Merce Cunningham Redux

In this informative, illustrated dance history, photographer Klosty (Greece 66) shares remembrances of famed avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham (1919–2009). Originally published in 1975, this new edition, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Cunningham’s birth, includes 140 additional pages of primarily black-and-white photographs. Several capture Cunningham rehearsing in a dilapidated Manhattan studio and performing at such venues as the Belgrade Museum and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. Most of the images show Cunningham and his dance company during monumental productions on stage, such as 1968’s Rainforest (with costumes by Jasper Johns and décor by Andy Warhol), 1967’s Scramble (with costumes and décor by Frank Stella), and 1958’s Antic Meet (with music by “Merce’s partner in life as in art,” John Cage, and costumes and décor by Robert Rauschenberg). Also included are pieces written by some of Cunningham’s friends and colleagues—such as Merce’s dance partner Carolyn Brown (“his humor has saved the wretchedness of many nearly hopeless situations”) and New York City Ballet general director Lincoln Kirstein (“I like Merce... very much personally, but our philosophies and theater are disparate”). Readers well-versed in modern dance will find plenty to behold. (Nov.)