Synopsis
This biography, filled with photographs by such distinguished photographers as Imogen Cunningham and Annie Leibovitz, chronicles the long and prodigious career of Merce Cunningham, one of America's most innovative and influential dancers and choreographers.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-09-01 | | Editor: | David Vaughan, Melissa Harris |
| Size | | Length: | 1997 pages | | Height: | 12.5 in | | Width: | 10.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 77.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
Merce Cunningham celebrates the career of one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, from his first innovative and explosive solo dances to the present. This unique book incorporates images of performances by many world-renowned photographers, including Imogen Cunningham, Barbara Morgan, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Hujar, and Arnold Eagle. Now available in paperback.
Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years incorporates images of performances and rehearsals, along with candid photographs by many important photographers, including Imogen Cunningham, Arnold Eagle, Peter Hujar, James Klosty, Annie Leibovitz, Barbara Morgan, and Max Waldman. The book also features examples of Cunningham's choreographic notes, as well as scores, and set and costume designs by the artists with whom he has collaborated over the years, including William Anastasi, Dove Bradshaw, John Cage, Morris Graves, Jasper Johns, Takehisa Kosugi, Mark Lancaster, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Isamu Noguchi, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, Marsha Skinner, Frank Stella, David Tudor, and Andy Warhol. Realized in collaboration with Cunningham and the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, the publication includes essays by Cunningham (gathered together for the first time), and a biographical profile - peppered throughout with Cunningham's voice - by writer and dance historian David Vaughan.
Industry Reviews
For over 50 years, modern dancer and choreographer Cunningham (b. 1919) has been creating dances that challenge performers and audiences alike. His remarkable journey of discovery has been marked by four events: his work with composer John Cage to separate the music from the dance; the adoption of chance operations in choreography; the influence of film and video; and the use of LifeForms, a computer application or "three-dimensional human animation system." The dance company's archivist for more than 20 years, Vaughan documents performances, tours, residencies, and grants, beginning with Cunningham's first work in 1942, and lets the recollections of principals dancers, designers, and composers serve as descriptions of each work. Excerpts from Cunningham's eloquent and provocative writings and interviews are interspersed throughout. Vaughan's writing is in keeping with Cunningham's stated preference "to speak of dancing in terms of `facts,' " yet this adherence to "facts" is the volume's one limitation we hear more about uncomfortable accommodations while on tour than the 1992 death of Cage, Cunningham's lifelong partner and colleague. Handsomely illustrated, this accurate and extensive accounting of Cunningham's illustrious career is an essential addition to dance collections. Joan Stahl, National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
Chafe
The photographs presented in this handsomely designed retrospective of Cunningham's radically innovativee choreography are spectacular, capturing the strength, agility, grace, and sculptural stillness of his nonnarrative yet extraordinarily dramatic and eloquent dances. Vaughan . . . provides detailed commentary that deftly chronicles the evolution of Cunningham's powerful creations. Cunningham's own writings document his fresh approach to movement, space, time, and sound, much of which grew out of his intense, sustained collaboration with John Cage.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Seaman
Drawing on his 30-year association with Merce Cunningham (as archivist of the Cunningham Dance Foundation), Vaughan provides the most comprehensive book so far on the radical innovations that make up the work of Cunningham and John Cage. . . . The text, biographical profile (with Cunningham's voice emerging from the text), the essays by Cunningham (especially 'Four Events that Have Led to Large Discoveries') provide an invaluable resource and allow the reader to better perceive the choreographer's genius. This volume follows Kostelanetz's Merce Cunningham (1993) with its chronology compiled by Vaughan and a discussion between Vaughan and former members of the company, including Brown, Dunn, Farber, and Paxton. Now Vaughan uses his own formidable talent to put together a coffee-table book with much more than gorgeous pictures. Everything about this book makes it a must read for every lover of the process of art.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Seaman
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