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Merce Cunningham Trust

@mercetrust

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A foundation dedicated to preserving and enlivening Merce Cunningham’s legacy, and broadly sharing his choreographic work and ideas.

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Scenario (1997) — танцювальна постановка американського хореографа Merce Cunningham з костюмами, сценографією та освітленням японської дизайнерки Rei Kawakubo, засновниці Comme des Garçons. Ідея виникла після того, як Cunningham побачив її колекцію SS 1997 Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body. У ній дизайнерка використала еластичні тканини з пуховим наповненням, створивши асиметричні об’єми на плечах, грудях, спині та стегнах. Силуети відхилялися від традиційного уявлення про пропорції тіла, яке десятиліттями формувало індустрія моди.

«Мода була дуже нудною, і я дуже злилася. Я хотіла створити щось надзвичайно сильне. Це була реакція. Ідея полягала в тому, щоб проєктувати тіло», — розповідала дизайнерка.

Kawakubo перенесла цю концепцію зі сцени модного показу в танець. Об’ємні костюми змінювали пропорції виконавців, просторові взаємодії та їхнє відчуття власної фізичності. Замість звичних обтислих сценічних комбінезонів танцівники отримали одяг, який обмежував рухи й змушував інакше працювати з рівновагою. Cunningham враховував ці особливості під час створення хореографії, а не розглядав їх як оформлення вже готових рухів. Сцену оформили в білому кольорі, а постановку супроводжувала електронна композиція Wave Code A-Z японського композитора Takehisa Kosugi. За задумом Kawakubo, світло й мінімалістичний простір підкреслювали силуети, не відволікаючи уваги від тіл і рухів. У 2019 році балетна трупа Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon відновила постановку: версія зберегла костюми, візуальне оформлення та музику.

Творча практика Cunningham охоплювала співпрацю з митцями з різних галузей. Andy Warhol створив сценографію для постановки RainForest зі сріблястими подушками, підвішеними в просторі сцени, а Robert Rauschenberg розробив костюми для Travelogue. Серед інших його творчих партнерів були Jasper Johns і Bruce Nauman.

У Scenario одяг перестає бути нейтральною оболонкою тіла. Він змінює його видимі пропорції, впливає на рух і формує відносини між виконавцями в просторі.

Video credit: Opéra de Lyon

© ulür, 2026

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Scenario (1997) — a dance production choreographed by Merce Cunningham, with costumes, set and lighting concept by Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garçons. The music, Wave Code A-Z, was composed by Takehisa Kosugi. Kawakubo based the costumes on her Spring/Summer 1997 collection Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body. The production premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York on October 14, 1997.

Video credit: Opéra de Lyon

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Scenario (1997) — a dance work choreographed by Merce Cunningham, with costumes and stage design by Rei Kawakubo and music by Takehisa Kosugi (Wave Code A-Z).

Video credit: Opéra de Lyon

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Scenario (1997), choreographed by Merce Cunningham, with costumes, set and lighting concept by Rei Kawakubo and music by Takehisa Kosugi.

Video credit: Opéra de Lyon

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Scenario (1997)

Choreography — Merce Cunningham
Costumes, set and lighting concept — Rei Kawakubo
Music (Wave Code A-Z) — Takehisa Kosugi
Lighting — Masao Nihei and David Covey
Space — Takao Kawasaki

Video credit: Opéra de Lyon

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Happy Birthday Robert Rauschenberg!!
Here you are with John and Merce in London.

Photo credit: Douglas H. Jeffery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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SFDanceworks’s mission is to present the PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE of contemporary dance. We are honored to include a trio of solos by a pilar of the contemporary dance canon, Merce Cunningham. Cunningham’s revolutionary technique, approach, and style continue to inform and inspire dance makers today.

Alongside world premieres by rising talents Jermaine Spivey and Brett Conway and established voice Yue Yin, Cunningham’s work showcases a sea change in contemporary dance in America. We cannot wait to present this incredible program to you all.

Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) was a celebrated dancer and choreographer renowned for his groundbreaking work and his profound influence on generations of dancemakers and artists. He was introduced to the work of Martha Graham and met the composer John Cage who would become his closest collaborator and life partner. In 1939, Cunningham began a six-year tenure as a soloist in the Graham company, and soon began presenting his own choreography. In the summer of 1953, during a teaching residency at Black Mountain College, Cunningham formed a
dance company to explore his innovative ideas. Over the course of his seventy-year career he choreographed 180 dances and over 700 Events, premiering his final work at age ninety. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company remained in continuous operation until its closure in 2011, giving nearly three thousand performances in over forty countries.

In collaboration with John Cage, Cunningham proposed a series of radical ideas including the separation of music and dance, the use of chance operations, and novel ways to utilize film and technology. He collaborated with such renowned artists and composers as Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, and Takehisa Kosugi. Cunningham earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts. Today Cunningham’s work continues to be performed by professional and student dancers worldwide.

