Through collaborations with artists like Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Jasper Johns, and Andy Warhol, Merce Cunningham's work forever changed how we see and define art in the twentieth and twenty-first century. After fifty-eight years of artistic achievement, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company was scheduled to disband.
A two-year Legacy Tour was launched to showcase eighteen works in fifty cities around the world featuring the last group of dancers personally trained by Merce. After losing their mentor and with the full knowledge they would all lose their jobs at the end of the tour, the dancers were also having to grapple with the uncertainty of their careers continuing.
I joined to tell the story of the dancers
I was interested in capturing not what happens on stage during performances, but the dancer‘s way of life. Through the daily challenges of touring and performing such physically rigorous work, the dancers story is one of courage and physical sacrifice. Under the patina of grace and glamour, there lies a working-class ethic.
Meaningful engagement
Not only were these events historically significant in the art world but it was in the wake of the 2008 financial crises. Working people all over the globe had lost their jobs and there was a general sense of anxiety and insecurity worldwide.
With what seems to be a daily bombardment of the glorification of hyper-individualism and social dysfunction, this tour became an inspiring example of a group of people working hard together everyday to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves.
Resonates with our desire for connection
While traveling with the company, I observed and took hundreds of snapshots of the dancers for reference material. From these images, over seventy drawings and twenty-two paintings have been created. The work captures private moments, loud parties, the rigors of traveling, celebratory dinners, exhaustion, and many rituals. The intimacy of crafting drawings and paintings brought out the essence and complexity of the dancers' experience while underlining their drive to contribute.
Distributing the story
I pitched a weekly series to The New York Times in what would come to be titled, “Drawing Dance”. The series was composed of one drawing I created on the road that highlighted a particular moment that happened that week and I wrote each post to provide context while including a few quotes from the dancers.
The series went on to appear for twenty-three weeks in ArtsBeat of The New York Times.
* to view more of the Drawing Dance series click here
“Like screen captures from a film, Parris’ work grants real-life moments in cinematic immortality with a flick of his pencil. Like Caravaggio before him, Parris is a master of two dimensional cinematic lighting, which lends an undeniable sense of drama to the mundane.”
Each week, people were checking in online To See the Cunningham Company.
As the story continued to build, so too did the audience and press coverage.
"Brooklyn artist Kenneth E. Parris III has been traveling with the Merce Cunninghm Dance Company on its final 50-city world tour.” Peter Trippi
"Not unlike a war correspondent, Kenneth E. Parris III brings the audience visceral snapshots of life on the front lines of professional dance in painstaking detail. Now, you too can live the life of a professional dancer without completing a single pirouette." Susan Keefe
"Dibujando a Merce Cunningham: Un artista de Nueva York documenta en dibujos la gira final de la compañía de uno de los genios de la danza" Manuel Cuéllar
"There’s something fascinating about the analog nature of drawing in this age of digital photography: It seems more expressive and also more anachronistic." Paul Schmelzer
"The Artist Kenneth E. Parris III is doing something cool; he's touring with members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and sketching them, where they’re posted on The New York Times’ ArtsBeat blog." Kate Dries
"Parris’ sketches truly depict the raw emotion off stage that Cunningham became so famous for creating on stage. His sketches embody the myriad of emotions that performers face, along with the deep connection that comes with being a part of a team." Alison Kjeldgaard
Exhibitions and events
As more drawings and paintings were created, gallery exhibitions in New York City, Houston, Philadelphia, and at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival were organized.
“Dancers' lives: Exhibit explores moments off stage” Theodore Bale
At G Gallery in Houston, I partnered with the gallerists to produce a performance event during the opening of the exhibition. Melissa Toogood and Marcie Munnerlyn, former members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and on the final Legacy Tour performed a series of Solos and Duets to a sound score created by Austin musician and composer, Jeff Klein.
“…one of the most arresting dance performances of the season took place at an art gallery” Nancy Wozny
104 Work Weeks took on a life of its own
After Merce Cunningham's work had been handed over to a Trust, questions have persisted about preservation, who gets to continue to perform his dances, and legacy. Performance, unlike other arts, only exists in time and 104 Work Weeks serves as a marker for the effort of the dancers. It provides an immediate and intimate glimpse into the process of the Legacy Tour, adding another dimension to the materials related to Merce Cunningham’s art.
The dancer’s life as subject bears a universal revelation of the human condition
Through comments that have been shared during exhibitions, to Q&A sessions after lectures at the 92nd Street Y and a Conversations on Dance podcast, these drawings and paintings illustrate a microcosm of human perseverance, cooperation, and commitment. Seeing unvarnished humanity like this has the power to transform individuals and communities.
Cunningham Centennial Celebration
In the Fall of 2018, a two year Cunningham Centennial Celebration was launched to mark a century of artistic expression through events, presentations and discussions about Merce, dance, and his influence on culture worldwide. The 92nd Street Y hosted a Harkness Dance Festival Conversation featuring myself, and former company members: Melissa Toogood, Douglas Dunn, Kimberly Bartosik, and Dylan Crossman. The Vail Valley Foundation hosted an art takeover: bringing pieces from the 104 Work Weeks series to Manor Vail Lodge and reproducing work on outdoor displays all around Vail Village during the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. Myself and dancer, Melissa Toogood, were featured in a Festival Forum as guests on the Conversations on Dance Podcast.