90 years of Merce

Fabrications 1987 (c)

Originally uploaded by The Merce Cunningham Dance Company

How cool is it to have Sonic Youth play at your 90th birthday celebration? Merce Cunningham turns 90 on Thursday and he’s still creating new work. Amazing. You can’t get to New York for the official event at BAM? I’d recommend reading Carolyn Brown’s memoir Chance and Circumstance as a good way to celebrate. Brown was a dancer with the company for a solid 20 years and her tales from the early days will make you feel like you’re in the bus with John Cage, stopping along the side of the road for picnics and mushroom searches. The second half drags a bit but the writing is luminous and the whole thing is filled with insights about Merce’s work, the relationship between Cunningham and Cage, the New York avant garde in the 50s and 60s, and a slew of other interesting veins. Honest, restrained, fascinating. (Gia Kourlas wrote a little review and conducted an interview with Brown back when the book came out a couple of years ago, if you just want a tiny taste.) Happy birthday to Mr. Merce. Thank you for all you have given us and well wishes for more years and more beautiful dances.