.
