Choreography / 1953

Suite by Chance

“Suite by Chance,” a dance in four movements, was first performed at the Festival of Contemporary Arts in Urbana, Illinois. The dancers, most of whom were students from Cunningham’s technique classes, were billed as “Merce Cunningham and Company,” although the performance predated the establishment of his first company by several months. According to Cunningham, “Suite by Chance is exactly what the title says.” He used detailed charts, which reportedly took months to complete, to organize all aspects of the dance: gamut of movement, durations, and directions in space. The sequence for each dancer was determined by chance, using the possibilities recorded in the charts. Chance also determined the number of dancers on stage, exits and entrances, and other aspects of the continuity. Reflecting on the reception the dance received, Cunningham wrote “It was almost impossible to see a movement in the modern dance during that period not stiffened by literary or personal connection, and the simple, direct and unconnected look of this dance (which some thought abstract and dehumanized) disturbed. My own experience while working with the dancers was how strongly it let the individual quality of each of them appear, naked, powerful and unashamed.”

Details

Premiere Date

Mar 24, 1953

Premiere Venue

University of Illinois

Premiere Location

Urbana, Illinois

Music

Christian Wolff, For Magnetic Tape

Costumes

Remy Charlip

Duration

22 - 24 minutes (est.)

Original Cast

Carolyn Brown

Merce Cunningham

Jo Anne Melsher

Natanya Neumann

Marianne Preger-Simon

Joan Skinner

Other Choreography

Title
Duration
Year
Collaborator(s)
Dream
Duration: 5-7 minutes(est.)
Year: 1948
Collab.: Cage
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