Split Sides - Merce Cunningham Dance Company DVD

Merce Cunningham's Split Sides (2003) captures the iconic modernist choreographer's most radical use of chance procedures. As the title implies, the piece is divided into two parts. Each 20-minute part features one of two options for the different creative elements of the piece: set design, costumes, lighting, music, and choreography. The order in which each element appears during a given performance is determined by an onstage dice roll before the performance, captured on full screen for the live audience. There are thus 32 possible combinations for any performance of Split Sides. In addition to Merce Cunningham's two choreographic segments, the work features two set designs (one by Robert Heishman and one by Catherine Yass), two sets of costumes (by James Hall), and two lighting plots (by James F. Ingalls). Original scores, composed specifically for this collaboration by the British alternative rock group Radiohead and the Icelandic experimentalist group Sigur Ros, of

ARTPIX presents this fascinating presentation from one of the pioneers of modern dance, Merce Cunningham, who, during his career, has been a dancer, choreographer, author, and filmmaker. SPLIT SIDES represents Cunningham’s most extreme and innovative harnessing of chance procedures yet--and that’s saying something. Both of the piece's 20-minutes sections rely on a roll of the dice to determine which options will be used for all elements of choreography and set design.