CHARLES ATLAS & MERCE CUNNINGHAM: EXCHANGE
Premiere Screening + Artist Talk

Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI)
535 West 22nd Street, 5th floor New York, NY 10011
Thursday, February 7, 2013
6:30 pm

EAI proudly presented the premiere screening of Exchange (1978/2013, 40:19 min), artist Charles Atlas' newly completed film based on the 1978 dance piece of the same name by legendary dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham (1919-2009). Atlas—one of the foremost interpreters of dance, theater and performance on video and film—created the new film Exchange from never-before-seen footage that he shot in 1978 and that was only recently rediscovered by the Merce Cunningham Trust (MCT). The film captures a performance of Exchange by Cunningham and his company, with costumes and backdrop designed by Jasper Johns and music by David Tudor. Two of Atlas' earliest short films were screened before Exchange: More Joints (1972), featuring Cunningham's ankle in a starring role; and Nevada (1973), in which dancer and choreographer Douglas Dunn performs. Atlas introduced the screening and spoke about his long collaborative relationship with Cunningham.