Merce music overpowers

Culminating in two performances at the Power Center, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company surprised Ann Arbor with its unconventional movements and uncomfortable music. Those in the audience who survived the cacophonous sounds found wonder in the dancers' fluid precision. Rather than being remembered for its incredible visual display, though, Saturday night will be thought of as the evening for earplugs.

One does not need to be a professional dancer to appreciate Cunningham's innovative choreography. The dancers' flawless and powerful movements kept the audience both interested and amazed. Using computers to analyze bodies in motion, Cunningham has mastered the art of movement.

For more than half a century, the dance group has left an indelible mark on its audience. Merce Cunningham, one of the most influential choreographers living in the world, is known internationally for his unique approach to dance.

Believing that choreography, music, costumes and decor should be completed before they are interwoven, Cunningham creates a feeling of awkwardness and confusion. Separately, each element has its place, but when put together, they create enjoyable chaos.

With multiple actions occurring simultaneously and every gesture intertwined with the other individuals on stage, precision and accuracy were imperative. As a result, a community was formed, where every dancer relied on the other.

At moments, it was difficult to discern one body from the other. Twisting and turning over each other, the dancers create a feeling of togetherness, providing elegant disorder.

As one dancer would leap out of the sight of the audience, another would run to fill his place. There was constant motion and unbelievable energy. The human relationships expressed in the dancers' movements were so clear that one could almost touch them.

Although the overall performance was remarkable, the music was too much of an obstacle for the audience to endure.

Divided into three parts, the Cunningham Dance Company progressively lost its audience. It was the not the dancing, which was impressive, but the terrible music that chased Ann Arbor residents out of the theater.

Beginning with the curtain rising, intolerably loud noise already enveloped the theater and immediately created a feeling of discomfort. The music was a compilation of a number of sounds. It was a combination of static and the noise that one would get by quickly changing radio stations.

Irritating and obnoxious, the music took away from the dancers' extraordinary performance. After the first part of the dance, ear plugs were available, but even that did not keep the audience in their seats. Those audience members who were fortunate to get ear plugs used them, but others placed their hands over their ears, desperately trying to save their hearing.

Regardless of the dancers' liquid arms, strong poses and unprecedented style, the unbearable music cleared the theater. By the middle of the show, a quarter of the Power Center had been emptied.

While Cunningham's unique approach to dance has brought him fame, sometimes his independent elements fall short of a perfect fit during a performance.

The Power Center witnessed one of these collisions Saturday night, when Cunningham's exercise of freedom clashed with the music's painful sounds. The performance would have been more pleasurable in complete silence: Maybe then, the Cunningham Dance Company would had received the applause they deserved.

02-15-99