[00:00:05.01]
(opening music)

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(audience applauds)

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- [Patricia] "August Pace"
premiered 30 years ago

[00:00:51.00]
on September 22nd, 1989

[00:00:53.06]
in Berkeley, California,

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and it has a cast of 15 dancers.

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And for the past two weeks,

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13 of those 15 dancers
have been collaborating

[00:01:02.09]
on this project.

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It's been a really
extraordinary experience.

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We usually have one or two
people teaching these workshops.

[00:01:13.07]
It's been a reunion,
it's been an adventure.

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We were all just so the same.

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It's been so odd in that way.

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- [Larissa] Dah, dah, quarter.

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And then turn to the right.

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- [Reid] We were all
very new to one another,

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for the most part,

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but the people who came in to stage on us

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had endless histories.

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So the way the energy in the room shifted

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once everybody came together,

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these kind of two groups
of people was wild.

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- [Caitlin] It says a lot
that the Cunningham dancers

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want to do this.

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I don't think that would be
for every company situation.

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I don't see as much of
that passion for the work

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as you can see really clearly
with the Cunningham dancers.

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- [Mac] It seemed like
that was the first time

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that many of them had seen each other

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in decades, and excited to
catch up on how their lives

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have changed since whenever
they saw each other last.

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- [Mariah] We got to kind
of see these parallel lines

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where we were seeing the
real, the actual company,

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and then we were like
the second generation

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or third generation, but like
the grandkids of that sort of,

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and that camaraderie that was present

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with the staging members was also present

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with all of us who were learning it.

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- [Calleja] It felt like
we got to experience some

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of the joy that they
had in their own reunion

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and get more wrapped up in
this beautiful bigger picture

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and bigger thing than
just reenacting a piece.

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There were, you know,

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maybe like a quarter of
the original cast members

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that I knew fairly well

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and had some relationship
with over the past three years

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that I had been in New York,

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but the other people I didn't really know,

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I had heard of some of their names

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and that's about it.

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- [Ryan] I knew Michael
Cole's name, of course,

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David and Carol, of course,

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Trish, Alan, of course... love Alan.

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- [Mariah] My first workshop
was "Change of Address"

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and I did the part of Emma Diamond.

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And she showed up from across
the pond and I was like,

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oh my gosh, that's Emma Diamond.

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- [Justin] When I did
the "Scenario" workshop,

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I was doing Michael Cole's part.

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So I had seen Michael Cole on a video,

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but I had never seen
Michael Cole in the flesh.

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- [Caroline] I had seen many,

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many photos of these
dancers that were coming

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to teach us their roles,

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and so I knew them as
their younger selves,

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and to see them coming into
the studio years later after,

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I don't know,

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I felt like they were in
this like time capsule bubble

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in my brain.

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- [Eve] I felt so excited
to just witness this reunion

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and lucky to be in the room together.

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[Clicking Noise]

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- [Patricia] All right,
let's see if we can

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get these bits together,

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And go.

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Structurally, "August Pace"
is a series of seven duets.

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They run continuously one after another.

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What is quite unusual about
this dance is that in order

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to build each duet,

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Merce made two separate
sequences of phrases.

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He made one sequence for one
dancer and another sequence

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for their partner,

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and then the two sequences
were danced simultaneously.

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- [Alan] Now get down to her...

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Good.

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- [Patricia] (singing)
And a back, and a...

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Remember, you're trying to get upstage.

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Can I try it with you once?

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- [Logan] Yeah.

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- [Patricia] Okay.

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- [Logan] Just from here.

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- [Patricia] (grunts) Oh yeah.

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You gotta' get a little lower.

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- Ready, and, go.

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(rhythmic music)
- [Ryan] My first workshop

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with the Trust must have been 2012 or '13

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back in the very beginning
of the workshops.

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- [Mariah] I don't know.

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I've done so many now that
I've lost track a little bit.

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- [Mac] This is the fourth Cunningham

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workshop that I've done.

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- [Chaery] I did Cunningham's
Workshop "Scenario",

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"Native Green".

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- [Mariah] "Change of
Address", "Sounddance".

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- [Justin] "Pictures",
"Doubles", "Exchange".

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- [Vanessa] "Squaregame",
"Crises", "Suite for Five".

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- [Mariah] But "August Pace" wasn't a

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normal workshop experience.

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It wasn't like a traditional
staging process where

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someone has learned the
steps and is teaching it.

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Each duet was being staged, more or less

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by an original cast member.

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It was something that lived inside them,

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and so there's a body to body
transfer of knowledge there.

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- [Alan] Keep your arm
in second when you tilt

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so it doesn't get up to here.

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- [Logan] Oh.

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- [Alan] Yeah, it'll make you jump higher.

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Put your arm in second.

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Not to the back.

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(Singing) Up, down.

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Yeah, there you go

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- [Patricia] In order to make
it faster, you make it bigger.

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I first saw the Cunningham
Company in 1982.

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I was living in Boston
and I was getting ready

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to quit dancing again.

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And a friend of mine named
Steven Bromer said to me, oh,

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don't quit in Boston, move to
New York and quit in New York.

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(audience laughs)

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And so I went to see
the Cunningham Company,

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I'd never seen the Company.

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And I thought, okay,

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if that's dancing, then
I'm not gonna quit.

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- [Alan] Finish the phrase.

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- And like a little
breath before you start,

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that's huge in Cunningham.

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- [Logan] Yeah.

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- [Alan] Now, we all wanna, like,

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assemble everything and
move on, get competent.

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It's really finish, then go.

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Just like she said, new idea.

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- [Logan] Yeah.

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- [Alan] Let us have a new idea.

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Make 'em guess when you're gonna go.

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- [Logan] Mhmm, okay.

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- [Calleja] I knew a little
bit about the kinds of

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crazy demands that Merce's
work asks of a person.

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And so for all of the
original members to walk in

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and to know that they had had

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a sustained relationship
with that kind of work

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and had lived in it in a significant way,

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that was an exciting opportunity.

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- [Patricia] Look to your back foot.

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There you go, yeah.

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- [Robert] There we go.

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Let her find it, there we go.

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- [Chaery] I had to mentally prepare

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to come into the studio

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because the Cunningham Technique itself

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requires so much strength and focus.

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- [Mac] It, feels, in my
experience of doing Cunningham,

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like one of its defining
qualities is it demands

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that you try to complete impossible tasks.

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And the dancing and
the performance quality

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are determined by that struggle. [Laughs]

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- [Ryan] It's not about getting it,

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it's about trying it again.

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You just try again and again and again,

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and eventually, it happens.

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- [Alan] I worked on my part really hard.

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There were things that I wanted
to do and there were things

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that 30 years later I
remembered that I wanted to do.

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Okay, great.

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Now hold on.

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So you have to finish your
quarter turn off balance.

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He's gonna be monitoring you.

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- [Patricia] Yeah...
- [Alan] You'll be in attitude.

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- [Calleja] All right.

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- [Alan] Right, so he will
have just brought you up,

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quarter-turned you,

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and then we're just gonna drop you down.

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- [Patricia] Yeah, she
never gets that far up.

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She doesn't have any control.

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She's like this and like that.

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She doesn't get to come up.

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- [Alan] Right, but there's
this little suspension

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while she turns.

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- [Patricia] There is, but she can't...

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She doesn't, she can't.

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She's off her leg from...
once she's falling...

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- [Alan] No, I'm saying
he's controlling it.

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- [Patricia] Yeah.

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- Fall, and over. There you go!

