Film series: Dance by Cunningham

image from Cunningham 3D

The great American choreographer Merce Cunningham was born on April 16, 1919, so in honor of the centennial of his birth, numerous events and tributes took place throughout last year, culminating in the release of Cunningham 3D in December. A breathtaking collage of archival material and dances restaged in natural environments, the documentary explores the formative years of Cunningham, who brilliantly upended modern dance aesthetics. Cornell Cinema is thrilled to be able to present the film using its high-quality 3D projection system. “The use of 3D lends an immediacy to the dances and highlights the dancers’ physicality—the muscled weight of their bodies, but also their gravity-defying pliancy and lightness." (The Hollywood Reporter)

Another excellent film about Cunningham came out earlier in the year, If the Dancer Dances, and it offers a backstage chronicle of Stephen Petronio’s company's remounting of Cunningham's piece RainForest in 2015. The Friday, February 7 screening of the film will be introduced by Senior Lecturer Jumay Chu (PMA), who teaches dance at Cornell. Chu recently recalled that it was seeing one of Cunningham’s dances in 1970 that made her decide to become a dancer, and Rainforest, in particular, is one of her favorite Cunningham pieces.

Cosponsored with the Dept of PMA.