A visionary choreographer, Merce Cunningham tirelessly reinvented the vocabulary of contemporary dance for over half a century. His importance in dance is comparable to that of Samuel Beckett in theatre, James Joyce in literature or Marcel Duchamp in the visual arts. Over time, his work became a sort of new classicism, with the clarity and precision of the corporal architecture (conveyed by his masterful yet modest dancers) imposing a compelling beauty. Three months before his death last July, he created his last dance piece at age 90. A legacy piece that is the culmination of a long creative life,
Nearly 90² is performed by thirteen exceptional dancers experienced in meeting his demanding standards and his insistence on clarity and refinement. Solos, duos, trios and quartets burst forth like a constant kaleidoscopic rearrangement, a swarming of lives open to the imagination. The Festival opens with this piece, one last chance for Montreal audiences to be dazzled by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. A Canadian exclusive!
“The thrill of Nearly 90 is in the skill, inventiveness and flow of its dance-making., and in the beauty of its performances. Throughout its history, the Cunningham company has showcased a number of the world’s greatest dancers; certainly it does so today. Mr. Cunningham gives each one extraordinary, individual moments.[…] [His] dance imagination actually appears more fertile than ever before. Onward!”
The New York Times, 2009
“Merce Cunningham, the man known as America’s Nijinsky. […] His moves are awkward and sublime, full of imagination and possibility. The body in space is his laboratory, always ripe for experimentation. […] A 90-minute piece set against a loud improvisational score, it succeeded in being truthful, fresh and weird all at once.”
The Economist, 2009 “The piece is a vivid 90-minute package of profoundly imaginative dancing […]”
The Village Voice, 2009