[00:09:33.00]
That's closer, that's closer.

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I know, I know.

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- [Alan] But timing wise,

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- [Patricia] I know it's
a big jungle gym mess.

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- [Alan] Timing wise. We do
need to have just a moment here.

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So down, up, finish.

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There's kind of an ardent
approach to the part,

[00:09:45.06]
but sometimes someone
has to gently remind me,

[00:09:48.00]
let's go check on the video.

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- [Patricia] I think you've got my arm.

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- [Alan] Like here.

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- [Patricia] No, you
don't. You have my arms.

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- [Alan] In the video,
actually, I'm doing something

[00:09:55.03]
different, you know, (audience laughs)

[00:09:56.02]
in both the rehearsal
and the performance, so,

[00:09:58.02]
you know...

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Yeah, that's what I.

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- [Patricia] Let her go.
You let her go, okay?

[00:10:03.00]
- [Calleja] Trish had this
like wonderful precision and

[00:10:06.09]
accuracy and detail to
her work, and Alan moved

[00:10:10.09]
from a totally different
place of something else,

[00:10:13.08]
something more like intuition.

[00:10:15.06]
- [Patricia] And there we
go, okay, we're getting it.

[00:10:17.02]
Let's not, let's not mess
with it anymore, okay?

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- [Michael] (counting rhythmically)
A 1, and a 2,3,4,5,6,7,8

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and 1 and 2,3, and 4, and 5.

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Second here plié, relevé,
hold plié relevé, plié,

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up, down.

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God, I can't do any of this stuff.

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- [Patricia] One of the things

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that made it possible with this dance

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of having 13 stagers,

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it's because of these simultaneous solos.

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Because everybody could
really teach their part.

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- [Larissa] It's behind, yeah,

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somehow he, and you
lean, he leans you back.

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And then.

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- [Patricia] There weren't
these moments where, you know,

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12 of us all went out and did
a phrase and then four went

[00:10:56.06]
out and so, and so that was,

[00:10:59.01]
that was really great 'cause

[00:11:00.00]
everybody could learn their part,

[00:11:01.02]
and they could come together.

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- [Larissa] And you have your leg bent,

[00:11:03.04]
so watch you go down and then forwards
- [Michael] 2, land, head

[00:11:06.00]
- [Patricia] But then
they had to come together.

[00:11:07.08]
- [Larissa] Michael?

[00:11:08.07]
- [Michael] Yes?

[00:11:09.05]
- [Larissa] Can I interrupt?

[00:11:10.03]
- [Michael] Yes.

[00:11:11.02]
- [Larissa] Can we talk?

[00:11:12.00]
- [Patricia] What I saw was some,

[00:11:12.09]
one thing that was really
difficult was then coordinating

[00:11:15.04]
those two solos into a duet.

[00:11:17.01]
- [Michael] Yes, okay, yes.

[00:11:18.01]
- [Larissa] Let's just look
at the mirror so we can,

[00:11:20.08]
so and lean,

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this is passé,

[00:11:23.04]
and lean, and...

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- [Michael] And I move
my arms to the side,

[00:11:28.04]
cause you have to . . .

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- [Larissa] Did we do
something to the side?

[00:11:30.05]
- [Michael] Well, then I
get onto the other side

[00:11:32.02]
of you right here.

[00:11:33.05]
- [Larissa] So, lean and side...

[00:11:35.03]
- [Michael] Right, and
then you come out this way.

[00:11:37.00]
- [Larissa] Lean to the side...

[00:11:38.02]
- Is it this hand,

[00:11:39.05]
you're holding or is it this hand?

[00:11:40.04]
- [Michael] I think... oh shit.

[00:11:41.03]
- [Larissa] Must be this
hand 'cause that's like that.

[00:11:42.03]
- [Michael] Yes, that is it.

[00:11:43.01]
- [Larissa] And then?

[00:11:44.00]
- [Michael] And then. . .

[00:11:44.08]
- [Larissa] Is it?

[00:11:48.03]
- We should look at it.

[00:11:49.04]
- [Michael] We should look at it.

[00:11:50.03]
Yeah.

[00:11:51.01]
- [Michael] Oh god, I just thought that,

[00:11:52.02]
that I would like know how
to to do that immediately.

[00:11:54.02]
I really did.

[00:11:55.05]
- [Larissa] Well I've been
looking at it so much, but then

[00:11:57.02]
it's so different when
you're with a partner, right?

[00:11:58.07]
- [Michael] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:12:04.02]
- Okay, so here, you're with her.

[00:12:07.01]
(rhythmic music)

[00:12:07.09]
Lift.

[00:12:09.07]
So arms in fifth in front.

[00:12:15.00]
- Very slow.

[00:12:15.09]
Side. . . Arms open to the side, front.

[00:12:21.09]
Arms and foot down.

[00:12:25.04]
And this is bent leg, look up.

[00:12:27.07]
And then he goes turn and step,

[00:12:30.01]
jump. And then catch, lean to the side.

[00:12:54.09]
(audience laughs)

[00:13:05.02]
(audience laughs)

[00:13:13.00]
(melodic music)

[00:13:16.02]
- [Patrica] Every dancer
who inhabits this work

[00:13:18.05]
brings to it their own experiences.

[00:13:21.06]
We all did too.

[00:13:23.02]
But we spent a very long
time with Merce and his work,

[00:13:26.08]
and we spent time in the company

[00:13:28.03]
of people that had spent a
very long time with his work.

[00:13:30.07]
So we kind of, you work off of each other

[00:13:33.05]
and with each other and
you learn from one another.

[00:13:37.02]
I find it interesting to
see how the work looks on,

[00:13:39.07]
you know, different kinds of dancers,

[00:13:41.06]
but it always looks different, you know,

[00:13:44.01]
that's kind of part of it.

[00:13:46.02]
- [Michael] Run around, run,
run, run, run, run, run, run,

[00:13:49.03]
run, run, and a one, and a two...

[00:13:53.00]
The opening jump phrase of my part is,

[00:13:57.00]
Merce gave that to me,

[00:13:58.03]
it's the first time he
brought me alone in the room.

[00:14:00.09]
And it's a phrase that I will
like, go to my grave knowing.

[00:14:05.04]
(audience laughs) I knew that,
I didn't have to practice it.

[00:14:08.06]
I didn't have to look at
the video to teach my part.

[00:14:10.06]
I knew exactly what that
was from the very beginning.

[00:14:13.06]
Rest of it, maybe not so much.

[00:14:15.02]
God, I'm so confused.

[00:14:16.08]
This is front.

[00:14:17.06]
(sings rhythmically)

[00:14:27.07]
Plié, full turn, plié

[00:14:29.07]
One of the things that Trish
said when we were, you know,

[00:14:31.06]
when she was talking about
this is that the notes

[00:14:34.08]
are the notes and the
notes are very specific

[00:14:36.07]
for what he did.

[00:14:37.09]
And then also what we
did in interpreting it

[00:14:41.01]
is also accurate because
that's what he sanctioned.

[00:14:44.02]
So I know for me when I was
doing it and I was trying

[00:14:47.01]
to "beat", it actually. . . the momentum

[00:14:49.05]
of really trying to really move

[00:14:52.01]
the torso actually meant that my legs

[00:14:54.09]
started doing these wacky
things as I was doing it.

[00:14:57.09]
It really became this
like crazy, it was crazy.

[00:15:02.02]
It was just crazy.

[00:15:05.02]
Plié, up, that's it.

[00:15:07.09]
- [Larissa] Half turn.

