The New York Times reports that, starting next month, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will show Mondays With Merce, an online video program featuring weekly episodes of the choreographer’s Monday class, on its Web site. As theTimes reports:
The program has three major components. First, there will be 26 episodes online beginning in September. Each will include 30 to 40 minutes of technique class, edited and supplemented with interviews with Mr. Cunningham, collaborators like the artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg and some of the original dancers from the pieces, and archival material. The episodes will show the inspiration for dances and reveal the threads that link one work to another.
“ If the company is performing Ocean,’ which is based on the circle,” said Nancy Dalva, a dance historian who will be directing these edited episodes, “ we can go get archival footage of Beach Birds,’ which has the same circle in it, and show the same Matisse poster, which Merce saw in his dentist’s office before he made the dance.”
Cunningham and his entire troupe are performing Ocean Sept. 11-13 inside a granite quarry just outside of St. Cloud, Minn.