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. . . . one can make discoveries, and that interested me from the beginning." Merce Cunningham(1)
Merce Cunningham has been making new dance with the computer choreographic software Life Forms since December 1989(2). This paper looks at Merce Cunningham's work with the computer and Life Forms. It also presents Cunningham's work with the computer in a historical context tracing and connecting this work with technology with his own history spanning 50 years of dance making. Life Forms was developed at Simon Fraser University at the Computer Graphics and Multi Media Research Lab under the direction of Dr. Thomas Calvert(3). The author of this paper, Thecla Schiphorst is a member of the original design team that designed and developed Life Forms, and has been working with and tutoring Merce Cunningham in New York city since December 1989. (Return to Top of Page)
Merce Cunningham's use of Life Forms
Merce Cunningham has said, "I think of dance as a constant transformation of life itself."(4) It is not technological constraints that hold us back from using technology in new ways: technology changes at a tremendous rate. Our willingness to explore beyond the constraints of our imagination has the greatest effect on 'the constant transformation'. As Cunningham has said, "In looking for new movement I would look for something I didn't know about rather than something I did know about."(5) It is clear from the results of Cunningham's work with computer technology, that the design of Life Forms, and the design of the dances created with Life Forms can support that exploration and affect one another deeply.(6) (Return to Top of Page) Examples of Merce Cunningham's work with Life Forms
In March, 1991, just over a year after he had been introduced to the Life Forms choreographic software, Merce Cunningham premiered a dance piece called Trackers, in which about one third of the movement was created with the computer. Cunningham said in a CNN interview, when talking about his use of Life Forms "I think this technology can, in this case, particularly .... open out a way of looking at dance and movement in a way that would be stimulating and invigorating to the whole dance field eventually."(7) Since that first computer choreographed dance, Cunningham has continued to embrace technological possibilities as an extension of his exploration of movement as a process, rather than as a fixed goal. He has created over a dozen dances which incorporate movement created in Life Forms, including Beachbirds, CRWDSPCR, Enter, and Ocean. Cunningham does not find it surprising that his references in dance are mirrored by references seen in technology, and in other art forms such as literature. He has responded to these comparisons to multiple references, images and symbols, by noting that a relationship exists between the development of artistic ideas and the development of technological ideas. Cunningham said:
"[The work of James Joyce for example] goes from paragraphs, to sentences , down to words--and now to words themselves separated, so you don't have even a whole word, you just have part of a word. And that is quite apparent--and seems to me quite reflected--in our technology. That doesn't mean that they [Joyce, Eliot, etc.] did it because of technology. It just happens that those ideas are in the air. Technology is full of this ... the electronic system where they cut things so fine...."(8)
Merce Cunningham, who has been using chance procedures in making dance since the early l950's, also incorporated these procedures when creating movement with the computer. Many of Merce's movement sequences created in Life Forms determined how the body would move, what body parts would be used, or what physical shapes would be incorporated by the use of chance procedures. When these movement sequences appeared physically impossible, Merce worked with his dancers to discover how they could be made to work. Cunningham has said: "If a dancer tells me that something won't work, I say, 'Try it; if you fall down, you'll find out something about falling down"(9) . (Return to Top of Page) The Use of Chance Procedures in Life Forms
When Cunningham talks of his work with Life Forms he says, "Like chance, [Life Forms] prompts me to think, well maybe there's some way to do that that I hadn't thought of."(10) "Just as Merce originally used chance to thwart his own physical habits, he uses it now to undermine the control of he-who-wields-the-mouse: he'll often toss coins to decide what limb the Life Forms figure will move next and in what direction."(11) Comments from the Cunningham dancers while learning some of the more complex Life Forms phrases have noted an increasing complexity reminiscent of Cunningham's early work with chance. Alan Good, a dancer with the Cunningham Dance Company has said of this process, ".... but [ Merce ] liked that. So here we were doing this [computer generated movement] ..... I mean to change those years of training, .... it was like you were drawing a straight line in a curved universe, it was very difficult"(12). (Return to Top of Page) Sequence Generation in Life Forms
Since Cunningham has never been interested in a singular methodology for creating dance without the computer, it is not surprising to find variety in his approach to creating sequences with the computer. The examples illustrated here are from Trackers, Cunningham's first dance created with Life Forms. One method Cunningham used to create sequences was in selecting existing stances through chance operations and then chaining them together (Figure 1). A sequence entitled "CKExitStances", in the Trackers Life Forms computer menu is illustrated below.