[00:15:12.04]
- Lean . . . flip . . . back.

[00:15:17.01]
And . . . switch hands!

[00:15:19.08]
And down, down, down.

[00:15:23.03]
- [Michael] She's like this
and she's sort of falling,

[00:15:25.09]
right?

[00:15:26.08]
- [Larissa] And... fall.

[00:15:28.02]
- [Eve] Something that really surprised me

[00:15:29.05]
about this process was
not hearing the music...

[00:15:31.03]
(Larissa counting and directing)

[00:15:32.05]
until the day of the show.

[00:15:33.09]
You know,

[00:15:34.07]
I had heard that that was
something that Merce did.

[00:15:36.09]
They would rehearse in silence,

[00:15:38.03]
he would have his famous stopwatch

[00:15:40.01]
and the dancers wouldn't hear

[00:15:41.05]
the music until the day of
the show or dress rehearsal.

[00:15:45.00]
But I didn't expect that
that would be the case

[00:15:47.03]
for the workshop since
the music already existed.

[00:15:50.01]
Like, I figured at some
point we would rehearse

[00:15:52.02]
with the music, but we truly didn't.

[00:15:55.01]
We rehearsed in silence. -
[Larissa] And step pas de chat.

[00:15:56.07]
- [Larissa] And front back, side, side.

[00:16:01.04]
(singing rhythmically)

[00:16:08.01]
- [Larissa] Almost done,
believe it or not. Yeah

[00:16:11.01]
Should we go back a little bit?

[00:16:12.02]
Do you need a break? [Eve] Yeah

[00:16:19.03]
- [Larissa] I'm gonna
look at it 'cause I have

[00:16:20.03]
to remind myself, 'cause...

[00:16:24.02]
- [Carol] And now go to a flat back.

[00:16:26.09]
Right! there's no twist in that.

[00:16:28.08]
- There's the training of the dancer.

[00:16:31.02]
There're the instructions
and the rest is up to you.

[00:16:33.08]
- That's it.

[00:16:36.09]
- [Dennis] That's Carol
Teitelbaum and David.

[00:16:40.04]
- [Larissa] Yeah.

[00:16:42.01]
- [Dennis] My God, must be
so intimidating to learn

[00:16:45.02]
something from Carol Teitelbaum.

[00:16:47.05]
- Oh my god. [Larissa]
She's a really good teacher.

[00:16:49.06]
- I could never do that.
-She has a lot of compassion

[00:16:51.04]
I could never do that.

[00:16:54.05]
- [Larissa] Learn something from Carol...

[00:16:55.06]
- [Dennis] No, I mean, what Carol does,

[00:16:57.03]
I could never do it.

[00:16:58.05]
- [Vanessa] All of the dancers
I've met that have worked

[00:17:00.07]
with Cunningham,

[00:17:01.05]
like they just have this
huge wealth of knowledge.

[00:17:07.04]
- [Victoria] When you do
that, Vanessa, very nice,

[00:17:09.04]
but it's right under yourself.

[00:17:11.05]
- [Vanessa] And they're all
very giving in that knowledge.

[00:17:13.04]
Like, they're so willing to
just share, which is amazing.

[00:17:17.07]
(singing rhythmically)

[00:17:20.09]
- [Michael] (singing rhythmically)

[00:17:22.00]
That's it, but the front leg is straight.

[00:17:24.03]
The front leg is straight to land.

[00:17:26.01]
- [Mac] Cunningham's work
has influenced my dancing

[00:17:30.06]
and the way that I think
about dance really deeply.

[00:17:34.08]
It means a lot to be
able to work with them

[00:17:36.06]
because they hold the memory

[00:17:39.04]
of what it was like to work with him

[00:17:42.03]
and to do that work as it was being made.

[00:17:45.02]
- [Michael] In first, tilt.

[00:17:46.08]
And you're gonna land and
tilt and then from from there,

[00:17:49.03]
you're going to bring this
arm down and curve over,

[00:17:53.04]
and you, no you don't jump,

[00:17:55.08]
you stay there, that's me falling over.

[00:17:57.05]
- Sorry.
- Sorry (laughs).

[00:18:01.09]
- [Helen] Yeah.

[00:18:05.00]
It's fine the way you're doing it too.

[00:18:06.04]
That's good. Yes, that's fine.

[00:18:08.01]
Yeah.

[00:18:11.02]
Great.

[00:18:16.08]
Yeah.

[00:18:22.05]
- [Gary] During my junior
year, (music enters underneath)

[00:18:23.08]
I interned for the Merce
Cunningham Dance Company.

[00:18:26.00]
I was invited back in
December, in the winter

[00:18:29.05]
to help close out the Company

[00:18:31.06]
with the final performances
at the Park Avenue Armory

[00:18:34.01]
in New York.

[00:18:35.01]
That was one of the greatest
experiences in my life.

[00:18:37.07]
(melodic music continues)

[00:18:38.08]
- [Eve] I remember at Juilliard,

[00:18:40.06]
people telling me, oh this is

[00:18:42.01]
the Cunningham Company's last show.

[00:18:44.06]
And I remember it being a
big deal and also being like

[00:18:47.06]
so wrapped up in my own
conservatory bubble that I was like,

[00:18:51.06]
oh, I missed it.

[00:18:53.00]
Oops.

[00:18:54.04]
And then later in my
studies being like, wow,

[00:18:57.03]
I missed my chance to see that.

[00:19:03.06]
- [Carol] Yup, the coming
back isn't as much of a jump.

[00:19:07.03]
It's this one is and then
it's just coming back.

[00:19:10.04]
- [David] There's like,

[00:19:11.09]
when, there's some tension in the stop,

[00:19:13.08]
there should be, but
there isn't really now.

[00:19:15.04]
- [Carol] Because we bickered.

[00:19:17.01]
- [David] No, no, no.
(laughter)

[00:19:18.02]
- It was like, there was
some tension in the stop.

[00:19:20.09]
- [Carol] Got, it, yes.

[00:19:21.08]
You arrive here for a minute.

[00:19:23.02]
You arrive.

[00:19:27.01]
- [David] Ooh, sorry, sorry.

[00:19:28.06]
(both laughing)

[00:19:30.04]
- [Carol] Here and then, yah, and then go

[00:19:33.04]
- [David] And then send her away.

[00:19:37.07]
- [Carol] Yup.

[00:19:39.01]
So how about preceding that?

[00:19:44.01]
- [Reid] Now, Carol...

[00:19:45.01]
- [Carol] She does six things.

[00:19:46.06]
She's gonna do six kind
of percussive leg changes,

[00:19:49.03]
and then, and so you could...

[00:19:51.05]
but you had a question.

[00:19:52.03]
- [Reid] While she's in the tilt.

[00:19:53.02]
- Yes, while you're holding her.

[00:19:55.06]
- [Reid] Oh, okay.

[00:19:56.04]
- [Carol] Dah knee, dah,
bah, budya, that's it.

[00:20:00.09]
Six things. Oh, do you wanna look at it?

[00:20:02.09]
- [Reid] Sure.

[00:20:04.02]
- [Carol] That's before.

[00:20:07.05]
I did a bunch of things,

[00:20:09.06]
in addition to quitting dance
and then eventually made my

[00:20:14.05]
way to the Cunningham Studio.

[00:20:16.00]
I've had a rather continuous
relationship since I left the

[00:20:21.00]
Company. I've taught for over 30 years.

[00:20:24.07]
I was the faculty chair at
Westbeth when we used to be

[00:20:27.05]
there.

