TitleInterview with Merce Cunningham: conducted by Meredith Monk, 1997-07-04
NamesMerce Cunningham Dance Company (Associated name)Cunningham, Merce (Interviewee)Monk, Meredith (Interviewer)
CollectionMerce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1997-07-04
Library locationsRodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded SoundShelf locator: *LTD-A 897
TopicsCage, JohnCunningham, MerceKosugi, Takehisa, 1938-Merce Cunningham Dance CompanyDream (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Event (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Ocean (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Root of an unfocus (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Septet (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Sixteen dances for soloist and company of three (Choreographic work : Cunningham)Winterbranch (Choreographic work : Cunningham)ChoreographyDance -- Production and direction
GenresInterviews
NotesContent: Title and date provided by cataloger based on handwritten note on original DAT and audition.Content: Handwritten note on original DAT container: "Interview - Meredith Monk of Merce Cunningham ; 7-4-97".Numbering: Donor's inventory number: D381.Venue: Recording location is unidentified; however, the background sounds indicate that it was likely recorded in a dance studio.Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical DescriptionAudiocassetteExtent: 1 audiocassette (DAT) (54 min.) : digital, .3209 ips, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit, two track, stereoSound quality is good; there are occasional distant background sounds of drums and voices.
DescriptionBegins abruptly; Merce Cunningham speaks with Meredith Monk about selecting artistic collaborators; creative inspiration for Winterbranch (1964); Monk and Cunningham speak about selecting dancers, including the qualities they look for such as a balance between precision and freedom in movement; Cunningham speaks about planning his BAM [Brooklyn Academy of Art] season [October 14-19, 1997], including the construction of the Events to be performed; certain challenges of teaching past works to new generations of his [Merce Cunningham Dance] Company; how watching movies and working with dance for camera has influenced his choreography; drawing; choreographing with the computer program, Life Forms; Cunningham recollects an instance of stage fright as a young child; short anecdotes on his tap dance training with Mrs. [Maude] Barrett, and doing exhibition ballroom dancing with her daughter, Marjorie; briefly, speaking to his father about his wish to be a performer; attending Cornish School of the Arts and the influential people he met there including John Cage; Monk describes a prepared piano work by John Cage that accompanies Cunningham's Dream (1948); Cunningham tells an anecdote about Septet (1953), in which he recalls the way David Tudor and John Cage played the accompaniment; briefly speaks about working with Takehisa Kosugi as the current Company's Musical Director; Monk describes her experience as a musician for Cunningham's Events; in response to Monk's question on his "typical day," Cunningham tells a few short anecdotes on getting up, then describes briefly his morning routine and his daily routine at the dance studio; Cunningham speaks about passing his work on to the next generations and briefly, the reconstruction of his works, including that of Sounddance (1975); Monk describes her experience of watching Sounddance; Cunningham's reasoning for not using improvisation in his works; his choreographic use of re-ordering set movement phrases from performance to performance; briefly, his solo, Root of an unfocus (1944), and its exploration of fear and risk; they briefly discuss Cage's exploration of the "Nine Indian emotions," and Cunningham's related work, Sixteen dances for soloist and company of three (1951); the choreographic process for Ocean (1994); Cunningham speaks about his interest in how present day children are taught with the use of layered images, while his generation was taught with words; Monk and Cunningham briefly discuss the speed of visual stimulation in society, including impacts on both the human nervous system and the perspectives of audiences; closing remarks; Cunningham speaks about his house plants and they briefly discuss the relationship between creativity and gardening.
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 897373807NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20490343Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 179cde40-b7f1-0133-7765-3c07547a230f
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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