Five College dancers pay tribute to Merce Cunningham
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Choreographer Merce Cunningham was never interested in dancing to the beat.
From the start of his career more than 70 years ago, Cunningham's work was innovative. When most choreographers of the day were creating dances that told stories, for example, his did not. Unlike classical ballet, or the works of other modern dance choreographers at that time Cunningham's dances were derived from nature, and based on the way the human body moves rather than on story lines. He also didn't set his dances to music - that was added later, only after the movement had been created.
"He really broke certain conventional bonds that were holding things in place," former Cunningham Company member Marianne Preger-Simon of Whately told the Gazette in 2009, shortly after Cunningham's death at the age of 90. His company, which has been on a worldwide "Legacy Tour" since his death, will disband in January.
In honor of Cunningham's contributions to dance, the Five College Dance Department this fall is presenting "MinEVENT," a site-specific "choreographic collage" created by Cunningham. Twenty students from the Five Colleges, divided into two casts, have been performing the piece in area venues since September. Over the next two weekends, it will be staged at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and at Amherst College.
This is not the first time Five College dancers have performed works by well-known choreographers. Department chairman Jim Coleman says members of renowned dance companies spend time on campuses every year, teaching choreography by masters who have made their marks on the dance world: Mark Morris, José Limón, Doug Varone and Doris Humphrey, among others.
Coleman says learning and performing dances created by such innovators helps his students see how dance fits into the world of arts.
"They feel a connection to the field. They see it's a real field with great masters. They feel a connection to successful great artists," Coleman said.
Opportunity to perform
Bridget Cronin, 19, a sophomore dance major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says it is that opportunity that drew her to the Five College Dance Department. After dancing since the age of 5 in her hometown of Syracuse, N.Y., she looked at a variety of college programs. Attracted to the performance and class opportunities, she settled on UMass.
"It's very exciting to be a part of a work that has been part of the broader historical context," she said. "With Cunningham, it's a valuable experience at this time, but with the company disbanding, I'm grateful to have such a historical repertory to be able to perform."
"MinEVENT" was taught to the dancers by longtime Cunningham Company member Bonu Ogan. Through Ogan's efforts, Cronin says, she and the other students have learned about Cunningham's philosophy of dance, as well as his demanding technique.
There is much to get used to, Coleman said. For starters, "Cunningham was adventurous in his use of space and time." In rehearsals, he said, Ogan pushed the dancers' timing - asking them to move faster and faster in the up-tempo sections and to slow down dramatically in the slower sections. "There is not a middle ground," Coleman said. "Cunningham wants extremes."
Exact unison among dancers was never Cunningham's goal, Coleman said. He wanted each dancer to move as an individual onstage, working to create an organic whole.
"It's a challenge," said Nick Galatis, 19, a UMass sophomore dance major from Needham. "At first I was really skeptical; it was difficult. I hadn't done anything like it before. ... Merce's technique is difficult, but it's definitely do-able."
Cronin, who had danced in some Cunningham pieces in high school, says she knew she was in for a challenge.
"I knew coming into this I would struggle .... It's supposed to look like nature. On my body it felt very awkward," she said. "It takes your spine in a new direction, you curve it, spiral it."
Making choices
With no story line and music that changes with each performance, the dancers said, they had to learn to supply their own meaning and rhythms to the pieces.
"You have a sense of nature, rhythm, communing with each other. All our rhythms are found in ourselves but you have to stay on track with each other," Galatis said.
Although the students have performed the piece several times this fall, it changes with each show - by design. At certain times the performers can choose their own spacing and timing - even the direction they are facing onstage.
"It's not like a finished piece, it's more like a process and you're witnessing the process - a glimpse into the dance world that, like nature, is constantly changing," Galatis said.
"It's like seeing a living experiment happen right in front of you," Cronin added. "It's very gutsy. You can't hide behind anything. It's raw and vulnerable. ... It's exciting for the audience to see."
Kathleen Mellen can be reached at kmellen@gazettenet.com.
About these performances
WHAT: University Dancers
WHEN: Dec. 2 and 3 at 8 p.m.; Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Bowker Auditorium, UMass
COST: $10; $5 seniors, children 18 and under; $3 UMass and Five College students
To purchase, visit the Fine Arts Center box office, call 545-2511 or go online at www.umasstix.com/musicanddance
MORE INFO: Also on the program:
New Second Line" by visiting artist Camille Brown, a dance inspired by Hurricane Katrina that celebrates the spirit and culture of the people of New Orleans.
"Pictures at an Exhibition" by Adrienne T. Hawkins, set to music by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The work depicts an exhibition of sketches, watercolors and architectural designs by Victor Hartmann. Hawkins, who visited the campus in the fall to teach University Dancers the piece, is the artistic director of Impulse Dance Company in Boston.
"Rotator," a work by UMass dance professor BillBob Brown, combines video and music of Anne Gosfield, Ministry and Talking Heads.
"Sostenuto & Allegro" by UMass dance professor Tom Vacanti is set to the music of Kurt Weill.
WHAT: Amherst College Dance
WHEN: Dec. 9 and 10 at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Holden Theatre, Amherst College
MORE INFO: For information and reservations, call 542-2277