[00:20:28.04]
And I continue to be involved
and do some stagings and

[00:20:30.05]
teach.

[00:20:37.04]
I just wanna see more... good.

[00:20:39.03]
Very good.

[00:20:40.01]
I just wanna see more articulation for

[00:20:42.04]
each of those elements.

[00:20:43.07]
- Dee, dee, dee.
- [David] Really sharp.

[00:20:45.02]
Dee, dee, dee.

[00:20:46.05]
So let's see it again.

[00:21:00.06]
- Just really cleanly: down, up, down.

[00:21:21.03]
- [Vanessa] I think maybe...

[00:21:23.08]
- [Ernesto] Less? - [Victoria] Can I try?

[00:21:27.03]
Yeah, you can give even more.

[00:21:29.05]
- More? - So, yeah,'cause
you're getting her up.

[00:21:31.08]
Whoa, okay.

[00:21:32.08]
That was too much.
(all laugh)

[00:21:34.01]
But yeah, it's something like that.

[00:21:36.00]
It's like, so,

[00:21:37.02]
so when you do it like just
here that you feel her and feel

[00:21:41.02]
her weight the whole way
through, so don't pop her.

[00:21:43.02]
It's like that fine line of yeah.

[00:21:45.00]
(sings rhythmically)

[00:21:46.05]
But I do... you know

[00:21:48.04]
it was always a little bit
like, whoa, okay, here I go.

[00:21:53.00]
(laughs)

[00:21:54.00]
Okay.

[00:21:55.04]
Yeah.

[00:21:56.03]
- [Patricia] Here we go, that's better

[00:21:57.05]
- Yeah.

[00:22:03.04]
- [Ernesto] Yes. That's what I need.

[00:22:06.09]
- [Victoria] And don't rush there either.

[00:22:09.00]
Yeah, you're here,

[00:22:10.02]
you're over, and he's gonna
help you come up and soak it up

[00:22:14.00]
here.

[00:22:15.02]
- [Vanessa] Vicki was
(rhythmic music)

[00:22:16.04]
wonderful. She was wonderful to work with.

[00:22:18.03]
Her part was so hard.

[00:22:20.00]
I learned it in like a day
and then performed it two days

[00:22:22.08]
later. And it was so hard.

[00:22:24.04]
From what I understand,

[00:22:25.06]
she works with actors now,
helping them move more naturally.

[00:22:29.07]
And her eye for like exactly
what piece of the body was kind

[00:22:34.07]
of out of sync was so exact and clear.

[00:22:38.08]
She was so clear in communicating
what she was asking for.

[00:22:42.00]
- [Vicki] With your leg high

[00:22:43.07]
It's over. There's not..

[00:22:44.06]
You don't need to try
and hit a good position.

[00:22:46.09]
Or.

[00:22:47.07]
- [Vanessa] She was calm
and kind and encouraging

[00:22:49.09]
in this part that was

[00:22:51.04]
very strenuous and spent
a lot of time on one leg.

[00:22:54.06]
- [Vicki] This one is more positional.

[00:22:55.08]
It's very important because you know,

[00:22:57.03]
it's very correct so that
he has something to turn.

[00:23:31.06]
- [Vanessa] It's not
about telling a story.

[00:23:33.06]
The audience could infer a story,

[00:23:35.08]
but it's not necessarily
my job to give them that.

[00:23:38.09]
And I feel like because
there is space in the work,

[00:23:43.09]
like he gives you the steps,

[00:23:46.02]
but then you get to go do
what you will with the steps,

[00:23:50.05]
it's given me a space to grow
in my performance abilities

[00:23:54.01]
and feel less self-conscious
about like what my face is

[00:23:57.09]
doing and focus on what
my whole body is doing,

[00:24:01.00]
which then affects the whole performance.

[00:24:08.04]
- [Mariah] The fact that there's no story

[00:24:10.01]
offers so much more freedom.

[00:24:12.01]
The way that the older
dancers relate to each other

[00:24:14.08]
and that is the story is that
these are real people moving

[00:24:19.01]
their bodies in space,
therefore, it's a story,

[00:24:24.03]
somehow. Read into it what you will.

[00:24:31.09]
- [Patricia] Over the course of the dance,

[00:24:33.04]
there are also these
intermittent vignettes.

[00:24:36.04]
Oh you're here, you're here!

[00:24:38.09]
- [Jenifer] I'm still here. Sorry, sorry.

[00:24:40.09]
- [Patricia] Ready, and, a . . .

[00:24:42.07]
- Sometimes those vignettes just overlap

[00:24:45.00]
the duets.

[00:24:46.04]
Sometimes they echo the duets,

[00:24:48.01]
sometimes they preview the duets.

[00:24:50.02]
A few times they interrupt the duets.

[00:24:52.02]
But those are kind of the other material.

[00:25:00.03]
- [Jenifer] Way over! (laughter)

[00:25:01.01]
It's really like you're
trying to reach that knee.

[00:25:05.00]
- [Patricia] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:25:05.08]
It's like you're doing, it's
like you're doing the bounces,

[00:25:07.07]
you know, it's exactly
like you're doing...

[00:25:08.06]
- [Jenifer] Except in a jump in passé.

[00:25:10.06]
- [Patricia] There you go. There you go.

[00:25:12.03]
Okay. Alright

[00:25:13.03]
- [Jenifer] And don't rush those runs,

[00:25:14.02]
like really they're,

[00:25:15.01]
they're like really like,
consistent in the tempo.

[00:25:17.07]
Like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, bom.

[00:25:21.07]
- [Patricia] Okay, here we go.

[00:25:22.09]
Ready and cue.

[00:25:25.01]
There was something really
special about this dance for us.

[00:25:28.05]
You know we, everybody got a duet.

[00:25:30.08]
First of all. You got
your own time on stage.

[00:25:33.09]
The one exception was
Jenifer Weaver and you know,

[00:25:36.06]
she was really, she'd been in
the Company about a minute.

[00:25:39.08]
She went on to be a goddess,

[00:25:41.04]
but at this point in time
she was just the new girl.

[00:25:44.05]
- [Jenifer] It was good.
That was really good.

[00:25:46.06]
Yeah. You guys had space,
but you were connecting.

[00:25:50.00]
- [Reid] Yeah, it's like scary but...

[00:25:51.04]
- [Jenifer] Scary but exhilarating.

[00:26:06.04]
- [Kimberly] Poor Mariah.

[00:26:07.07]
Up.

[00:26:08.09]
Good, you guys. Good good good.

[00:26:10.03]
Great . . . Good.

[00:26:11.09]
- [Patricia] That's it!

[00:26:12.07]
- [Kimberly] Bah bah. Good, good

[00:26:14.03]
Keep going.

[00:26:17.03]
Great, you guys, good.

[00:26:18.08]
- [Emma] Oh, I used to wear
little numbers like that.

[00:26:20.08]
You look very, very cool.

[00:26:21.07]
Okay, so we are just gonna
start teaching them now.

[00:26:27.09]
All right.

[00:26:29.02]
(singing rhythmically)

[00:26:30.05]
- I was in the Company from 1988

[00:26:34.00]
until July 1994.

[00:26:37.07]
Running, running, running.

[00:26:39.04]
Oh, you're very over,
aren't we over there?

[00:26:42.02]
I think we are just at quarter.

[00:26:43.09]
- [Dennis] Okay, we're at quarter.

[00:26:44.09]
(Emma laughing)

[00:26:46.07]
- [Emma] I saw Cunningham
first in 1979 when I was 13 and

[00:26:53.05]
I saw Chris Komar dance, and
eight years later he became my

[00:26:58.02]
dancing partner.

