Gärtnerplatztheater | Dancing Postmodernism | Merce Cunningham

"Dancing Postmodernism"

The friendship between John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly, to whom Museum Brandhorst is dedicating an exhibition, shows that art is never created in a vacuum, but is always the result of encounters and interactions with other arts. All five inspired each other to create new, sometimes joint projects. John Cage developed his concept of silence in confrontation with Rauschenberg’s and Twombly’s “White Paintings”; Johns and Rauschenberg created stage sets for Cunningham’s choreographies, which in turn were influenced by Cage’s compositions, and vice versa.

The ballet company of the Gärtnerplatztheater presents two of Cunningham’s choreographies in the Rose Room of Museum Brandhorst. “How To Pass, Kick, Fall and Run” from 1965 is a lively piece with a playful, sporty character, but without any specific reference to any particular sport. The dance is set to one-minute stories read by two performers. “The effect,” said Cunningham, “was a bit like watching a playground full of children with these two crones in the corner talking about things that were completely irrelevant.” The texts are taken from John Cage’s talk “Indeterminacy,” which was held in Brussels in 1958.

The second piece, entitled “Museum Brandhorst Event,” brings together elements from various choreographies by Cunningham, which are performed to a recording of John Cage’s music. The idea for “events” actually originated for museums: in 1964, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company received an invitation to perform at the Museum of the 20th Century in Vienna. Merce Cunningham and John Cage realized that the venue was unsuitable for a normal repertoire performance and developed a different format for a full-length performance of dance and music. This project, entitled “Museum Event No. 1,” was the company's first “event.”

From then until its closure in 2011, the company performed more than eight hundred “events” in many unusual locations. The Merce Cunningham Trust continues to license “events” for professional dancers and dance students to this day. A unique sequence of choreographic excerpts is put together for each project. The “Museum Brandhorst Event” for this exhibition is arranged and staged by Daniel Squire.

The performance accompanies the exhibition “Five Friends: John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly.”

The museum café is open during the events of the Festival Five Friends.