{"id":848,"date":"2019-10-25T11:26:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T18:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/?p=848"},"modified":"2019-11-07T11:34:19","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T18:34:19","slug":"if-the-dancer-dances-an-exquisitly-shot-film-honoring-merce-cunninghams-choreography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2019\/if-the-dancer-dances-an-exquisitly-shot-film-honoring-merce-cunninghams-choreography\/","title":{"rendered":"If the Dancer Dances * An Exquisitely Shot Film Honoring Merce Cunningham\u2019s Choreography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-851\" width=\"152\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If&nbsp;The&nbsp;Dancer&nbsp;Dances&nbsp;<\/em>invites viewers into the intimate world of the&nbsp;dance&nbsp;studio. Stephen Petronio, one of\ntoday\u2019s leading&nbsp;dance-makers, is determined to help his&nbsp;dancers&nbsp;breathe new life into&nbsp;<em>RainForest&nbsp;<\/em>(1968), an iconic work by the legendary\nchoreographer Merce Cunningham. With help from three members of the former\nCunningham company, the film tracks Petronio\u2019s&nbsp;dancers&nbsp;as they strive to re-stage this\ngreat work, revealing what it takes to keep a&nbsp;dance&nbsp;\u2013 and a legacy \u2013 alive. Timed to\ncoincide with Cunningham\u2019s centennial,&nbsp;<em>If&nbsp;The&nbsp;Dancer&nbsp;Dances&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;is the first documentary on the\nsubject of Cunningham\u2019s work since his passing in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Merce Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who stood at  the forefront of American modern dance for more than 60 years. As a  choreographer, teacher, and leader of the Merce Cunningham Dance  Company, Cunningham had a profound influence on modern dance and earned  some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts, including the National  Medal of Arts and the MacArthur \u2018Genius\u2019 Fellowship. Cunningham is also  notable for his frequent collaborations with artists of other  disciplines, including the musicians Radiohead and John Cage (also his  life partner), as well as visual artists Andy Warhol, who did the d\u00e9cor  for&nbsp;<em> RainForest,<\/em> the dance featured in If the Dancer Dances, Jasper  Johns and Robert Rauschenberg.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the Dancer Dances <br>By Cynthia P., KIDS FIRST! Reviewer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"If The Dancer Dances Trailer - Documentary Movie\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sSfYKKsRV-o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If The Dancer Dances<\/em> is an exquisitely shot film that brings the\naudience into the studio to watch the company members get interviewed and listen\nto their opinions and fears as we observe them at work. We observe the\ntechnically brilliant Petronio Company goof off, get engaged (which seems a bit\nstaged), rehearse, giggle and crawl &#8211; nothing too interesting or special. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The film<em> If The Dancer Dances,<\/em> directed by Maia Wechsler, was created to document the rehearsal, choreographic reconstruction and performance of the dance<em> RainForest <\/em>with Petronio\u2019s 30-year-old, New York-based contemporary dance company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.a-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-850\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.a-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.a-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.a-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.a.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>My\nfavorite part which lifted me up from the predictability of the 86 minute film is\nwhen dancer \/ choreographer \/ company director Stephen Petronio reveals that\nhis \u201cdance parents,\u201d Trisha Brown and Merce Cunningham, are no longer able to\ndance. Ms. Brown is ill and Merce has passed away. Stephen feels compelled to\ncontinue their work and decided to re-stage <em>RainForest<\/em>. He felt a need to\n\u201ccontinue even more\u201d&nbsp;and restage the legendary ballet <em>RainForest<\/em> on\nhis own company with d\u00e9cor by Andy Warhol, costumes by Jasper Johns, music by\nDavid Tudor and, of course, the amazing choreography of Merce Cunningham &#8211; a\nquintessential collaboration by four of the greatest modern artists of their\nday. As most dancers who have studied modern art or dance, the sight of\nWarholian silver pillows floating on stage is a vivid image that one cannot\nshake. Despite the very grainy archival film of this dance, this work remains\nlegendary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meg\nHarper, the Cunningham dancer who performed in the original work, discusses the\nchallenges of setting the piece, her ups and downs with it, and the feelings\nthat she experienced on stage. None of her issues are high stakes, surprising\nor new. In fact, they are blas\u00e9 challenges that seem so weak compared to the\npower of just enjoying the ballet. Every single moment spent not watching the\ndancers <em>dance<\/em> seems like filler. It is sweet to hear\ndancers talk, but it feels as if the filmmakers tried to make it more interesting\nwhen actually, they don\u2019t. The dancing in the studio is what elevates this\nfilm. I wanted to see exquisite movement shot, edited and presented well. Of\ncourse, we want to get to know the dancers, as it&nbsp; makes the film more textured, but these\nefforts seem forced and makes so much of the film fall flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.b-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-849\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.b-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.b-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.b-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Ifthedancer.b.jpg 1522w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When\nformer Cunningham dancers discuss Merce and his work, it starts to get a bit\nmore interesting. When we watch Merce kindly teach from his wheelchair and view\na dancer break down, thinking of the power he has over her, we get a glimpse of\nhis intensity. I personally remember his feeble hands reaching out to shake\nmine and his warm lovely smile that was so engaging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\nare no stakes in this film that have excitement for me. Yes, we watch the\namazing dancers learn phrases, laugh in rehearsal, make the movement their own\nand then perform the work at the Joyce\n Theatre. It doesn\u2019t work\nfor me and is disappointing. The performance just doesn\u2019t have any urgency or\nexcitement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\narchival footage of <em>RainForest<\/em>\nsizzled for me. This celebrated work that shaped dance for an eternity costumed\nthe dancers in ripped leotards with holes. This motif is part of fashion today\n&#8211; 40 years later! Those moments just cannot be re-done. Merce asked his company\nto halt after his death in 2009 for this very reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As much as it is nice to see works re-imagined, this film about the process didn\u2019t give me anything new. I\u2019m afraid that I feel some works of art just need to stay asleep. Sweet dreams <em>RainForest, <\/em>we love you. However, for newcomers to the world of modern dance, dancers and audience members alike, this may well awaken a sense of history and place that they were unaware of previously. So, with that in mind, I can recommend this to teens ages 15 to 18 as well as adults and give it 3.5 stars out of 5. It is available on VOD Nov 12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:#4b08db\" class=\"has-text-color\"> \u201cThe dance studio is a private and mysterious place. <em>If The Dancer Dances <\/em>  grants us rare access, bringing us into the studio to watch the  staging of a Merce Cunningham masterwork on the Stephen Petronio  Company. It\u2019s the tracking of this intimate process, a dance being  passed one body to another, that makes this film a great gift.\u201d&nbsp; Mikhail  Baryshnikov on <em>If The Dancer Dances <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If The Dancer Dances is an exquisitely shot film that brings the audience into the studio to watch the company members get interviewed and listen to their opinions and fears as we observe them at work. We observe the technically brilliant Petronio Company goof off, get engaged (which seems a bit staged), rehearse, giggle and crawl &#8211; nothing too interesting or special. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,100,102,104,107,106,109,97,103,110,108,99,98],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-critics-blog","tag-american-modern-dance","tag-choreographer","tag-dancer","tag-documentary","tag-john-cage","tag-macarthur-genius","tag-maia-wechsler","tag-merce-cunningham","tag-modern-dance","tag-night-journey","tag-radiohead","tag-rainforest","tag-steve-petronio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}