NEARLY 90²
A visionary choreographer, Merce Cunningham tirelessly reinvented the vocabulary of contemporary dance for over half a century.
His importance in dance is comparable to that of Samuel Beckett in theatre, James Joyce in literature or Marcel Duchamp in the visual arts. Over time, his work became a sort of new classicism, with the clarity and precision of the corporal architecture (conveyed by his masterful yet modest dancers) imposing a compelling beauty. Three months before his death last July, he created his last dance piece at age 90. A legacy piece that is the culmination of a long creative life, Nearly 90² is performed by thirteen exceptional dancers experienced in meeting his demanding standards and his insistence on clarity and refinement. Solos, duos, trios and quartets burst forth like a constant kaleidoscopic rearrangement, a swarming of lives open to the imagination. The Festival opens with this piece, one last chance for Montreal audiences to be dazzled by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. A Canadian exclusive!
PRODUCED BY MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY
CHOREOGRAPHY: MERCE CUNNINGHAM
DANCERS: BRANDON COLLWES + DYLAN CROSSMAN + JULIE CUNNINGHAM + EMMA DESJARDINS + JENNIFER GOGGANS + JONN HINRICHS + DANIEL MADOFF + RASHAUN MITCHELL + MARCIE MUNNERLYN + SILAS RIENER + JAMIE SCOTT + MELISSA TOOGOOD + ANDREAWEBER
MUSIC: A RE-ENVISIONED COMPOSITION BY JOHN PAUL JONES + TAKEHISA KOSUGI
COSTUME DESIGN: ANNA FINKE
LIGHTING DESIGN: CHRISTINE SHALLENBERG
LIVE MUSICIANS: JOHN KING + TAKEHISA KOSUGI
COPRODUCTION BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (NEW YORK) + BARBICANBITE10 (LONDRES) + COMUNIDAD DE MADRID – TEATROS DEL CANAL & FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL MADRID EN DANZA + THÉÂTRE DE LA VILLE (PARIS) + FESTIVAL D’AUTOMNE À PARIS
PRESENTED BY FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES
IN ASSOCIATION WITH PLACE DES ARTS
REDACTION: MICHÈLE FEBVRE
TRADUCTION: NEIL KROETSCH
MERCE CUNNINGHAM (NEW YORK)
MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY
A soloist with the Martha Graham company from 1939 to 1945, Cunningham founded his own company in 1953. Audiences eagerly followed his dance career with the company, from his fiery, spirited youth to the touching diminishment of old age. He had an endless capacity for renewal, stimulated by an almost childlike curiosity for everything happening in the world around him, especially (since the 1970s) new developments in image and computer technologies, which he brilliantly incorporated into his work.