[00:26:59.06]
So that was amazing.

[00:27:01.07]
I didn't expect that. Okay.

[00:27:03.06]
So yeah, beautiful.

[00:27:05.01]
Carry to the side to second

[00:27:09.08]
and then curve

[00:27:11.09]
Dee. coupé. Trip-a-let hah, ah, bah...

[00:27:15.01]
I don't have a really brilliant memory,

[00:27:19.01]
so I didn't remember almost any of mine,

[00:27:22.08]
you know my duet.

[00:27:25.04]
So I needed to look a lot at the video.

[00:27:28.03]
Let's just do the port-de-bras.
So your, I mean arms,

[00:27:33.01]
he doesn't use the French. Okay.

[00:27:34.08]
And it came back pretty
quickly. I remember you,

[00:27:36.08]
you remember the rhythm, you sing a tune.

[00:27:39.03]
So once I've got the tune back,

[00:27:41.01]
(sings rhythmically) the rhythm
and the tune that I sung,

[00:27:44.01]
then I can remember the steps.

[00:27:46.00]
Twist, twist plié turn and out.

[00:28:12.01]
- [Emma] Obviously you
are a different size

[00:28:13.05]
than me. And now you push off.

[00:28:17.00]
That's it.

[00:28:18.04]
But yeah, you know, it
really is enjoyable.

[00:28:21.00]
So I would say ba ba .
. . be ba baba ba bum

[00:28:25.07]
AND one.

[00:28:28.05]
And Babababababa stop.

[00:28:31.01]
AND one,

[00:28:32.00]
and two and three and four.

[00:28:34.09]
Wa bah bah dee da bah dee. Bah.

[00:28:38.04]
Hip change. Ah. Dee.

[00:28:40.00]
Now that's where it's too arm-y. And hop.

[00:28:43.03]
- [Carol] Are, are you,
you sure that it's. . .

[00:28:44.09]
- [Patricia] The original idea was:

[00:28:46.01]
Can you come teach your part?

[00:28:48.00]
But what happened over the
course of the two weeks is that

[00:28:50.03]
we really supported one another
and helped one another to

[00:28:53.03]
figure out how to make all
the different bits and pieces

[00:28:56.06]
come together.

[00:28:57.05]
- [Carol] I just thought
that your back changed.

[00:28:59.04]
- [Emma] It could be, shall we look?

[00:29:01.01]
- [Carol] No, it's up to you. I just.

[00:29:02.09]
- [Emma] If you want you could check

[00:29:04.08]
because it's quite possible I'm

[00:29:06.03]
wrong.

[00:29:07.09]
Is it, is it, is it flat back?

[00:29:09.07]
- [Carol] I think you're curved here,

[00:29:11.08]
and then you're long there.

[00:29:13.03]
- [Emma] It is long.

[00:29:14.04]
It is long. It's long.

[00:29:15.07]
Carol is correct here. That's it.

[00:29:17.06]
That's it.

[00:29:18.08]
And now, no, now you lower
the arm and leg in that fall.

[00:29:24.05]
Okay. No,

[00:29:25.07]
let me do it with Dennis and
I'll show you, if that's okay.

[00:29:29.03]
So and up, and up.

[00:29:34.00]
That's not a big deal. That is.

[00:29:34.09]
- [Dennis] small, BIG!

[00:29:37.08]
Ever the showman.

[00:29:39.06]
- [Emma] It is about show, darling.

[00:29:42.01]
- [Caitlin] We wouldn't have learned it

[00:29:43.02]
that way had we not worked with

[00:29:45.03]
them specifically. You know,

[00:29:46.09]
you only learn so much from
looking at the video versus

[00:29:49.06]
feeling someone hold you and
do it or talk to you about it.

[00:29:54.08]
- [Emma] ... up on your leg.
So the, it's very hard to do.

[00:29:57.07]
It goes against what you'd, you know,

[00:30:00.07]
you want to be up when you're
down because the down makes it

[00:30:03.01]
harder for the man because
you've got more body weight added

[00:30:05.09]
to it.

[00:30:06.07]
- [Dennis] That's correct.

[00:30:07.09]
- [Emma] Nevertheless,
you have to do that.

[00:30:09.08]
- [Dennis] Yes. Make it harder

[00:30:11.01]
for the man.

[00:30:12.02]
[Emma] It's inorganic in the
sense that it goes against

[00:30:14.04]
what you actually instinctively want.

[00:30:16.03]
- [Caitlin] Partnering
with Dennis in rehearsal

[00:30:19.03]
was really fun.

[00:30:20.03]
I also remember him saying
that his back was bad.

[00:30:23.09]
So I also had that in the
back of my mind, of like,

[00:30:27.07]
I don't want do anything to hurt you.

[00:30:29.08]
- [Emma] Beat the arm. Cha cha.

[00:30:31.08]
I remember him actually doing it to here.

[00:30:34.02]
(singing rhythmically)

[00:30:38.06]
- Brilliant.

[00:30:39.04]
That's it.

[00:30:40.07]
- [Caitlin] So I was pretty
surprised by how much he,

[00:30:42.06]
he really did with us.

[00:30:47.02]
- [Robert] If she's up, just wait.

[00:30:51.02]
Now you take her.

[00:30:52.00]
(laughter)

[00:30:54.03]
- [Chaery] One time Robert,

[00:30:56.02]
he became Gary and I was just
doing stuff with him and I

[00:31:00.09]
was kind of nervous that
if I break his back.

[00:31:06.06]
- [Robert] Let me do it with
you once if that's okay.

[00:31:08.07]
- [Chaery] Yep.

[00:31:09.06]
- [Robert] And

[00:31:17.00]
- [Chaery] Ooh ooh ooh ooh

[00:31:17.09]
- [Robert] Yeah, okay.

[00:31:18.07]
- [Chaery] I was quite, quite
very nervous and I was like

[00:31:21.07]
pull up, pull up, pull up!

[00:31:22.05]
You know? Having less weight on him.

[00:31:24.07]
- [Robert] He's gonna get
you earlier than that.

[00:31:26.02]
- [Chaery] Okay.

[00:31:27.01]
- [Robert] I just wanted you
to know that you can fall

[00:31:29.03]
that far and you'll be fine.

[00:31:30.01]
- [Chaery] Okay.

[00:31:31.00]
- [Robert] Okay. Now let's try it.

[00:31:31.08]
- [Helen] I want her to
be able to do it tomorrow.

[00:31:36.05]
No, he's scared her.

[00:31:39.07]
That's nice.

[00:31:42.04]
Okay. That could be faster.

[00:31:44.07]
(melodic music over light talking)

[00:31:49.01]
- [Chaery] So I did
"Native Green" and I danced

[00:31:51.06]
Helen's part.

[00:31:52.05]
So I watched the footage,

[00:31:53.09]
Helen's dancing, and everyone's like,

[00:31:57.01]
"Helen is the one who
has the great technique."

[00:32:00.06]
And then I was like, oh
my god, so much pressure.

[00:32:03.09]
(laughing)

[00:32:05.03]
And then later on, in
the "August Pace" process

[00:32:08.02]
and I finally got to

[00:32:09.06]
meet her in person and you know,

[00:32:12.02]
and she's like really a genuinely
nice person and she's also

[00:32:15.06]
very giving.

[00:32:17.07]
- [Chaery] That's good?

[00:32:18.06]
- [Helen] You're doing good.

