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Items John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23

John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23

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LIBRARY DIVISION
Jerome Robbins Dance Division

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COLLECTION
Merce Cunningham Video Archive

This Item

John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23

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Title
John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23
Additional title: Steps, Dance I, II, III (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
Names
Cunningham, Merce (Creator)
Cage, John (Composer)
Cunningham, Merce (Choreographer)
Scott, Jamie (Dancer)
Crossman, Dylan (Dancer)
Nelson, Krista (Dancer)
Hinrichs, John (Dancer)
Kass, Ray (Director)
Cobb-Ozanne, Ian (Associated name)
Johnson, Joshua (Associated name)
Addiss, Stephen (Associated name)
Belay, Matt (Associated name)
Cornwall, Jeff (Associated name)
Doran, Nolan (Associated name)
Everett, Lee (Associated name)
Larkin, Daniel (Associated name)
Miller, Jonathan (Associated name)
Nissley, Justin (Associated name)
Paterson, Simone (Associated name)
Puhl, Andrew (Associated name)
Risatti, Howard (Associated name)
Seo, Audrey (Associated name)
Thompson, Francis (British architect, active 1838-1850) (Associated name)
Welsh, Adam (Associated name)
Young, Christopher (Videographer)
Goodwin, Dylan (Associated name)
Swinston, Robert (Dancer)
Collwes, Brandon (Dancer)
Mitchell, Rashaun (Dancer)
Munnerlyn, Marcie (Dancer)
Reiner, Silas (Dancer)
Cunningham, Julie Dawn (Dancer)
Desjardins, Emma (Dancer)
Toogood, Melissa (Dancer)
Goggans, Jennifer (Dancer)
Squire, Daniel S (Dancer)
Weber, Andrea Michelle, 1975- (Dancer)
Madoff, Daniel (Dancer)
Mizuta, Koji (Dancer)
Farmer, Holley (Dancer)
Collection

Merce Cunningham Video Archive

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 2008-10-23
Library locations
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Shelf locator: *MGZIDF 6710
Topics
Modern dance
Genres
Filmed performances
Filmed dance
Notes
Content: Title provided by cataloger, based on information found within audiovisual content.
Creation/production credits: Ray Kass, director and producer; Ian Cobb-Ozanne, assistant director; Merce Cunningham, artistic director and choreographer; Joshua Johnson, assistant to Merce Cunningham; Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group (RUGs): Jamie Scott, Dylan Crossman, Krista Nelson, John Hinrichs, dancers; Mountain Lake Workshop: Ray Kass, director and founder; Stephen Addiss, Matt Belay, Jeff Cornwall, Nolan Doran, Lee Everett, Daniel Larkin, Jonathan Miller, Justin Nissley, Simone Paterson, Andrew Puhl, Howard Risatti, Audrey Seo, Francis Thompson, Adam Welsh; Christopher Young, studio technical director and principal videographer, Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Simone Paterson, videographer; Jonathan Miller, digital video production and assistant to Simone Paterson; Ian Cobb-Ozanne, principal video editor, assistant director, and DVD cover and menu design; Dylan Goodwin, video co-editor for Dances I and II; Simone Paterson, DVD cover and menu photography; Merce Cunningham Dance Company at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid: Robert Swinston, Brandon Collwes, Rashaun Mitchell, Marcie Munnerlyn, Silas Reiner, Julie Cunningham, Emma Desjardins, Melissa Toogood, Jennifer Goggans, Daniel Squire, Andrea Weber, Daniel Madoff, Koji Mizuta, Holley Farmer, dancers.
Performers: Merce Cunningham, performer/choreographer. Performed by members of the Merce Cunningham Understudy Repertory Group and members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Jamie Scott, Dylan Crossman, Krista Nelson, John Hinrichs (RUGs); Robert Swinston, Brandon Collwes, Rashaun Mitchell, Marcie Munnerlyn, Silas Reiner, Julie Cunningham, Emma Desjardins, Melissa Toogood, Jennifer Goggans, Daniel Squire, Andrea Weber, Daniel Madoff, Koji Mizuta, Holley Farmer (MCDC members performing in Madrid, Spain.)
Venue: Recorded 2008, October 23. New York City.
Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical Description
Videodisc
Extent: 1 videodisc (DVD) (25 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
A record of the production of an artwork 'created through dance' for a performance of John Cage's musical composition Steps: Composition For A Painting, which involves the segments Dances I, II and III as choreographed by Merce Cunningham. In this work, a painting is created via the dancers moving their paint-covered feet across the paper. The footage begins with preparations being made by the Mountain Lake Workshop members and Cunningham dancers as the paint is mixed and paper laid out across the space within the Cunningham studio. Dances I and II are created by the movements of the members of the Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group, while Merce Cunningham himself creates the artwork for the Dance III segment by moving the paint-covered wheels of his wheelchair across the paper. Following this, brief stills of the resulting artwork, which served as part of a performance by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company corps at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid during the spring of 2009. Stills of the dancers in performance and of the background created in the earlier footage are seen.
Type of Resource
Moving image
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 969973574
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b21162916
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 98cefc90-c25c-0135-0680-47cb15c38c88
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

  • 2008: Created
  • 2017: Digitized
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 2008. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a2214010-ef99-0133-3c5d-60f81dd2b63c

Chicago/Turabian Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a2214010-ef99-0133-3c5d-60f81dd2b63c

APA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (2008). John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23 Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a2214010-ef99-0133-3c5d-60f81dd2b63c

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a2214010-ef99-0133-3c5d-60f81dd2b63c | title= (moving image) John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23, (2008)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=April 24, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

John Cage's Steps: Composition for a Painting, performance/artwork creation by Merce Cunningham and members of the MCDC Repertory Understudy Group in collaboration with Ray Kass and the Mountain Lake Workshop, 2008-10-23