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Items Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography

Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

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COLLECTION
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

This Item

Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography

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Title
Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography
Names
Merce Cunningham Dance Company (Associated name)
Cunningham, Merce (Speaker)
Collection

Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1965 - 1969 (Questionable)
Library locations
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
Shelf locator: *LT-7-A 2447
Topics
Cunningham, Merce
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Summerspace (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
Choreography
Genres
Lectures
Notes
Content: This recording seems to be a rehearsal of a lecture by Merce Cunningham about his choreography, to be given at an unspecified date and location.
Content: Title and date provided by cataloger based on audition, handwritten note taped to the original reel hub, and collection context.
Content: Handwritten note taped to original container: "I/77".
Content: A similar version of this lecture was recorded in October 1966, on a separate recording with the classmark *LT-7-A 2360, and is available for separate streaming at http://link.nypl.org/yTL5k8FvRkKPQkXO5gOhrwE.
Numbering: Donor's inventory number: R019.
Venue: Recorded in an unidentified location.
Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical Description
Audiotape reel
Extent: 1 audiotape reel (17 minutes) : analog, 7 1/2 ips, half track, mono ; 5 in. rewound onto an archival 7 in. reel
Sound quality is mostly good; overall the speaker is recorded at a slightly low volume and there are occasional sound and music samples that play simultaneous to the speaker.
Description
Merce Cunningham speaks about abstraction, movement, and symmetry in the body; how he starts to choreograph new works; the audience response to his [Merce Cunningham Dance] Company's performance in Chandigarh, [Punjab]; while touring, his Company's assessment of the various conditions of performance spaces, especially the floor; how the size of the space impacts the choice of works to be performed; the set-up of the pianos in the space, especially David Tudor's wish that the pianos are set up in the front of the stage; his approaches to choreography and, briefly, teaching; a brief anecdote about a conversation that Cunningham had at a party; briefly, the general audience response to his Company's performances in London; his Company's residency at Connecticut College in the summer of 1958, including teaching classes and rehearsing his Antic Meet, and Summerspace; his intentions behind the title and some of the movements for Summerspace; the ballroom rehearsal space during the residency and how this space impacted the choreography; some of the choreographic structures and chance methods that he devised for Summerspace; his numbering system for the movements in Summerspace; his attention to individual dancers' pathways in Summerspace and the assembling the dancers in the piece; the premiere of Summerspace and his perception of the audience response; ends abruptly.
Type of Resource
Sound recording
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 909030622
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20621765
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): c0c7dd80-b8c1-0133-7b27-60f81dd2b63c
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

  • 1965: Created (Approximate)
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1965 - 1969. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5917630-b8c1-0133-6e91-60f81dd2b63c

Chicago/Turabian Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5917630-b8c1-0133-6e91-60f81dd2b63c

APA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. (1965 - 1969). Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5917630-b8c1-0133-6e91-60f81dd2b63c

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5917630-b8c1-0133-6e91-60f81dd2b63c | title= (sound recording) Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography, (1965 - 1969)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=April 25, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Merce Cunningham speaks about his choreography