When Merce Cunningham’s dance company performed Ocean less than a year before the iconic choreographer’s passing in 2009, Charles Atlas was there. Coproduced by the Walker Art Center and the Cunningham Dance Foundation, the ambitious work featured 14 dancers performing in a massive granite quarry near St. Cloud, Minnesota, accompanied by 150 musicians—all of which Atlas captured with five cameras. A Cunningham collaborator since the early 1970s, and pioneer of videodance, Atlas is participating in the Walker-organized exhibition Merce Cunningham: Common Time, opening February 8 at the Walker and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where his 2010 multi-channel installation MC9 will receive its US premiere. On March 9, he’ll return to introduce a selection of his films in the Walker Mediatheque, and he’ll be part of another ambitious collaboration March 16–18: in Tesseract, former Cunningham dancers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener create a hybrid of live dance, 3-D video, and live film segments, edited in real-time by Atlas.
A pioneering figure in film and video for over four decades, Atlas has worked intimately with a range of artists and performers including Leigh Bowery, Michael Clark, Douglas Dunn, Marina Abramovic, Yvonne Rainer, Mika Tajima/New Humans, and Antony and the Johnsons. Here, in a list that references his history and relationships, he shares his perspective on the year that was as part of our series, 2016: The Year According to.
Ten things that have been bright spots for me in what has been the otherwise gloomy annus horribilis of 2016. These individuals have engaged me intellectually and spiritually and encouraged me with the work they have created.
1.
An Evening with DanceNoise
The performance duo of Anne Iobst and Lucy Sexton—who began making work in the 1980s—consider the effect of the AIDS epidemic on dance artists today. At St Mark’s Danspace they delivered a rousing, political feminist response that’s relevant, defiant and full of spontaneous joy.
2.
to a simple rock and roll …. song
to a simple rock and roll … song at the Barbican. Photo: The Guardian
British choreographer Michael Clark mounted a show at the Barbican Theatre in London that’s part balletic perfection to the music of Erik Satie and part sexy rock and roll to the music of Patti Smith. Entertainment plus!
3.
Yvonne Rainer’s The Concept of Dust
In her latest piece, this pioneering choreographer makes a piece that is part eclectic collage of movement, part spoken text, part nuanced consideration of mortality and aging. A rewardingly fresh work from a veteran.
4.
Silas Reiner’s Thinging
Subtitled Dance and Translation and the Work of Anne Carson, this former Merce Cunningham dancer presents a brainy and compelling combination of talking, thinking, and adventurous dancing.
5.
Stanley Love Performance Group’s Tapestry Truths
Stanley Love’s large company of performers of all sizes and skill levels dances in an installation of Martin Gustavsson’s large paintings with exhilarating effect. Watching this group always makes me want to move.
6.
Anohni’s Hopelessness
ANOHNI composes songs: political, confrontational music sung with an angry angel’s voice, accompanied by exhilarating electronics.
7.
Late Greats
The final albums of Leonard Cohen (Make It Blacker) and David Bowie (Blackstar): sustaining great artistic achievement until the very end.
8.
Lady Bunny in Trans-Jester
At the Stonewall Inn, the drag performer and Wigstock cofounder presents an X-rated combination of beyond-hilarious comedy, jaw-dropping songs, and political rants. I consider Lady Bunny a living national treasure.
9.
Lia Gangitano
Alvin Baltrop, Pier Photographs, 2016. Vitrine detail.
Courtesy of The Alvin Baltrop Trust, Third Streaming, and Galerie Buchholz, New York. Photo: Rhona Yefman
Participant, Inc., the always excellent non-commercial space, presents multigenerational contemporary artists and historic tributes. In 2016, gallery director Lia Gangitano brought in a range of alternative art and and artists, including Alvin Baltrop, Peter Hendrick, Justin Vivian Bond, Eve Fowler, and Ellen Cantor.
10.
Women of Progressive Opinion
Internet radio hosts Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes and blogger Digby of Hullaballoo: these progressive voices sustain me on a daily basis when I am feeling overwhelmed by the increasing ultra-conservative media environment.
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