Figure 1. CKExitStances selected by Chance Procedures
Another method used by Cunningham to generate movement in Life Forms is selecting existing sequences found through chance operations. An example is the movement phrase entitled "Cart2", a series of two cartwheels shown in Figure 2. Merce Cunningham has said of using this method in Life Forms,
"In working out something, particularly using chance means with the Life Forms system, I try not to make any decision about whether I like it or not, or some idea like that, or even, whether it is possible, but rather, to look at it and see, oh, that could be possible under certain circumstances, and it is in that sense, the same as when I began to work with chance operations years ago.(13)"
Figure 2. Cart2, Existing Sequence selected by Chance
In Trackers, Jenifer Weaver entered from downstage right, while a second dancer, Robert Swinston, ran from upstage centre to support her so that she would not fall over during the lean to the left. This is an example of Cunningham's ability to look at the phrase, as it was "found" in Life Forms, and then find circumstances that would allow it to be performed in a way that remained as close to its original representation as possible. The result is an often unexpected and surprising juxtaposition of movement ideas that continually provide a mechanism for unforeseen and often startling, or in this case, even humorous relationships to unfold.
A third method Cunningham used for generating movement in Life Forms was to create sequences through learning to use the system. For Cunningham, the learning process has been an ongoing one, not only in learning to use Life Forms, but also historically in continually searching for new ways of creating movement.
I still do it because it [ making dances ] interests me.
What's exciting is when I come across an idea that I'm
unfamiliar with, or when I have a question to answer for
myself. You have to find a way to do what you can do. It is
difficult for all of us, but if it's something that
interests you deeply, you will find a way.(14) Cunningham's fervent interest is in finding new ways of understanding elements of movement, not in rehashing or reiterating what he has already done. In talking about the dances he has made with Life Forms he has said: "The common thread in these dances is that they are all different. That's what interests me. I am not interested in the idea of repeating something."(15) Making dances for Cunningham is fundamentally about learning through questioning. It is therefore not surprising that much of the movement created in Life Forms has found its way into his dances. An example illustrated below in Figure 3, "Leaper" was constructed originally as an exercise in learning how to cause the Life Forms figure to jump, and then change direction in space.
Figure 3. "Leaper" Sequence created learning to use Life Forms
Another method used by Merce Cunningham is the creation of new movement in Life Forms using chance operations. Cunningham used chance to select which limb would be moved, how many limbs would be moved simultaneously, and what types of movement the body moved through. The Apsaras phrase seen at the beginning of Trackers, at approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds into the piece was created in this way.
Figure 4. Apsaras phrase created with chance procedures
One of the details worth noting in this Apsaras phrase is that the time relationship between the stances or shapes created is uneven or unequal. This produces movement which does not have a sense of metered rhythm, but rather has an uneven rhythm which is an artifact of the length of the spaces inserted between the shapes produced by Cunningham. It was this ability of Life Forms to allow a more arbitrary time relationship to exist between specified physical shapes, rather than having to define any particular timing or meter, that appealed greatly to Cunningham. This was what Cunningham was alluding to when he said, "Working with Life Forms suggests possibilities of working with time and space that I had never thought of before"(16), and also when he said, "Things can happen that you think are impossible, but if you try them out, they lead you to something else. And it's all in space, not time, you're looking visually and putting things in space."(17) Cunningham's method of creating movement in much of the work he has created reflects an approach that is not concerned with thinking about the specific timing while the movement is created. Once it has been created, however, the rhythms produced are often complex and polyphonic using different rhythms in different parts of the body. One of the striking observations of movement created without an effort to create specific timings, is that the outcome has an inherent rhythmic complexity which would be difficult to consciously create in a single iteration.
Figure 5. Apsaras showing selection of limbs: shoulder, elbow, and hand
Finally, one last example of Cunningham's diversity in generating movement in Life Forms, was adding to or modifying existing locomotor patterns such as a simple walking pattern, again using chance procedures. This was used in the Walker phrase, which was performed in Trackers, at approximately 16 minutes into the piece. During the first pass, Cunningham used a walking pattern which existed in the Life Forms menu, and began to alter the timing of the walking step pattern, by simply increasing or decreasing proportional timings between steps (see Figure 6,7). It is this ability to increase the spatial proportion between shapes in a direct visual way that leads Cunningham to say "instead of thinking in time, you're looking visually and putting things in space."(18) In this first iteration, the effect of increasing the spatial relationship between walking steps directly affected the timing of the steps causing a quirky, uneven and distinctively odd walking rhythm.
During the second iteration (see Figure 8), he added the arms without referring to any relationship between what was occurring in the legs. Again, this immediately created a complex polyrhythm in the body with legs moving irregularly, and then arms moving in their own irregular rhythmic pattern and shape. In the third iteration, Cunningham added the torso and head to the phrase, again without reference to what was occurring in the legs and the arms. The result of this procedure was a walking phrase which was highly idiosyncratic, and was reported by the dancers as very difficult to learn because of its sense of going against what the body naturally did when it walked.
