CAGE:100

The long-awaited memoir from one of the most celebrated modern dancers of the past fifty years: the story of her own remarkable career, of the formative years of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and of the two brilliant, iconoclastic, and forward-thinking artists at its center-- Merce Cunningham and John Cage. From its inception in the l950s until her departure in the l970s, Carolyn Brown was a major dancer in the Cunningham company and part of the vibrant artistic community of downtown New York City out of which it grew. She writes about embarking on her career with Cunningham at a time when he was a celebrated performer but a virtually unknown choreographer. She describes the heady exhilaration-- and dire financial straits-- of the company's early days, when composer Cage was musical director and Robert Rauschenberg designed lighting, sets and costumes; and of the struggle for acceptance of their controversial, avant-garde dance. With unique insight, she explores Cunningham's technique, choreography, and experimentation with compositional procedures influenced by Cage. And she probes the personalities of these two men: the reticent, moody, often secretive Cunningham, and the effusive, fun-loving, enthusiastic Cage. Chance and Circumstance is an intimate chronicle of a crucial era in modern dance, and a revelation of the intersection of the worlds of art, music, dance, and theater that is Merce Cunningham's extraordinary hallmark.

For nearly sixty years choreographer Merce Cunningham has challenged and provoked audiences by stripping theatrical dance of its traditional narrative and by refusing to unify movement with sound and decor. After initial objections to his style, however, this controversial figure -- who has collaborated with avant-garde musicians John Cage, Earle Brown, and David Tudor, and mists Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and Marcel Duchamp -- is now revered as one of the most visionary artists of the century. Merce Cunningham gathers together the most important writings by and about the choreographer, including three classic essays by Cunningham, as well as articles and reviews by Cage; dancers Remy Charlip, Violet Farber, and Carolyn Brown; company archivist David Vaughan; and leading critics Arlene Croce, Jack Anderson, Marcia Siegel, and Edwin Denby. Tracing the development of Cunningham's career from 1944 to 1992, this valuable anthology showcases the tremendous and ever-evolving means of expression that this revolutionary choreographer created.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.