Split Sides 45

2005, 42:03 min, color, sound

Split Sides is a work for the full company of fourteen dancers. The choreography, music and design elements for the dance were each created in two parts, or, in the case of the music, by two bands. British rock band Radiohead and Sigur Ros, an experimental group from Iceland, composed the music. Without using vocals or beats, both groups took a random assortment of sounds and fed them through electronic equipment. The décor is by Robert Heishman and Catherine Yass, and costume design is by James Hall. Each performance varies, as chance procedures decide which of the two versions of each element will be paired together. Mathematically, there are thirty-two different possible versions of Split Sides.The choreography, also in two parts, each twenty minutes in length, was made, as with all Cunningham's dances since 1991, with the use of the computer program DanceForms. There are a number of ensemble (often unison) passages, and also solos, duets that feature much inventive partnering, and trios. Version 45. — Merce Cunningham Trust

Choreography: Merce Cunningham. Music: Radiohead, Sigor Ros. Decor: Robert Heishman, Catherine Yass. Costumes: James Hall. Lighting: James F. Ingalls. A film by Charles Atlas. Dancers: Robert Swinston, Marcie Munnerlyn, Koji Mizuta, Rashaun Mitchell, Holley Farmer, Andrea Weber, Cédric Andrieux, Jennifer Goggans, Lisa Boudreau, Jonah Bokaer, Julie Cunningham, Daniel Squire, Jeannie Steele. Producer: Cunningham Dance Foundation. Special Thanks: Carol Walker, The Pepsico Theater at SUNY Purchase, The Board of Directors of the Cunningham Dance Foundation, Molly Davies.