A visionary choreographer named Merce Cunningham broke the laws of dance and created avant-garde pieces that inspired modern dance today. Cunningham’s love for birds reflects on his piece “Beach Birds”, premiered on June 20, 1991 at Theater 11. Using the technique of “choreography by chance” and distant ocean waves, Cunningham creates a simplistic piece that gives the audience a chance to give their own interpretation.
As it is titled, the dance is solely based on existing beach birds living of the coast of Washington, where Cunningham lived his childhood. From a visual point of view, the audience could tell the distinct, color-block, black and white costumes covering all but the feet, neck and head. Consequently, Cunningham's love for birds …show more content…
. . .”(Cunningham). During the trio sequence of dancers, when each dancer starts a certain movement or pose, the leftover two dancers would follow in a similar fashion. The domino effect is constantly rolling into play without being directed by the beat of the music, but the sound of ocean waves. As the ocean waves have unexpected long pauses, the next movement or domino effect cannot be predicted by the audience; unexpectedly, this is all intentional. Each movement is intentionally “misplaced” as it breaks the boundaries of dance; questioning “Why does dance have to move to a certain beat, when real life is a trail of unexpected chances?”The performance as a whole is very calming, almost as if it was a blank canvas to draw on. The effect the dance could give to the audience could vary as this particular dance is a page of the story, rather than the whole story itself. Using the dance technique of chance and modern dance, the audience sees a refreshing lens of dance as everything has been simplistic yet,
As it is titled, the dance is solely based on existing beach birds living of the coast of Washington, where Cunningham lived his childhood. From a visual point of view, the audience could tell the distinct, color-block, black and white costumes covering all but the feet, neck and head. Consequently, Cunningham's love for birds …show more content…
. . .”(Cunningham). During the trio sequence of dancers, when each dancer starts a certain movement or pose, the leftover two dancers would follow in a similar fashion. The domino effect is constantly rolling into play without being directed by the beat of the music, but the sound of ocean waves. As the ocean waves have unexpected long pauses, the next movement or domino effect cannot be predicted by the audience; unexpectedly, this is all intentional. Each movement is intentionally “misplaced” as it breaks the boundaries of dance; questioning “Why does dance have to move to a certain beat, when real life is a trail of unexpected chances?”The performance as a whole is very calming, almost as if it was a blank canvas to draw on. The effect the dance could give to the audience could vary as this particular dance is a page of the story, rather than the whole story itself. Using the dance technique of chance and modern dance, the audience sees a refreshing lens of dance as everything has been simplistic yet,