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Items Interview with Merce Cunningham

Interview with Merce Cunningham: on Third ear (Radio program), BBC Radio 3, 1989-03-20

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LIBRARY DIVISION
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

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COLLECTION
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

This Item

Interview with Merce Cunningham

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Title
Interview with Merce Cunningham: on Third ear (Radio program), BBC Radio 3, 1989-03-20
Additional title: Third ear (Radio program : BBC Radio 3)
Names
Merce Cunningham Dance Company (Associated name)
Cunningham, Merce (Interviewee)
McLean, Fiona (Radio producer)
Cook, Christopher, 1959 January 24- (Host)
BBC Radio 3 (Broadcaster)
Collection

Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1989-03-20
Library locations
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
Shelf locator: *LTC-A 1461
Topics
Cunningham, Merce
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Event (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
Choreography
Genres
Interviews
Notes
Content: Host Christopher Cook interviews Merce Cunningham for broadcast on March 20, 1989 by BBC Radio 3, on its series the Third ear, produced by Fiona McLean; on the occasion of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company performances of Events at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, in March, 1989.
Content: Title, date and location provided by cataloger based on handwritten note on original cassette and container, and audition.
Content: Handwritten note on original cassette: "Third Ear 20.03.89". Handwritten note on original container: "Third Ear ; Merce Cunningham, Christopher Cook ; Producer: Fiona McLean ; Room: 8406 BH Ext. 5214 ; 8LN911/89FJ3121 ; Radio 3 ; TX: 20.03.89 ; Due: 24'11" ".
Venue: Broadcast in, London, England, 1989 March 20.
Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical Description
Audiocassette
Extent: 1 audiocassette (24 minutes) : analog
Sound quality is good.
Description
Begins abruptly; host and interviewer Christopher Cook introduces Merce Cunningham and his career; Merce Cunningham speaks about his Events including his re-use of past choreography and chance operations to arrange the unique order of a given Event; his use of stage space and how this allows for his [Merce Cunningham Dance] Company to perform in unique spaces; how movement itself, without added narrative, is of interest to him; Marcel Duchamp's idea that "art is completed by the spectator" and his interest in open interpretation of his works; his interest in using "contemporary terms" in his work, especially in selecting his collaborators; his use of live electronics as the music for his work and how this impacts his dancers; how he gets initial inspiration for a dance from movement or seeing movement in the world; testing movement ideas out through teaching them to his dancers and watching how they respond; the individual rhythmic tendencies of dancers as well as his use of a stopwatch to organize the tempo and timing of movement phrases; videotaping his rehearsals; his interest in exploring movement over creating a style; how dancers develop artistry and his admiration of Fred Astaire; why he selects his Company dancers from classes rather than audition; briefly, his own thoughts on continuing to dance as an aging dancer.
Type of Resource
Sound recording
Languages
English
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 932894773
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20861314
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 16267700-b949-0133-9f35-3c07547a230f
Rights Statement
This 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).

Item timeline of events

  • 1989: Created
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Merce Cunningham" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1989. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/18c6f500-b949-0133-7b99-3c07547a230f

Chicago/Turabian Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Merce Cunningham" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/18c6f500-b949-0133-7b99-3c07547a230f

APA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. (1989). Interview with Merce Cunningham Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/18c6f500-b949-0133-7b99-3c07547a230f

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/18c6f500-b949-0133-7b99-3c07547a230f | title= (sound recording) Interview with Merce Cunningham, (1989)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=April 25, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Interview with Merce Cunningham