Recent Posts
In 2014, the long-lost performance of “Changeling” was found in a German film after being lost for more than 50 years. “Changeling” is an original choreography and performance by Merce Cunningham, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest choreographers of modern dance.
The dance is part of a 1957 trilogy with “United Solo” and “Lavish Escapade,” all three of which were set to music by Christian Wolff. While the dance was last seen in 1964, dancers and choreographers were unable to recreate this original dance because of a lack of descriptions or film recordings. That is, until two years ago, when a film of the dance was recovered.
Merce Cunningham was performing and choreographing from a very young age. When he was only twenty years old, he joined the Martha Graham Dance Company, where he stayed for six years before moving forward with his solo career. In 1953, he formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, over which he presided until his death in 2009.
READ MORE: Embracing the Old and the New at the MET
Cunningham’s choreography was characterized by an emphasis on body movements. According to a PBS article by David Vaughan, “Movement itself is the principle subject matter of his dances: neither narrative nor music form determines their structure.”
Additionally, he explored the relationship between dance and music, often separating the two so completely that his dancers would only hear the soundtrack the day of the performance. This experimentation with music and dance, as well as his reliance on chance to determine how the performance would proceed, earned him the title of “leader of the American avant-garde.”
It is perhaps because of Cunningham’s enormous role in the arts, especially dance, that the discovery of “Changeling” is so notable. For the first time in almost 60 years, the trilogy conceived in 1957 is complete.
READ MORE: Cuba Culture: Dance, Music and the Afro-Euro-Spanish Melting Pot
In order to showcase the newly-reconstructed dance, earlier this year the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston opened the “Look Before You Leap: Black Mountain College 1933-1957” exhibition, which examines the art of figures such as Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Ruth Asawa and Charles Olsen.
This immersive, interdisciplinary exhibition also included a performance of “Changeling” by former Merce Cunningham Dance Company member Silas Reiner.
“[Changeling] is a solo that Merce made for himself … and I have the opportunity to be the first person to do this solo, which hasn’t been seen since 1964,” Reiner says.
Cunningham’s work is praised worldwide, especially because he was one of the most innovative choreographers and dancers of the 20th centuries. This discovery of “Changeling” allows admirers to once again remember the passion and complexity that was a staple of Cunningham’s art.
READ MORE: Strong Is the New Pretty: Catching Up With Kate Parker