[00:32:20.07]
- So I'd been in the
Company about seven years.

[00:32:25.01]
I felt like very secure in my position and

[00:32:29.08]
was loving it.

[00:32:32.07]
- [Whispers] "Are you doing this."

[00:32:33.08]
just loving working with Merce
and what an amazing person he

[00:32:37.01]
was in all, all different kinds of ways.

[00:32:40.09]
- (Whispers) The arms on the
tilt. The arms on the tilt.

[00:32:44.07]
- And now I live in Hawaii

[00:32:47.09]
and I'm a licensed clinical social worker.

[00:32:51.02]
- [Robert] Feel your weight.

[00:32:52.00]
- [Helen] (Whispering) Her back
pulls into this next thing,

[00:32:53.09]
that was better.

[00:32:55.07]
Oh and plié right here, plié into coupé,

[00:32:57.09]
and then up into attitude.

[00:33:00.04]
Thank you Trish. That's very helpful.

[00:33:02.05]
- (both singing rhythmically)

[00:33:08.09]
- [Robert] Go! (continues singing)

[00:33:24.03]
It's aww, beautiful. Nice pause.

[00:33:26.04]
(laughter)

[00:33:27.03]
Good

[00:33:29.01]
- [Helen] Shhhhhhh.

[00:33:32.03]
- [Robert] I'm a New Zealander who

[00:33:35.09]
left New Zealand in '82

[00:33:38.00]
because my company there had folded,

[00:33:40.00]
went to the Cunningham Studio
and actually started there,

[00:33:43.05]
uh, training.

[00:33:45.09]
- I'll work on that.

[00:33:47.07]
- I did the whole gamut thing.

[00:33:49.02]
I drew all the circles and
arrows and all the directional

[00:33:51.05]
stuff and I wrote things out
in words and I had the first

[00:33:55.07]
entrance and that all drawn
out like a little cartoon

[00:33:59.06]
diagram and then handed that
schematic and mapping to both

[00:34:03.08]
Helen and my dance equivalents.

[00:34:08.06]
(Robert drumming on chair)

[00:34:11.04]
- [Helen] Sh!

[00:34:19.02]
- [Robert] They look good together.

[00:34:21.09]
- [Helen] They do.

[00:34:23.08]
(rhythmic music)

[00:34:27.09]
- [David] I didn't remember this music.

[00:34:30.06]
- [Carol] Really?

[00:34:32.07]
- [Gary] Oh. Okay

[00:34:33.06]
- [Carol] When people said they
came to see Cunningham shows

[00:34:35.08]
I would like pray that they

[00:34:36.07]
hadn't come in my first three years in

[00:34:38.08]
the Company. (laughter)

[00:34:39.06]
Because I was like
embarrassed all the time.

[00:34:42.03]
And I feel like this piece
was sort of a transition.

[00:34:46.02]
- [David] Take her waaay off.

[00:34:48.00]
- [Carol] And this is
slower than I was thinking.

[00:34:49.06]
- Where I feel like I,
I started to feel, um

[00:34:53.02]
- I'm sorry I don't make the diagonal.

[00:34:55.02]
- I, I felt less . . .

[00:34:57.04]
it's not a psychology
appointment. I know, but

[00:35:00.02]
(Laughter)

[00:35:03.09]
- I felt like I was growing into it and,

[00:35:05.09]
and then, and that was it.

[00:35:09.08]
I do a lot of lousy things
here. Just go with the timing.

[00:35:14.07]
- [Director] It's been 30 years,

[00:35:15.06]
she's still apologizing for

[00:35:17.01]
her dancing. (laughter)

[00:35:17.09]
- I forgot that I'm wearing a microphone.

[00:35:21.02]
- [Director] Everything I do is horrible.

[00:35:22.01]
- [David] Exactly.

[00:35:23.00]
- [Director] I'm sorry.

[00:35:23.08]
- [David] Just wait
till she puts her hands

[00:35:25.03]
down on the floor. (more laughter)

[00:35:26.09]
- [Carol] Anyway, so that's pretty slow.

[00:35:31.06]
- [David] Yeah. From this one.

[00:35:33.04]
So you're here . . . and then here.

[00:35:42.03]
Can you hang on a second?

[00:35:43.08]
Actually let's just take
that same handhold again.

[00:35:47.04]
- [Carol] I used to feel
like I was particularly

[00:35:49.09]
poor at directions

[00:35:51.06]
for partnering and really it's,

[00:35:53.04]
it's, it was fantastic that
David was there and not,

[00:35:57.01]
not just was able to describe,

[00:35:58.07]
but he could actually partner
Caroline to give her the

[00:36:02.04]
feeling.

[00:36:03.02]
- [David] So she stays way,
right off. Yeah. That's all.

[00:36:05.08]
- [Reid] All right.

[00:36:06.08]
- [David] Sorry, I'm gonna hurt myself.

[00:36:08.06]
- [Carol] You okay?

[00:36:09.04]
- [David] Yeah, I'm totally fine.

[00:36:10.02]
- [Carol] Good. Good, it's
great you can show him.

[00:36:12.07]
There!

[00:36:14.01]
Yaah. That's already better.

[00:36:15.04]
- [David] Good.

[00:36:17.07]
- [Carol] Your hand was here
for that, my second one.

[00:36:21.06]
- [David] So you're there. Yeah.

[00:36:23.01]
And here. (Carol singing rhythmically)

[00:36:24.09]
And then wait, now get our hand.

[00:36:27.00]
Okay. Then now go to the next thing.

[00:36:29.03]
And then as you come around
to the back, I'm gonna to take

[00:36:32.07]
you off. I'm sorry.
- [Carol] Come up. But get

[00:36:34.05]
to an arabesque.

[00:36:35.08]
Really get to an arabesque facing there.

[00:36:37.06]
But that was better.

[00:36:38.05]
- [David] It's just hard for me
to get around because I'm.. .

[00:36:40.07]
- [Carol] No, it's. . .

[00:36:41.05]
- [David] I have so
many artificial joints.

[00:36:43.04]
(Laughter)

[00:36:46.06]
(rhythmic music)

[00:37:06.00]
(melodic music)

[00:37:10.01]
- [Reid] I had never really considered

[00:37:11.06]
being in a workshop because

[00:37:14.05]
by the time I was free to do
anything like that I felt like,

[00:37:17.05]
oh I'm too old of a person
to do workshops, they're for

[00:37:20.02]
students or something.

[00:37:22.02]
I didn't know like who the
other dancers in the workshop

[00:37:25.00]
would be.

[00:37:25.09]
And luckily for me it was
like, a pretty big range of

[00:37:29.04]
experience and age. And
I wasn't the youngest.

[00:37:32.08]
I mean the oldest.

[00:37:34.02]
(Laughs)

[00:37:36.02]
- [Justin] I often am also
hesitant to take workshops

[00:37:39.08]
because I feel

[00:37:40.08]
like I'm significantly
older than everyone else.

[00:37:43.09]
Reid and I had recently discovered that

[00:37:48.08]
we were kind of

[00:37:50.04]
the same age,

[00:37:51.05]
but I am one year older
than Reid, where I was like,

[00:37:56.00]
well I'm 40 and you are 39.

[00:38:00.04]
You, Reid, represent an
entire decade. And I too,

[00:38:04.05]
and everyone else is in their twenties.

[00:38:07.04]
But also, I don't think
I look 40. (laughs)

[00:38:11.04]
So I don't tell anyone that
I'm 40 and no one knows.