Tickets are linked in bio and start at $36

Photograph by Annie Leibovitz, 1997. Courtesy of the Merce Cunningham Trust and the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

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SFDanceworks looks forward to sharing Season Nine with you in just under three weeks!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, however, Joseph Walsh will not take part. In his place, Silas Riener will perform the collection of Merce Cunningham solos. We are excited to welcome Silas, who also staged the solos, and his deep connection to Cunningham’s work.

Silas Riener is a dance artist. His ongoing work involves the building of collaborative worlds through improvisational techniques, digital technologies, and material construction.

He makes dances as collisions of games, formal vocabularies, athletics, and building and renovation. He has worked with Rashaun Mitchell since 2010 and collaborates with sculptor Martha Friedman. He danced in the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, with Tere O’Connor, and many others, most recently in Sarah Michelson’s nowhere at the Museum of Modern Art. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a graduate of Princeton University and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. As an educator he has taught at Princeton, Bard College, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and as a guest at USC Kaufman, The Juilliard School, Miami New World School of the Arts, FSU, and Barnard College, among others.

His solo work has been commissioned by The Chocolate Factory, EMPAC, and The Serpentine Pavilion. Together with Rashaun Mitchell he has received two National Dance Project Awards, a 2024 Creative Capital Award, and has been a fellow and artist-in-residence at numerous institutions. Their work has been commissioned by venues such as BAM/Next Wave, NYU Skirball, The Joyce Theater, The Barbican, REDCAT, EMPAC, The Walker Art Center, Danspace Project, SFMOMA and MoMA PS1.

Tickets are on sale now and linked in bio!
Community pricing starts at $36!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Walker Art Center.

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#ContemporaryArtPractices #embodimentpractices 💫

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🇺🇸 Chris Komar (1947 - 1996) was the assistant artistic director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company who died of AIDS in NYC. He was 48 years old.

Born in Milwaukee, Chris trained in dance at the @uwmilwaukee, where he also taught. He was a founding member of the @milwaukeeballet.

In 1972, Chris joined the Cunningham troupe, creating roles in more than 45 dances. In 1993, he retired from the stage but continued to work with the company in a variety of jobs until his death.

In 1973, Chris began teaching at the Cunningham studio and was Merce Cunningham’s assistant, helping with repertory workshops throughout the United States and Europe and eventually teaching workshops as well. He staged Cunningham dances for companies around the world, among them the #TheatreduSilence in France, the @ocballet_, @abtofficial, the @balletoperadeparis and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s #WhiteOakDanceProject.

In 1982, Chris produced and served as the host for “Rhythms in Space,” a cable television show. He received a @bessieawards for service to dance in 1991.

Susie Bauer told @theaidsmemorial, “Chris and I were close friends. First meeting via the @uwmilwaukee Dance Department. Chris went to NYC in 1972, but we stayed in contact. I flew into NYC during the 1977 blackout and he kindly let me stay at his NYC apartment until I was able to find my own just down the street from his. We saw each other daily while I lived in NYC and kept in regular touch up until his death. Chris also choreographed two dances for me via mail ~ yes snail mail! The first in 1984-85. The last in 1991. I still greatly miss him.”

📍The AIDS Memorial would love to hear from anyone who knew or remembers Chris. #whatisrememberedlives

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Thank you so much to all who joined us on Saturday for a sharing of work from the Cunningham technique residency with Jeannie Steele!

It was wonderful to see so many new and familiar faces in the audience and to experience some beautiful movement, brilliant musical accompaniment and invigorating conversation. Thank you for bringing your curiosity and questions.

We would love to welcome you back for one of our upcoming events- please click the link in our bio to see what’s coming up for the rest of this year and into 2027 (with more events to be announced!)

And a huge thank you to Jeannie, the dancers, the Merce Cunningham Trust and St. Hilda’s College.

DANSOX | Dance Scholarship Oxford | Cunningham Technique | Merce Cunningham | Jeannie Steele | Contemporary Dance | Dance in Oxford

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ART & FASHION: REI KAWAKUBO & MERCE CUNNINGHAM
On the left are two photographs from the runway show of the iconic Spring/Summer 1997 collection—officially titled “Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body” but often referred to in the fashion industry as the “Lumps and Bumps” collection—along with three quotes related to it.
The main photograph shows Rei Kawakubo at work; she is personally conducting a fitting for the iconic “Lumps and Bumps” garments—characterized by distinctive padding and silhouette distortions—created for the dance piece “Scenario” by the renowned American choreographer Merce Cunningham, New York, 1997; photography by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.
Mercier “Merce” Philip Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists from other disciplines, including musicians John Cage, David Tudor, and Brian Eno, as well as visual artists Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Nauman, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and Jasper Johns.
#cdg #cdggirl #reikawakubo #commedesgarçons #commedesgarconscommedesgarcons
@tgs @mercetrust @commedesgarcons

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