Screening:
Charles Atlas

Although he has worked with many noteworthy dancers and choreographers, Charles Atlas has had a particularly strong relationship with Merce Cunningham (1919–2009), serving first as his filmmaker-in-residence for ten years (1974–83) and then continuing to document Cunningham’s dances through the remainder of his career. Atlas’s unique artistic vision for capturing dance on camera has created new and original experiences out of this notoriously difficult task.

In September 2008, Cunningham staged Ocean (1994), one of the most ambitious works of his legendary sixty-year career, at the bottom of the massive Rainbow Granite Quarry in Minnesota. The event was seen by 4,500 audience members and featured the dancers and musicians of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, along with a 150-piece orchestra. Using a five-camera crew, Atlas filmed three performances of this epic production which he then edited into a single film. Atlas’s films stand as the final living record of many of Cunningham’s seminal works, and the feature-length Ocean marks his final Cunningham project.

SCREENING TIMES
April 11 and 15
12, 2, and 4 pm
April 12
12 and 4 pm
April 13
1:30 and 3:30 pm
April 14
12 and 2 pm

PROGRAM
Ocean, 2011
HD video, color, sound; 100 min.
Courtesy Cunningham Dance Foundation and Walker Art Center

Screenings are free with Museum admission. Admittance is on a first-come, first-seated basis until capacity is reached. Late admittance is strongly discouraged, so please arrive early.

Atlas will also perform at the Museum as part of his April 18–22 residency.