Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 26:
IF THE DANCER DANCES
Director:
Maia Wechsler
Premiere:
Dance on Camera 2018
Select Festivals:
Ashland, Raindance
About:
A leading choreographer restages one of Merce Cunningham’s iconic works.
The legendary modern dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham died in 2009, at the age of 90. Determined not to let Cunningham’s work fade away, Stephen Petronio sets out to reintroduce his 1968 piece, RainForest, to new audiences. To that end, Petronio gathers together three members of Cunningham’s company to assist his dancers in restaging the work, and, in so doing, keeping Cunningham’s legacy alive. Wechsler’s film, produced with Lise Friedman, herself a former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, excels when it focuses on the dance itself rather than on reflections on Cunningham, and is better suited to observe the artistic process and its impact on the dancers, past and present, than on the intentions of its late originator.