[00:38:25.02]
- [Caroline] Having Reid as
my partner in this process

[00:38:27.07]
was so great because
he has been practicing

[00:38:31.07]
Cunningham Technique since, I don't know,

[00:38:35.04]
maybe even before I was seriously
dancing and has just years

[00:38:40.01]
and years of experience and
knowledge about the Technique,

[00:38:43.08]
the Company.

[00:38:45.00]
I remember we made a mistake
when we were showing the duet,

[00:38:49.03]
just in rehearsal, and
it was my fault, fully.

[00:38:53.02]
And Reid took the blame for it.

[00:38:55.04]
And I was like, "Reid, what?

[00:38:57.05]
That was my fault. Like, I'm sorry."

[00:38:59.05]
And he was like, "Oh,
don't worry about it.

[00:39:01.05]
I'm at the end of my career
and you're at the beginning of

[00:39:03.06]
yours. Doesn't matter."

[00:39:11.08]
- [Michael] Okay, wait a second.

[00:39:13.01]
Where's, where's is this front?

[00:39:14.05]
- [Larissa] No, we walk
from there, don't we?

[00:39:15.05]
- [Michael] Yeah.

[00:39:16.03]
- [Larissa] If that's front right,

[00:39:17.02]
- [Michael] Right. (laughs)

[00:39:18.05]
- [Larissa] We just walk
in together, don't we?

[00:39:20.01]
- [Eve] Both Larissa and Michael
moved on to other careers.

[00:39:23.06]
Michael as an animator for NBC
and Larissa as a yoga teacher

[00:39:28.07]
and an acupuncturist. And I
have a lot of respect for that.

[00:39:32.03]
Especially as I start to look
down the path towards other

[00:39:35.02]
things outside of dance as well.

[00:39:37.04]
Knowing that these people were
dancers for Merce Cunningham

[00:39:41.02]
and were so accomplished in
their field and then went on to

[00:39:44.02]
become accomplished in other
ways and had their dance

[00:39:48.08]
background and their experience
with each other and with

[00:39:51.04]
Merce and with the work influence
their lives beyond dance.

[00:39:57.07]
- [Larissa] No, I suddenly
thought I can, I can't...

[00:39:58.09]
Okay, so lean...

[00:40:00.06]
- [Eve] I think in dance,

[00:40:01.07]
maybe even more so than in
any other performing art form,

[00:40:06.01]
the aging body makes such an
impact on what you're doing at

[00:40:09.09]
that point in your career.

[00:40:11.02]
You have to make a choice as
to like, how you're going to

[00:40:13.09]
contend with the fact that
your physical capabilities are

[00:40:16.07]
going to change no matter what.

[00:40:18.03]
And no matter how well you treat
your body and how often you

[00:40:21.02]
take class and how well
you take care of yourself,

[00:40:23.07]
like it's going to change.

[00:40:27.01]
- [Larissa] Almost hit
your nose on the ground.

[00:40:28.06]
He's holding you. He won't let you.

[00:40:31.00]
- [Michael] Yes.

[00:40:32.01]
- [Larissa] I never did. I never fell.

[00:40:33.04]
Did I?

[00:40:34.03]
- [Michael] You never fell.

[00:40:35.01]
- [Larissa] Yeah, I never fell.

[00:40:36.02]
But we came close.

[00:40:38.00]
- [Patrica] Ryan, you you
don't get to go like that.

[00:40:39.08]
You have to go like that.

[00:40:41.09]
Like you have to go into your hip.

[00:40:43.09]
So he's gonna take you off your leg.

[00:40:46.04]
Not a place you spend
much time. That's right.

[00:40:49.02]
(laughs)

[00:40:50.08]
She's like a . . .

[00:40:52.00]
- [Kimberly] . She's so strong.

[00:40:54.09]
Yeah, I gotta get the,
yeah you guys, let's go.

[00:40:58.07]
Oh gosh you guys, let's,
let's, let's, let's go back.

[00:41:01.08]
Can we just go back?

[00:41:02.09]
- The first time I saw Merce's
work was actually in 1997,

[00:41:07.08]
a year after I left the Company,
because I'd never seen the

[00:41:11.08]
Company before I joined.

[00:41:13.09]
- Cue.

[00:41:15.09]
- And I remember watching and
being so perplexed thinking

[00:41:19.05]
really that's what we did. It's like,

[00:41:23.03]
It was really, it was
really, really shocking.

[00:41:25.02]
So my relationship to the
work was very, very physical.

[00:41:28.01]
(singing rhythmically)

[00:41:29.02]
I just did not really understand
the greater spectrum of

[00:41:32.04]
what I was involved in.

[00:41:33.03]
But my body and my mind really
connected with the work from

[00:41:36.04]
the beginning.

[00:41:37.08]
And now I do a lot of
teaching. I really, really,

[00:41:40.06]
really passionately love
teaching Cunningham Technique and

[00:41:44.00]
ideas about chance
procedures, experiments and,

[00:41:47.05]
and then I'm also very deeply
involved in creating my own

[00:41:50.07]
body of choreographic work.

[00:41:52.05]
- [Mariah] So you...

[00:41:53.07]
- [Kimberly] So push
through the floor with that

[00:41:55.00]
standing leg.

[00:41:55.08]
- [Ryan] Oh yeah, yeah.

[00:41:57.06]
- [Kimberly] Right. Oh yeah, that's it!

[00:41:59.01]
Good.

[00:42:00.07]
Yeah,

[00:42:01.09]
just that little extra bit of
pressure lets you go around

[00:42:04.05]
him. Great.

[00:42:06.02]
Do you know what you do next?

[00:42:07.04]
- [Ryan] No.

[00:42:08.02]
- [Kimberly] Oh we do. (laughter)

[00:42:09.09]
You do... she does a really hard thing.

[00:42:15.07]
Good.

[00:42:17.05]
Good, you guys

[00:42:20.02]
(singing rhythmically)

[00:42:24.08]
Good, good.

[00:42:37.08]
- There's a really big
difference between remembering

[00:42:42.03]
something and then being able to do it.

[00:42:44.09]
(Laughter)

[00:42:46.03]
- Really, really, really big difference.

[00:42:49.01]
And it was so humbling.

[00:42:52.00]
It's like I remembered everything,
that was not a problem.

[00:42:54.05]
I remembered all the songs, I
remembered all the directions.

[00:42:56.08]
I remember what it felt
dancing with Chris.

[00:42:58.05]
But then trying to teach
it, I was like, oh my god.

[00:43:00.07]
And I just kept turning to
Trish saying thank God for young

[00:43:03.09]
people like this is, is so great.

[00:43:05.07]
Like they can do it.
I'll sing and you do it.

[00:43:09.07]
(Laughter)

[00:43:11.00]
And it was a very quick
transmission because I'm not really

[00:43:13.05]
interested in somebody being like me.

[00:43:15.07]
But what was really interesting
is how do I get the,

[00:43:20.00]
how do I get the song into
Mariah's body and then how then

[00:43:24.05]
do I, how does she have that song

[00:43:26.04]
and then be able to hear Ryan's
song because that's how they

[00:43:29.04]
communicate, is through that
kind of understanding of

[00:43:34.04]
another person.

[00:43:38.06]
- [Patricia] One of the
challenges for me is that

[00:43:40.06]
I had to pick up the

[00:43:41.04]
parts of the people who couldn't come.

[00:43:43.09]
- If this works better.

[00:43:45.02]
If that works better.

[00:43:46.02]
- Robert Swiston is on tour with

[00:43:47.09]
his company and so I had to learn

[00:43:49.00]
his part, and Chris Komar
died a number of years ago,

[00:43:51.06]
so I had to teach his part.

