Baryshnikov Arts to Present MERCE / MISHA / MORE_A Film Event Featuring Cunningham, Baryshnikov & More

As part of its new 2024 Spring Season, Baryshnikov Arts will present MERCE / MISHA / MORE_A Film Event, featuring Cunningham, Baryshnikov, Jacquelin Harris, Chalvar Monteiro and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The world premiere will take place on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 7pm, with additional showings on Friday, March 8, 2024 at 7pm and Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 7pm.

MERCE / MISHA / MORE_A Film Event is a program of films celebrating decades of friendship, mutual admiration, and the working relationship between Mikhail Baryshnikov and Merce Cunningham. The program includes newly filmed reminiscences with Mikhail Baryshnikov; rarely seen rehearsal footage from 1967 and 1994; the duet from Landrover featuring Jacquelin Harris and Chalvar Monteiro filmed at Baryshnikov Arts during the pandemic; and the world premiere of Daniel Madoff's film of Event at REDCAT, performed in 2010 by Mikhail Baryshnikov with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The evening ends with Merce Cunningham's 1999 homage to disco in Charlie Atlas' film Just Dancing and a surprise gift for all audience members.

This program celebrates the 50th anniversary of Merce Cunningham's first Event and Mikhail Baryshnikov's arrival in the West.

MERCE / MISHA / MORE_A Film Event will open the 2024 Spring Season, which includes newly commissioned projects including film, dance, music, visual art, opera, and puppetry. The new season builds on the organization's rich history as a multi-disciplinary, multi-platform haven for artistic freedom, and will take place at the Jerome Robbins Theater at Baryshnikov Arts, 450 W. 37th Street, NYC. Tickets are on sale now at https://baryshnikovarts.org/.

Founder and Artistic Director Mikhail Baryshnikov said, "True to form, we are ushering in Spring 2024 with the doors of our beautiful Jerome Robbins Theater open to fresh ideas and exciting new disciplines. There's something for everyone and I can't wait to share it with you."

Cast and Producers

Mikhail Baryshnikov is considered one of the greatest dancers of our time. Born in Riga, Latvia, he trained at the Riga Choreographic School and later the Vaganova Academy in Leningrad and was a principal dancer with the Kirov Ballet until coming to the West in 1974. After settling in New York City as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), he joined New York City Ballet in 1978 where he worked with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. A year later he was appointed artistic director of ABT where, for the next decade, he introduced a new generation of dancers and choreographers. From 1990-2002, Mr. Baryshnikov was director and dancer of the White Oak Dance Project, which he and choreographer Mark Morris co-founded to expand the repertoire and visibility of American modern dance. In 2005, Mikhail Baryshnikov launched Baryshnikov Arts in New York City, a creative space designed to support multidisciplinary artists from around the globe. Among Mr. Baryshnikov's many awards are the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, the Commonwealth Award, the Chubb Fellowship, the Jerome Robbins Award, and the Vilcek Award.

Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) was a celebrated dancer and choreographer renowned for his groundbreaking work and his profound influence on generations of dancemakers and artists. Born in Centralia, Washington, he attended the Cornish School in Seattle where he was introduced to the work of Martha Graham and met the composer John Cage who would become his closest collaborator and life partner. In 1939, after relocating to New York City, Cunningham began a six-year tenure as a soloist in the Graham company, and soon began presenting his own choreography. In the summer of 1953, during a teaching residency at Black Mountain College, Cunningham formed a dance company to explore his innovative ideas. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company remained in continuous operation until its closure in 2011, with Cunningham as artistic director until his death in 2009. Over the course of his seventy-year career he choreographed 180 dances and over 700 Events, collaborated with such renowned artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, David Tudor and Christian Wolff, and earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts.

Nancy Dalva is delighted to return to Baryshnikov Arts with Event at REDCAT after presenting the "BAC Flicks: Mondays with Merce" film series here. A writer, a documentarian, and the Scholar in Residence of the Merce Cunningham Trust, she makes her debut here as an independent producer, bringing into the present day a magical evening uniting the work of Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, and John Cage. She thanks Mikhail Baryshnikov, Lisa Rinehart, Pedja Mužijević, Baryshnikov Arts, and always, the Merce Cunningham Trust and the dancers and production staff of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Jacquelin Harris began training at Dance Productions Studios in Charlotte, NC. She graduated with honors from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance. She received a 2017 dance fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA. Ms. Harris was a member of Ailey II and has guested with the Cunningham Trust as well as Twyla Tharp. Currently, Ms. Harris is a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Daniel Madoff is a film director, cinematographer, editor, and producer. His work includes award-winning films which have screened worldwide, and commercials for national television campaigns. He has created content for Bacardi, St-Germain, Aberfeldy, Anheuser-Busch, Dewar's, Gillette, LinkedIn, Grey Goose, Michelob Ultra, BMW, Bank of America, People, BBC America, Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, Ailey II, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Trisha Brown Dance Company, among others. His Rhiannon Giddens music video featuring the Pennsylvania Innocence Project recently aired on "The Daily Show." Before entering the world of film, Daniel was a dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Mighty Egg Productions was co-founded by Jennifer Hamblett and Lisa Rinehart in 2014. Their mission is to create non-fiction visual stories that educate, inspire, and enact change. Clients include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bezos Family Foundation, City University of New York, the New York Stem Cell Foundation, BBC News, MSNBC, American Ballet Theatre, the Joyce Theater, and Stanford University.

Chalvar Monteiro hails from Montclair, NJ and is currently a performing artist with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Prior to joining AAADT, he was a collaborator and performer with Kyle Abraham's Abraham.In.Motion, Elisa Monte Dance, Sidra Bell Dance New York, and others. In 2020, Chalvar joined the faculty at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and has presented choreography at numerous institutions and festivals across the United States.

Tickets are $35 including fees and are available at https://baryshnikovarts.org/.

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