Merce Cunningham Miguel Gutierrez

RainForest / Cela nous concerne tous (This concerns all of us) CCN – Ballet de Lorraine

Archive 2019
Dance
MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis
novembernov 28 – 30
Théâtre du Beauvaisis – Scène nationale
decemberdec 3 – 4
Théâtre Paul Eluard
decemberdec 12
Maison de la musique de Nanterre – Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national
decemberdec 15

© RainForest © Laurent Philippe ©

© Cela nous concerne tous (This concerns all of us) © Laurent Philippe ©

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RainForest :
Choreography, Merce Cunningham
Music, David Tudor, RainForest
Costumes, Jasper Johns
Set, Andy Warhol, Silver Clouds
Restaged by Ashley Chen, and Cheryl Therrien
With three male performers and three female performers from CCN – Ballet de Lorraine
Lighting, Aaron Copp
First performed on 9th May 1968 at Buffalo State College, State University of New York
Original production by Merce Cunningham Dance Company RainForest (1968) © Merce Cunningham Trust. All rights reserved.
Cela nous concerne tous (This concerns all of us) :
Choreography, Miguel Gutierrez
Dramaturgy, Stephanie Acosta
With 24 dancers from CCN – Ballet de Lorraine
Music, Miguel Gutierrez, and Olli Lautiola
Lighting, Yi Zhao
Costumes, Miguel Gutierrez, and Martine Augsbourger
First performed on the 15th November 2017 at Opéra national de Lorraine (Nancy)
In association with MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine Saint-Denis (Bobigny) ; CND Centre national de la danse (Pantin) ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris for performances at MC93 – Maison de la Culture de Seine Saint-Denis (Bobigny)
With support from Fondation d’entreprise Hermès as part of its New Settings programme
With support from Adami
In partnership with France Inter and ARTE

This programme, which coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the CCN-Ballet de Lorraine, gauges Merce Cunningham’s influence on contemporary dance. In resonance with the pop-inspired universe of RainForest, the New York choreographer Miguel Gutierrez’s energy-filled choreography becomes the basis for exploring the notions of diversity and the sharing of differences.

In line with its objective of opening up dance in all its various forms, the CCN-Ballet de Lorraine has chosen to approach its tribute to Merce Cunningham through an interplay of connections. The objective is to throw light upon the way in which today’s generation reinterprets the heritage left behind by the founder of modern dance. Under the heading of pop aesthetics, the two shows in this programme, RainForest (1968) by Merce Cunningham and Cela nous concerne tous (This concerns all of us) (2017) by Miguel Gutierrez echo each other in different ways. RainForest translates the effervescence of the New York artistic scene in the 1960’s, and formulates a synthesis of its different tendencies. In order to structure the suspended universe that characterises this piece, Cunningham made a proposition to Andy Warhol to use his Silver Clouds, consisting of pillow-shaped, helium-filled silver balloons. These aerial shapes set up a dialogue between the bodies of the dancers and the sounds conjured up by David Tudor, creating an intriguing, artificial nature. In a distant echo to Cunningham and Warhol, Miguel Gutierrez has mobilised the CCN-Ballet de Lorraine ensemble for an off-beat, critique-based rereading of the collective utopia of the 1960’s. Driven by a shared fervour, the twenty-four dancers unfurl before us a constantly changing chaos of colours, sounds, garments and moving bodies.
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Running time : 1h45 interval included

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