[00:43:53.01]
And I felt a little sad in my
interactions with the two men

[00:43:56.04]
that I taught.

[00:43:57.05]
- And then you do a lunge
where you take her like this.

[00:44:00.03]
- Because we do, what you just did,

[00:44:02.02]
you do at the end, the last one

[00:44:03.01]
- Right.

[00:44:03.09]
- when you, where you

[00:44:04.07]
drape over. But this one it's more like,

[00:44:05.06]
it's more like your whole body
is just going that way and

[00:44:09.00]
he's taking you there.

[00:44:10.02]
- Yeah.

[00:44:11.00]
- So just let's,

[00:44:12.00]
let's look at the second one
'cause it's a little different.

[00:44:13.05]
- [Kimberly] (singing rhythmically)

[00:44:17.06]
- [Ryan] I sort of found myself

[00:44:20.02]
feeling a little bit lost in the

[00:44:21.05]
room. It's not that I wasn't, you know,

[00:44:23.05]
receiving the attention I needed
or given the information I

[00:44:25.09]
needed, but there was
something missing and I was

[00:44:28.09]
hearing from the other people in the room

[00:44:30.05]
about these beautiful
relationships they were building

[00:44:32.09]
with the people whose
roles they were performing.

[00:44:35.07]
And I think that Kimberly
Bartosik sort of picked up on that

[00:44:40.06]
and she began to talk to
me about who Chris was,

[00:44:45.04]
what he was like, what
their relationship was like.

[00:44:50.01]
Give me some sort of reference point.

[00:44:54.00]
(melodic music)

[00:44:56.03]
- [Patricia] Keep your
torso a little more forward,

[00:44:59.05]
there you go!

[00:45:00.04]
(music continues)

[00:45:05.02]
(applause)

[00:45:11.00]
(music continues)

[00:46:20.07]
- [Patricia] I want to
thank all of you so much

[00:46:22.08]
for taking time away

[00:46:24.04]
from your lives to be part of
this and to take this little

[00:46:27.03]
journey with me.

[00:46:29.07]
- [Robert] It's such a thrill to watch

[00:46:32.00]
the different dispositions and

[00:46:33.08]
personality traits and ways of
moving that my friends who I

[00:46:38.01]
all love and haven't seen for
years move and then that moves

[00:46:42.04]
into someone else's body as
they replicate some of that and

[00:46:45.00]
then themselves come through
and yet we become more of one.

[00:46:49.07]
(rhythmic music)

[00:46:51.00]
So there's two or three of us and we're,

[00:46:53.02]
we've got bits of each other
in and that's the coolest

[00:46:55.08]
thing, man.

[00:47:04.07]
- [Vanessa] Cunningham's work, I feel like

[00:47:06.03]
has made me incredibly strong.

[00:47:08.04]
It just has given me a facility
that I don't think I would

[00:47:12.00]
have taking another type of technique.

[00:47:14.01]
Like I can take a Cunningham
class and I know what I'm gonna

[00:47:16.08]
get and I know that I can set
myself up to dance for the day

[00:47:21.03]
and do anything else
in the dance repertory.

[00:47:29.02]
- [Emma] Hanging out on stage alone

[00:47:31.03]
or with your partner in a duet

[00:47:33.02]
like that is how you mature
as an artist because you begin

[00:47:37.03]
to relax and then it begins
to be a dialogue not only with

[00:47:40.04]
your dancing partner
but with the audience.

[00:47:42.04]
You can see for yourself how
keen and how much variety in

[00:47:47.04]
their personalities and
in their own motivation

[00:47:51.01]
there is.

[00:47:55.07]
- [Caitlin] Emma, she was
also very fun to talk to,

[00:47:58.09]
like when we weren't working
or like we were just on the

[00:48:02.01]
side. I remember her asking me like,

[00:48:04.02]
"What are you doing right
now as an artist? Like,

[00:48:05.06]
what do you want?" And I was like, "Whoa.

[00:48:08.00]
"Like, I don't know!"

[00:48:10.08]
She was looking at it I think
as a mentorship versus I'm

[00:48:13.09]
just learning her part and
performing and that's it.

[00:48:28.09]
- [Mariah] I've realized
this is the type of work

[00:48:31.01]
that I really like.

[00:48:32.08]
This is what I would do if
I could do it all the time.

[00:48:37.02]
And so it's the people that
are related to this kind of

[00:48:41.08]
world that I'm interested in working with.

[00:48:56.02]
- [Caroline] It was the
closest I've come to

[00:48:58.05]
feeling like I had really

[00:48:59.09]
joined the Cunningham family
in the rehearsal process.

[00:49:03.05]
I feel a sense of community
in the classes always.

[00:49:05.08]
But this workshop really...

[00:49:07.08]
I didn't know half of the
dancers going into the workshop

[00:49:11.09]
and I feel like I could
reach out to any of them for

[00:49:14.09]
anything at any time. I don't know,

[00:49:16.08]
like we just bonded a lot.

[00:49:18.03]
It was a really great group of people.

[00:49:31.08]
- [Chaery] I think it was a one time in a

[00:49:33.04]
lifetime experience.

[00:49:35.02]
With them together and a lot of colleagues

[00:49:38.04]
who I never danced with.

[00:49:40.03]
So mixed with old and new

[00:49:45.00]
together, really fun.

[00:49:53.05]
- [Mac] Because I felt so supported

[00:49:55.03]
in learning a really hard role,

[00:49:58.03]
it became just an
exciting problem to solve.

[00:50:01.09]
It forced me to focus on the
movement in my spine and all

[00:50:06.09]
through my torso in a sort of
deep way that I often don't.

[00:50:13.04]
And the fact that this part
was so personal to Michael made

[00:50:17.00]
it easier for me to relate
to the choreography than I've

[00:50:20.09]
been able to with other
works that I've done.

[00:50:26.03]
- [Michael] What was really

[00:50:27.01]
beautiful in teaching my part to Mac,

[00:50:29.08]
I told him, I don't know
what I looked like doing it,

[00:50:33.03]
but I know what I felt
and it was this just...

[00:50:38.03]
I was shaking because I,

[00:50:39.08]
I was just bursting with so
much excitement to do this

[00:50:43.08]
movement. And,

[00:50:45.00]
and that's really what I
thought that Mac brought to the

[00:50:48.02]
performance today.

[00:50:57.02]
- [Calleja] There's an unspoken
kind of thing that happens

[00:50:59.06]
when you're in really intense rehearsals

[00:51:01.03]
with people for a period of time

[00:51:03.06]
and it's definitely a sweet bond.

[00:51:07.01]
And so I did feel at the end
like, man, this would be...

[00:51:11.02]
I'd love to stay in this.

[00:51:13.00]
Like, I'd love to take it to
the next level and get to be in

[00:51:18.00]
a work like "August Pace" for
more than three performances

[00:51:21.00]
and get to see how it grows.

[00:51:24.02]
I feel like I was seen for who
I was as a dancer and valued

[00:51:27.05]
for that.

[00:51:28.04]
And so out of that got to live
and dance a lot more fully.

[00:51:33.09]
And then during the workshop,

[00:51:35.02]
pushed way beyond what
I could have imagined.

[00:51:38.04]
(performance music)

[00:51:40.09]
(applause)

[00:51:48.05]
(melodic music and applause)

[00:52:23.02]
(applause fades)

[00:52:31.04]
(music continues)

[00:52:33.01]