Ocean

Just got the BAC Spring season brochure today and it is full of interesting, thoughtful dance programming.  Much of it combining dance with other genres.  The first thing I want to see is Ocean.

“Ocean, the last film Charles Atlas made with Merce Cunningham, beautifully captures the landmark work performed 150 feet below ground on the floor of the dramatic Rainbow Granite Quarry. With accompaniment by the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra performing the orchestral score realized by Andrew Culver (inspired by John Cage) and an electronic score by David Tudor.”

A friend who lives in Minneapolis went to see the company rehearse in this quarry and it sounded like a mindblowing experience, at least firsthand.  With curating on my mind, I am also interested in the sort of grand collaborations Cunningham was able to put together with so many different types of artists and landscapes.  I wonder if this one will feel as loose and improvisational as some of the other ones I have seen? (most recently Nearly Ninety at BAM right before his passing.)