CCN - Ballet de Lorraine

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Merce Cunningham was one of the greatest North American artists, whose career spans seven decades and is marked by constant innovation and the expansion of the boundaries of performing arts. He now returns to Porto in a programme put forward by CCN – Ballet de Lorraine, celebrating his hundredth birthday. Cunningham created over 200 pieces, partly in collaboration with John Cage (with respect to music) and Robert Rauschenberg (as far as scenography, lighting design and costumes go). He radically renewed the dance scene, and he comes to Teatro Rivoli in the scope of a series dedicated to dance icons, after watching works by Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown in February 2019.

For four walls
What we are met with is a youth piece full of emotions. For four walls is a wanderlust through a room, the individual, and the history we share. The “room” is a mirrored space that gives the impression of having and not having confining walls according to the situation. Defining infinity, passing through it or claiming to be a reflective space — a place to remember that we belong to these interconnected spaces and their temporalities. For four Walls is a vulnerable, perpetually moving non-place.

RainForest
The title for RainForest came from Cunningham’s childhood memories of the Northwest and the rainforest in the Olympic Peninsula (USA). This 1968 piece includes Andy Warhol’s installation, Silver Clouds — a great number of pillow-shaped Mylar balloons filled with helium freely float in the air, wrapping the six bodies and resembling a dense tropical forest. The dancers wore flesh-coloured leotards and tights, which Jasper Johns (uncredited) cut with a razor blade, to give the costumes a roughened appearance. The music was by David Tudor (it was the first time he worked with the company) and evoked the chirping and chattering of birds and animals.

Sounddance
Sounddance is considered one of Merce Cunningham’s most beloved pieces by audiences and critics alike. Cunningham created Sounddance upon his return after spending nine weeks with the Paris Opera Ballet in 1973, where he created Un jour ou deux [A Day or Two]. As opposed to ballet’s uniformity and unison, he choreographed a fast-paced, vigorous, organised chaos. The stage is split down the middle by a delicate golden curtain, designed by artist Mark Lancaster, which adds meaning to the overlapping, frantic choreography, as if we were watching a miniature dance cosmos through a microscope. The dancers enter the stage pushed by the curtain, and exit as though they were being sucked by it and by David Tudor’s powerful score.