From the Archives: Merce Cunningham & The Walker, 1972-1989
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From the Archives: Merce Cunningham & The Walker, 1972-1989

Anticipating next week’s performances by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on its Farewell Legacy Tour, and adding to the previous post charting Cunningham’s history at the Walker, here we cover the ’70s and ’80s. Click on any image for a larger view.

Cunningham performs Canfield in 1972 in a Walker gallery. Design by Robert Morris.

Program cover from 1972:

Cunningham and John Cage perform A Dialogue, 1974:

Event No. 127: Merce Cunningham and Co. perform at the Macalester College gym, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, 1975:
Merce Cunningham at the Firehouse Theater in Minneapolis, 1977:
With company members in rehearsal, 1978:

In 1981, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (then directed by Dennis Russell Davies) dedicated an entire year to the work of Cage and copresented a number of Cunningham residencies and performances, including the groundbreaking Perspectives series, which highlighted musical elements of the repertoire, complete with lectures, classes, and films.

 

Here’s a poster from Cunningham’s concurrent residency at the Walker:

A video interview that same year, “Chance Conversations,” took place at Saltari Studios in Minneapolis:

The Company premieres Fabrications at Northrop Auditorium, 1987:

Cunningham backstage at the Walker’s auditorium (now the Walker Cinema), 1989:

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