A Final Goodbye

Photograph by Annie Leibowitz, 1997

I found myself back in New York this week in order to attend the final meeting of the Board of Directors for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.  Merce, the Artistic Director and sole choreographer for the Company, passed away two and a half years ago after his 90th birthday.

Changeling, 1957

Occasion Piece, 1999, with Mikhail Baryshnikov

 It was his wishes that the Company complete a worldwide legacy tour and then close.  December 31, 2011 was the final performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Final Event at the Park Avenue Armory, 2011

Closing a non-profit is complicated and slightly messy.  Still waiting on invoices and monies to come in, it's also tedious and slow.  But, after the end of the third quarter, it was clear that the Board could begin to dissolve.  Our meeting was melancholy, with stories from Board members who had been with Merce since the beginning.  Everyone in that room had a special bond with our raison d'être, and I enjoyed the regalia and camaraderie.  At the end of the meeting we signed a letter of resignation from the Board. With my signature, 15 years of commitment and adoration to a genius came to an end.  

Afterwards, we attended a dinner in the beautiful studio at the top of the Westbeth building in the West Village.  Tables were arranged on the dance floor - something Merce would never have allowed!

Dancers from over the years attended along with long-serving patrons and staff members.  It was like a large family reunion celebrating the life and work of our beloved Merce.

Dancer Daniel Squire, right

Dancers Jamie Scott (left) and Lisa Boudreau

Dancer Holly Farmer with her husband

With Executive Director and great friend, Trevor Carlson.
Trevor and I started working for Merce at the same time 15 years ago!

One of the cool things about Merce was his idea to collaborate independently with other artists.  Artists like  Rei Kawakubo of Commes des Garcons for Scenario (1997).  No one could ever forget these costumes that made this work so special.

Or Roy Lichtenstein who did the haunting decor for one of my favorite works, Pond Way (1998), along with the calming music of Brian Eno. 

Andy Warhol even got into the scene with his decor of Mylar pillows that floated around the stage during RainForest in 1968.

And even in his eighties, Merce was still young at heart, collaborating with Radiohead and Sigur Ros in the work Split Slides (2003).

For his last work to ever be choreographed, Nearly Ninety (2009), dancers shared the stage with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Sonic Youth.

Merce was special indeed.  He was a rare exotic bird with talent like no other.  And I am still amazed and honored that I had the tiniest of part in sharing Merce's brilliance with the world.  Goodnight Sweet Prince.