Merce Cunningham La Fabrique
John Cage & Merce Cunningham

Through its decision to organise Musicircus, the Centre national de la danse celebrates, as part of the Merce Cunningham portrait, its prolific association with the composer John Cage. In this edition of La Fabrique, dedicated to the art of intermixing and the random, the CND will be turned into a giant carrousel given over to music, voice, discourse and movement of all kinds.

Alongside that of the American choreographer, this new edition of La Fabrique sees the CND paying tribute to the pivotal role of the composer John Cage. The latter was the musical director of the choreographer’s company until his death in 1992, but the relationship between these two major figures in XXth century art goes far beyond the realms of mere artistic collaboration. Their relationship was more like a creative synergy which saw them both redefining the contours of their respective mediums. Cunningham’s guiding principles, ranging from the use of chance occurrences, to the refusal to separate art and life, and the widening of the definition of what constitutes music to take in all sounds, had a profound influence on Cunningham and his way of apprehending the interaction between the body, space and time. In order to restore Cage’s reflections to their rightful place, the CND and the Festival d’Automne à Paris have chosen to reactivate Musicircus. Based on the merry-go-round model, audience members find themselves in the middle with the participants all around. This event is an open invitation to invade the CND and fill it with sounds, discourse and dance. Taking on the form of an "organised chaos", the performances, concerts, conferences and workshops take place simultaneously across the whole space – from the hall to the studios, all the way to the banks of the Ourcq canal.
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Detailed programme available Here