Cunningham Trust Announces First Fellowships, Scholar-in-Residence

The Merce Cunningham Trust today announced that former Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) members Susana Hayman-Chaffey, Rashaun Mitchell, Sandra Neels, and Susan Quinn are the first recipients of the Cunningham Fellowship, a new program to support the teaching, revival, and performance of Cunningham works. Supervised by former MCDC Director of Choreography and Merce Cunningham Trustee Robert Swinston, each Fellow will conduct a multi-week repertory workshop to restage a Cunningham dance for pre-professional students. The Trust has also announced that it has named dance writer and Mondays with Merce producer Nancy Dalva Scholar-in-Residence, to help facilitate the ongoing study of Merce Cunningham and his work.

“We are proud to further Merce’s legacy through a wide range of programs for MCDC alumni, the dance community, and the public, and also to support the study of his work through the appointment of Nancy Dalva as Scholar-in-Residence,” said Lynn Wichern, Executive Director of the Merce Cunningham Trust. “We were particularly thrilled to receive such an extraordinary response to the Fellowship from former Cunningham dancers. The program will provide both teachers and students the opportunity to engage deeply with Merce’s work, and we look forward to seeing it flourish in the years to come.” 

The Cunningham Fellowship is among a series of programs conceived to fulfill the Trust’s mission to preserve and enhance Cunningham’s legacy. Other current initiatives include ongoing Cunningham Technique™ classes at City Center, Dance New Amsterdam, and the Mark Morris Dance Center, as well as collaborative presentations such as the upcoming performances of John Cage’s 4 Walls and Cunningham’s Doubletoss Interludes at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

First announced in fall 2011, the Cunningham Fellowship is a new program designed to further the Merce Cunningham Trust’s mission of teaching, reviving and restaging Cunningham’s works, and making them available to the public for performance and study. Supervised by Robert Swinston, the four 2012 Fellows will restage a total of six Cunningham works of their choice during a four-week intensive workshop with pre-professional students. Fellowship workshops are free to participants, who were selected by audition. 

The 2012 Merce Cunningham Fellowship Workshops, which will take place in New York City, are:

Place (1966), led by Sandra Neels (MCDC 1963 – 1973)

Sandra Neels, who originated a role in Cunningham’s Place (1966), will restage this work for eight dancers. The workshop will take place from May 25–June 8 at City Center, the new home of the Merce Cunningham Trust.

How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run (1965), led by Rashaun Mitchell (MCDC 2004 – 2011)

Rashaun Mitchell, who participated in the 2004 revival of How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run (1965), will restage the dance during a workshop from June 11–June 22. During the workshop, eight dancers will learn this iconic piece, which incorporates chance procedures to determine the order of the spoken text by John Cage. 

Scramble (1967) and Signals (1970), led by Susana Hayman Chaffey (MCDC 1968 – 1976)

Susana Hayman Chaffey performed both Scramble (1967) and Signals (1970) as a member of MCDC and will restage these pieces during a workshop from June 25–July 6. Students will participate in the creation of a MinEvent, or choreographic collage, which incorporates elements of these dances.

Inlets 2 (1983) and Fielding Sixes (1980), led by Susan Quinn (MCDC 1981 – 1987)

Susan Quinn, who appeared in the first performance Inlets 2 (1983), will return to this work as well as Fielding Sixes (1980) in a workshop from August 13–August 31, in which she will work with seven dancers to restage the work.

In addition to the restaging workshops, the Fellows will also engage in scholarship related to Merce Cunningham and Merce Cunningham Dance Company history, teaching for beginners and non-dance professionals, and the fundamental structures and vocabulary of Cunningham Technique. Each Fellow will receive a $6,000 stipend, access to studio space and archival materials preserved in digital Dance Capsules, and assistance from Swinston and the Trust. 

The Cunningham Fellowship expands employment opportunities for former dancers, facilitates presentations of Cunningham’s works in the U.S. and abroad, and offers the dance community free workshops to supplement the study of Cunningham Technique. As part of an ongoing effort to assist with career transition for former Merce Cunningham Dance Company members and offer them opportunities to further engage with and teach Cunningham choreography, the initial group of Fellows was limited to former MCDC dancers.

To support its ongoing efforts to preserve the legacy of Merce Cunningham, the Trust has named Nancy Dalva, a frequently published writer on dance and producer of the web series Mondays with Merce, Scholar-in-Residence. In this role, Dalva will help to facilitate access to the Merce Cunningham Archive at the New York Public Library for scholarly and research purposes, serve as a point of contact for scholars and historians investigating Merce Cunningham and his work, and contribute to a blog hosted on the Merce Cunningham Trust website. 

Beginning in April, the Trust will offer Cunningham Technique™ classes at City Center, as well as Dance New Amsterdam. Classes are also currently offered at the Mark Morris Center. These daily classes will be overseen by former MCDC dancers to provide the dance community with training in Cunningham Technique™, the root of all of Cunningham’s choreography.

City Center (Beginning April 2, 2012)

Open Level Class

Monday–Friday, 12:00pm–2:00pm

Taught by Jennifer Goggans, Banu Ogan, Robert Swinston, Carol Teitelbaum

Class Rate: $15, 10-Class Card: $130

Mark Morris Dance Center (ongoing)

Open Level Class

Tuesdays, 10:00am–12:00pm

Taught by Jean Freebury

Class Rate: $12

Dance New Amsterdam (beginning April 4, 2012)

Beginning Level Class

Wednesdays 7:00pm–8:30pm, Saturdays 1:00pm–2:00pm

Taught by Daniel Madoff, Rashaun Mitchell, Robert Swinston, Daniel Squire, Melissa Toogood

Class Rate: $15.50 (member), $16.50 (non-member)

The Merce Cunningham Trust is partnering with cultural institutions to mount special projects, performances, and exhibitions that celebrate Cunningham’s artistic achievements; the first being:

 

Cage/ Cunningham Program: 4 Walls/ Doubletoss Interludes

Baryshnikov Arts Center

March 22–March 24

Thursday and Friday 8pm; Saturday 2pm and 8pm

Tickets: $25, to purchase go to www.smarttix.com or call 212-868-4444

 

From March 22–March 24, the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) will present the first special project featuring a Cunningham revival supported by the Merce Cunningham Trust. Esteemed Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov plays John Cage’s Four Walls (1944) alongside a new staging of Merce Cunningham’s Doubletoss (1993), arranged by Robert Swinston as an “Event” and performed by former Merce Cunningham dancers Brandon Collwes, Jennifer Goggans, Daniel Madoff, Krista Nelson, Jamie Scott, and Melissa Toogood. Doubletoss was originally created as two separate dances that Cunningham then merged using chance procedures. The title refers partly to the double toss of coins involved in this process, but the implied duality is a basic concept of this work. 

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