It is this tendency of Cunningham's to look at both the movement that existed in Life Forms and the operational features of the Life Forms system, and then find new and fresh ways of combining them rather than to try out what Life Forms was "supposed to do". It is an approach which looks beyond the defined boundaries, and continually attempts to break the standard rules which are rendered arbitrary when viewed from this perspective. Cunningham, who calls himself a practical person, is able to create specifically with what exists while simultaneously rethinking the very material with which he is working.
Figure 6. Walker phrase: original walking step
Figure 7. Walker phrase:
Iteration 1, create walking rhythm by inserting space
between each walk frame
Figure 8. Walker phrase: Iteration 2, create arm movements
Cunningham has commented, "My point about working with Life Forms is not to complain about what it can't do, but to look and see what it can do."(19) (Return to Top of Page)
if only we didn't get the mind in the way. "(20) Merce Cunningham The increase in public awareness that has resulted directly from Cunningham's use of the computer has infused and penetrated current thought while it has simultaneously changed the face of dance. It is directly through the dances he makes, that Cunningham has amplified the understanding that choreographers can work with computer technology to extend possibilities in creating dance. Cunningham continues to be a mentor and inspiration to generations of dancers and choreographers. When Cunningham initially began his work with Life Forms on the computer in December l989, public response to this new exploration was to treat it with curiosity, but still somewhat skeptically. As Merce's experience and ability to use the software has grown, so has his experimentation with the system in creating dance. In the few short years since Cunningham has been using the computer, the response to this prospect has moved forward with renewed interest, acceptance, and a willingness to explore the possibilities that could result from this intersection of disciplines. Dance reviewers and critics write about his new work, describing how they imagine he could be using the computer to create dance:
"In Change of Address six dancers fall to the floor, legs pretzelled, and lie there tipped at odd angles. I imagine him pressing keys and coming up with some-thing that leaves the dancer with no leg to stand on."(21) Dancers have been enlivened with new ways of working, and the creative process of making dance has been enriched by the use of the computer. Merce Cunningham's work with dance and computers has shown that not only does the technology grow in response to the choreographers that use it, but that the choreographic process also grows, is enlarged and responsive its use. The design and creative process is symbiotic, and both the design of Life Forms, and the design of the dances created with Life Forms affect one another deeply(22). This relationship between objective and subjective has been noted in Cunningham's work; in April 1992, Joan Acocella, dance critic for the Financial Times, wrote :
The most striking characteristic of [Cunningham's] work, aside from its formal beauty, is its objectivity. No dancing on the American stage today is freer of sentimental pretension.... And, by a familiar paradox, this objectivity gives [the dancers] a huge subjective force.... The two new works, Change of Address and Beach Birds, were both marked by a rather strange mix of greater literalism and greater obscurity than one is used to seeing .... In l990 Cunningham started using a computer as an aid in composing his dances. These two opposing developments may account for the oddly literal and oddly counterliteral quality of the new works. Thesis, antithesis.(23)
Another review of the dance Enter premiered at the Paris Opera in November, l992, responds to the idea of "Cunningham's obsession with technology" by speaking of the relationship between the parts and the whole, describing Cunnigham's "dissection" of the human body, and its resulting"masterful" dance work:
"Enter is the brainchild of Cunningham's obsession with modern computer technology.... Cunningham dissects the human body with a computer mouse, breaking down the simplest gesture into composite parts.... The title Enter is no accident. It was inspired by what Cunningham called 'the most important button' on the keyboard.... Theatergoers and Cunningham admirers loved it. So did the critics, who hailed the hour-long creation as his finest achievement: 'all of his contributions to modern dance are so masterful, so glorious that Enter is the culmination and crowning of his life's work'"(24)
Merce Cunningham's ability to work in new ways while capturing the public imagination is due in part to his attitude of looking beyond the preconceptions that limit our ability to attempt unlikely combinations of movement, or of movement tools. This viewpoint has been a part of Cunningham's work in dance for over fifty years. Cunningham has paved the way for others to explore Life Forms as a choreographic tool, and has done so by continuing his quest to understand and create movement beyond the limitations of imagination. As Cunningham has said, "You have to find a way to do what you can do. It is difficult for all of us, but if it's something that interests you deeply, you will find a way.(25) (Return to Top of Page) 1. Merce Cunningham quoted in the CNN
television series: Arts and Technology Report, March l991.
(Return to paper) The author gratefully acknowledges Merce Cunningham, David Vaughan and Michael Bloom at the Cunningham Dance Foundation in New York City, Dr. Thomas Calvert, Director of the Centre for Systems Science at Simon Fraser University, and Sang Mah, Project Manager of Kinetic Effects Research, Canada. Life Forms has been funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Life Forms interactive motion capture has been funded in part by the Media Arts Section of the Canada Council. (Return to Top of Page) Thecla Schiphorst
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