Merce Cunningham : fifty years /

Drawing on his 30-year association with Merce Cunningham (as archivist of the Cunningham Dance Foundation), Vaughan provides the most comprehensive book so far on the radical innovations that make up the work of Cunningham and John Cage. Cunningham has said that he "counts his beginning" from the joint concert he gave with Cage in April 1944 in New York City--the 50 years of the title. Vaughan provides whatever facts he could assemble about each dance, especially the process. The two mavericks developed a process on the relationship of dance and music, both time arts--until they reached a state of simple coexistence. To allow artists to go beyond their original preconceived ideas, they pioneered the process of "dance by chance." The text, biographical profile (with Cunningham's voice emerging from the text), the essays by Cunningham (especially "Four Events that Have Led to Large Discoveries") provide an invaluable resource and allow the reader to better perceive the choreographer's genius. This volume follows Kostelanetz's Merce Cunningham (1993) with its chronology compiled by Vaughan and a discussion between Vaughan and former members of the company, including Brown, Dunn, Farber, and Paxton. Now Vaughan uses his own formidable talent to put together a coffee-table book with much more than gorgeous pictures. Everything about this book makes it a must read for every lover of the process of art. L. K. Rosenberg Miami University

The photographs presented in this handsomely designed retrospective of Cunningham's radically innovative choreography are spectacular, capturing the strength, agility, grace, and sculptural stillness of his nonnarrative yet extraordinarily dramatic and eloquent dances. Vaughan, a dance historian, critic, and archivist for the Cunningham Dance Foundation, provides detailed commentary that deftly chronicles the evolution of Cunningham's powerful creations. Cunningham's own writings document his fresh approach to movement, space, time, and sound, much of which grew out of his intense, sustained collaboration with John Cage. Cunningham also worked closely with Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, and Vaughan notes many other sources of inspiration, including Marcel Duchamp and the writers Joyce, Stein, and Pound, but, strangely enough, the perception of a blind woman best reveals the essence of Cunningham's work. When Helen Keller visited one of Martha Graham's classes, she asked to touch a dancer. Graham volunteered Cunningham, and after he performed a few "small jumps" while Keller held on to his waist, she said, "So light, like the mind." --Donna Seaman

For over 50 years, modern dancer and choreographer Cunningham (b. 1919) has been creating dances that challenge performers and audiences alike. His remarkable journey of discovery has been marked by four events: his work with composer John Cage to separate the music from the dance; the adoption of chance operations in choreography; the influence of film and video; and the use of LifeForms, a computer application or "three-dimensional human animation system." The dance company's archivist for more than 20 years, Vaughan documents performances, tours, residencies, and grants, beginning with Cunningham's first work in 1942, and lets the recollections of principals‘dancers, designers, and composers‘serve as descriptions of each work. Excerpts from Cunningham's eloquent and provocative writings and interviews are interspersed throughout. Vaughan's writing is in keeping with Cunningham's stated preference "to speak of dancing in terms of `facts,' " yet this adherence to "facts" is the volume's one limitation‘we hear more about uncomfortable accommodations while on tour than the 1992 death of Cage, Cunningham's lifelong partner and colleague. Handsomely illustrated, this accurate and extensive accounting of Cunningham's illustrious career is an essential addition to dance collections.‘Joan Stahl, National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.