Merce Cunningham

Exchange

Atlas' 2013 film Exchange is based on the 1978 dance piece of the same name by legendary dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham. Atlas created the newly completed film from never-before-seen footage that he shot in 1978 and that was only recently rediscovered by the Merce Cunningham Trust (MCT). The film captures a performance of Exchange by Cunningham and his company, with costumes and backdrop designed by Jasper Johns and music by David Tudor.

Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

The quixotic journey of Nam June Paik, one of the most famous Asian artists of the 20th century, who revolutionized the use of technology as an artistic canvas and prophesied both the fascist tendencies and intercultural understanding that would arise from the interconnected metaverse of today's world.

Cunningham

The iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is profiled in Alla Kovgan's 3D documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and more.

Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance

A history of the work of Merce Cunningham.

John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It

This 56-minute documentary on America's most controversial and unique composer manages to cover a great many aspects of Cage's work and thought. His love for mushrooms, his Zen beliefs and use of the I Ching, and basic bio details are all explained intelligently and dynamically. Black Mountain, Buckminster Fuller, Rauschenberg, Duchamp are mentioned. Yoko Ono, John Rockwell, Laurie Anderson, Richard Kostelanetz make appearances. Fascinating performance sequences include Margaret Leng-Tan performing on prepared piano, Merce Cunningham and company, and performances of Credo In Us, Water Music, and Third Construction. Demystifies the man who made music from silence, from all sounds, from life.

All Star Video

A compilation of avant-garde artwork and talent of the mid to late 20th century hosted by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

In his book "1984", George Orwell saw the television of the future as a control instrument in the hands of Big Brother. Right at the start of the much-anticipated Orwellian year, Paik and Co. were keen to demonstrate satellite TV's ability to serve positive ends-- Namely, the intercontinental exchange of culture, combining both highbrow and entertainment elements. A live broadcast shared between WNET TV in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, linked up with broadcasters in Germany and South Korea, reached a worldwide audience of over 10 or even 25 million (including the later repeat transmissions).

Robert Rauschenberg: Retrospective

This film includes important examples of the Robert Rauschenberg's diverse and extraordinary accomplishments, tracing his development from his student years and his earliest experiments to a retrospective of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It features Rauschenberg, John Cage and Merce Cunningham, and was released in 1979.

Merce by Merce by Paik

Merce by Merce by Paik is a two-part tribute to choreographer Merce Cunningham and artist Marcel Duchamp. The first section, “Blue Studio: Five Segments”, is a work of video-dance produced by Merce Cunningham and videomaker Charles Atlas. The second part, produced by Paik and Shigeko Kubota, further queries the relationship between everyday gestures and formal notions of dance.

Assemblage

A feature length film from acclaimed dance choreographer Merce Cunningham.

498 Third Avenue

Observational documentary about the Merce Cunningham Dance Company rehearsing throughout the summer of 1967 in New York.

John Cage

Experimental composer John Cage tours Europe with The Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1966.

Variations V

A multi-media event with choreographed dance, mobile decor, variable lighting, multiple film projection, and live-electronic music activated by the dancers' movements.

Night Wandering

Paradoxically described by Walter Sorell as "a tender lullaby of love" and by Richard Buckle as "cold and menacing, the courtship of the Macbeths," Night Wandering is a duet reminiscent of snowy landscapes. Cernovitch designed the original costumes: fur tunics that Cunningham wore over trousers, and Brown wore over tights. Continuing with the piece's Nordic theme, the music by Bo Nilsson was characterized by bursts of activity followed by moments of silence, evoking the feeling of traveling through the spacious, and seemingly endless Northern night.

Antic Meet

Performed like a series of vaudeville scenes that overlap, Antic Meet consists of ten playful and comedic numbers. The curtains opened with Cunningham moving among the other dancers as a clown-like figure "who falls in love with a society whose rules he doesn't know," and concludes much in the same way, as he attempts to keep up with the dancers, each with their own movements, as they dance diagonally across the stage. Cage provided the musical accompaniment, using a version of Concert for Piano and Orchestra, and Rauschenberg designed the costumes, which included fur coats and parachute dresses over black leotards.

Merce Cunningham

The choreographer Merce Cunningham working with the musician John Cage and the painter Robert Rauschenberg.

Appalachian Spring

A multi-character dance drama