Choreography / 1953

Solo Suite in Space and Time

“Solo Suite in Space and Time” is a solo in five parts: “At Random,” “Stillness,” “Repetition,” “Excursion,” and “For the Air.” The music for the dance, John Cage’s “Music for Piano,” was composed using a chance process in which the notes corresponded to “imperfections in the paper upon which the piece was written.” Cunningham adapted this procedure for his choreography, using the imperfections on paper to determine the spatial patterns and timings. Chance was also used to determine the sequence of movement. “The whole thing lasted about fifteen minutes,” Cunningham recalled, “it was terrifying, the last one was awful, full of leaping. . . It was marvelous to work at but exhausting to do.” In 1956, the solos were incorporated into a dance called “Suite for Five in Space and Time.”

Details

Premiere Date

Jun 23, 1953

Premiere Venue

Louisiana State University

Premiere Location

Baton Rouge, LA

Music

John Cage, Music for Piano 1-20

Costumes

Merce Cunningham

Duration

15 minutes (est.)

Original Cast

Merce Cunningham

Other Choreography

Title
Duration
Year
Collaborator(s)
Ruse of Medusa, The
Duration: Length unknown
Year: 1948
Collab.: Satie, de Kooning, Outten, Lanier, Johns, Fuller, Johnson, Wright, Asawa, Spillenger
Monkey Dances, [The]
Duration: Length unknown
Year: 1948
Collab.: Satie, Outten, Lippold
Orestes
Duration: Length unknown
Year: 1948
Collab.: Cage
Diversion, A
Duration: 8 minutes (est.)
Year: 1948
Collab.: Cage, Outten
Amores
Duration: 6 minutes (est.)
Year: 1949
Collab.: Cage
Effusions avant l'heure
Duration: 4 minutes (est.)
Year: 1949
Collab.: Cage
Duet
Duration: Length unknown
Year: 1949
Collab.: Fini
Two Step
Duration: 2 minutes, 30 seconds (est.)
Year: 1949
Collab.: Satie