What is it like to work for a genius? For Daniel Roberts, a
dancer with the legendary Merce Cunningham Dance Company, speaking
about his job is often easier than actually doing it.
Tonight through Saturday, Roberts and the rest of
Cunningham’s troupe will perform at Royce Hall as part of the
company’s 50th anniversary celebration, a retrospective of
early works alongside recent creations.
Dance aficionados wax poetic about the work of
“Merce,” as everyone casually calls him, a modern dance
innovator revered around the world. But it takes one of his dancers
to reveal the highs and lows of a career spent with the acclaimed
artist.
Roberts will be the first to say that working for Cunningham is
not an easy task. One of the most striking features of life as a
Cunningham dancer is the practice of dancing without music.
Oftentimes the company will first hear a piece’s score only a
few days before an actual performance.
“We rehearse in silence,” Roberts said. “When
I first saw the company working, I couldn’t believe it. I sat
and watched them for three hours, and for the most part, it was
quiet. And I thought, God, it takes a lot of discipline to do
that.”
The steps themselves also present certain challenges. Cunningham
began working with the computer software LifeForms in 1991 as a way
of toying with structure and movement in the creation of his
dances. As a result, the work became even more intricate than it
already was.
“I think it took everyone for a shock,” said
Roberts. “It definitely added more complexity to the arms.
The legs are always complicated, but it was the new arm positions
that kind of threw everybody. Sometimes we’re like,
“˜How the hell am I going to do this?’ But somehow it
works and becomes movement.”
Roberts was first introduced to Cunningham as an undergraduate
studying dance notation at The Ohio State University where he
reconstructed the solo “Totem Ancestor” from
handwritten notes. The project led him to New York where he
performed the work in a film that was being made about Cunningham.
Shortly after graduation, he was invited to join the company.
Last year, Roberts was asked to set “Totem Ancestor”
on the Kansas City Ballet, and the process only reaffirmed for him
what it means to be a Cunningham dancer.
“It made me see the dance in a whole different
realm,” he said. “How I had to teach it and what kind
of person it took to do it: you have to be willing to open your
mind and consider the possibility of all these crazy things.
It’s about experiencing the work, not just, “˜this looks
pretty.’ It’s a lifestyle choice.”
Part of what makes the process a little easier is the fact that
Cunningham himself, at 83, is still the motivating force behind the
group. He teaches company class and creates new dances year after
year. And although, according to Roberts, Cunningham doesn’t
offer much feedback on their performances, there is a level of
trust between dancers and choreographer that makes the work
gratifying.
“It can be really frustrating,” Roberts said.
“You keep going over and over things that are really
difficult, wondering if he’s happy with what you’re
doing. And you might never know.”
But the trust goes both ways. The dancers also have to believe
in Cunningham.
“We’re often working on a piece a couple of weeks
before it’s going to open, thinking, is he going to get it
done? But I think he knows that he’ll do what he has to do,
and we’ll do what we have to do, and it’ll work. And it
happens,” Roberts added.