John Cage and Merce Cunningham, Special Lecture 1967

Composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham and one unnamed individual perform about forty minutes of a “happening,” where each performer is operating independently of the others and within his own non-obstructive sphere. This is followed by a question and answer period mostly dominated by Merce Cunningham. The topics include a discussion of the series of exercises just done on stage, to creativity in dance given the limited range of movements the body can perform, to the problems with the traditional notion of theater as a physical plant, to music and beat in creating dances, to the concepts of freedom and improvisation within choreography. John Cage’s comments tend more to the philosophical as he talks about sound, pattern and syncopation, the relationship of structured and unstructured work, and the capacity of art to open and stretch the way an audience sees.