USA, 2018, 87’
by Lise Freidman and Maia Wechsler
RainForest (as performed by the Stephen Petronio Company, 2015-2017)
choreography Merce Cunningham
music David Tudor, Rainforest
decor Andy Warhol
costume design after the original design by Jasper Johns
lighting design Aaron Copp
RainForest is used courtesy of the Merce Cunningham Trust
Stephen Petronio Company
artistic director Stephen Petronio
A tribute to the dance and the legacy of an essential master such as Merce Cunningham, conceived in 2015 by Stephen Petronio, a former and unforgettable performer for Trisha Brown, who worked with his own dancers on a new production of Rain Forest, Cunningham’s masterpiece dated 1968. The film documents the work and transmission process from the inside, detailing the arduous and exciting reincarnation of a living memory with direct go-betweens such as Meg Harper, one of Cunningham’s most notable dancers, Gus Solomon Jr. – who formerly danced with the master –, David Vaughan, archivist for the Cunningham Foundation, and Andrea Weber, official repetiteur.
