Merce Cunningham, Elliot Caplan
1993, 30:01 min, color and b&w, sound

Eliot Caplan's 35-mm film adaptation of "Beach Birds," a dance work originally choreographed for the stage, begins with Merce Cunningham outlining his approach to dance for the camera, and thus his vision for how movement behaves and how we see it. He explains that the piece is choreography adapted for the camera, which extends the sense of what dance can be. Cunningham emphasizes that stage and camera do not compete.
"Beach Birds for Camera" was filmed in 1991 in two different settings: Kaufman Astoria Studios and Industria Superstudio, both in New York City. One is filmed in black-and-white and the other in color. The piece opens with a close-up of the torsos and outstretched arms of dancers in black-and-white costumes designed by Martha Skinner. The dance is accompanied by "Four3," a piece written by John Cage for Cunningham's 1991 "Beach Birds." "Four3," based on Erik Satie's "Vexations," was played on two pianos, one in the hall and one outside, and a violin playing held tones. All four musicians added to the ethereal quality of the soundscape by playing rainsticks. As the stark opening notes of "Four3" sound, the camera zooms out and the viewer sees that their knees are slightly bent and their arms are swaying. As the piece progresses, there are few moments of complete synchronization of the dancers' movements. Instead the viewer's attention is pulled between different groupings of bodies moving at different paces. Unsurprisingly, the dancers read as birdlike. Their upper chests and arms are covered in black material in a way that suggests wings, while the rest of their bodies are clad in white. They stick their legs out and shake them, alternating between halting, jerky movements and fluid pliés. The audible shuffling of the dancers' feet at once complements and challenges the primacy of Cage's composition.

MUSICIANS John Cage
DANCERS Helen Barrow, Kimberly Bartosik, Michael Cole, Emma Diamond, Victoria Finlayson, Frédéric (Foofwa d'Imobilité) Gafner, Alan Good, David Kulick, Patricia Lent, Larissa McGoldrick, Randall Sanderson, Robert Swinston, Carol Teitelbaum, Jenifer Weaver

MERCE CUNNINGHAM (1919-2009) was a leader of the American avant-garde throughout his seventy year career and is considered one of the most important choreographers of his time. Through much of his life, he was also one of the greatest American dancers. With an artistic career distinguished by constant innovation, Cunningham expanded the frontiers not only of dance, but also of contemporary visual and performing arts.

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