Dance
Merce Cunningham Dance Company Legacy Tour 

merce cunningham annie leibowitz

Merce Cunningham

ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE truly merit a “legacy tour.” (In Michael Jackson’s case, he comes back from the dead for an “Immortal Tour”—see Theater.) But late choreographer Merce Cunningham, the Centralia native and Cornish alum who revolutionized American modern dance, is more than deserving of this two-year send-off. Ever since his professional dance debut in 1939 under fellow Washingtonian Martha Graham, Cunningham has been bold with his craft. He embodied the avant-garde, abandoning narrative to focus on movement set to a wild score of ambient sound composed by his stage and life partner, John Cage. A Washington techie to the core, he even used motion-capture technology to create a backdrop for Biped in 1999. He continued to choreograph well into his 80s despite being confined to a wheelchair.

Always thinking ahead, Cunningham put a Legacy Plan into action in July 2009—one year prior to his death—that sent his dance company on a world tour of some of his finest work over the past 40 years. They slink among helium-filled silver balloons designed by Andy Warhol for RainForest (1968) and bring calm to urban chaos with a famed pas de deux in Xover (2007). There are two different programs over two nights at the Paramount: Xover, Quartet, and Biped on October 27, and RainForest, Duets, and Split Sides on October 29. Then, on New Year’s Eve, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will disband after one final performance in New York, padding softly away with their severance packages and wistful memories of their guru. Oct 27 & 29, Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 877-784-4849; stgpresents.org

DANCE PICKS

All Wheeldon
Pacific Northwest Ballet shows off its Christopher Wheeldon collection: four stirring selections by the current It Boy of modern ballet. On the program: Wheeldon’s salute to the 1945 musical Carousel and the spare and tender After the Rain pas de deux. Sept 23–Oct 2, McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, Seattle Center, 206-441-2424; pnb.org

The Beast
After interpreting world politics through choreography last season, Spectrum Dance director Donald Byrd returns to social issues with a revival of his 1996 commission The Beast, about the deadly serious business of domestic violence. Sept 30–Oct 16, Madrona Dance Studio, 800 Lake Washington Blvd, 206-325-4161; spectrumdance.org

Pilobolus
Hard to believe that this modern dance troupe of shape-shifters, who can spell your name with their bodies and bend like they’re made of rubber, has been around for 40 years. They twist and tumble at Meany Hall. Oct 6–8, Meany Hall, 15th Ave NE & NE 40th St, UW campus, 206-543-4880; uwworldseries.org

Chamber Dance Company: Relationships
From a series of stolen moments in Wade Madsen’s 1989 Embrace to the fragility of love in To Have and to Hold (aka Bench), the UW’s professional dance troupe explores the commitment to content and character in 1980s choreography. Oct 13–16, Meany Hall, 15th Ave NE & NE 40th St, UW campus, 206-543-4880; depts.washington.edu/uwdance

So You Think It’s Dance?
It’s a thin line dividing modern dance, performance art, burlesque, and boylesque. (Ask Waxie Moon about that last one.) Velocity Dance hosts performances by genre benders Jessica Jobaris, the Cherdonna and Lou Show, and Douglas Ridings, and a lively panel discussion on the boundaries of movement. Oct 22, 1621 12th Ave, 206-325-8773; velocitydancecenter.org

 

GUILTY PLEASURE

Nostalgic Gen Xers in DayGlo and headbands flock to ’80s Video Dance Attack nights in Portland, where they can moonwalk with abandon as classic ’80s music videos screen. Now the new wave comes to Seattle. Sept 3, Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, 877-784-4849; stgpresents.org