Product Details

• Actors: Merce Cunningham, Holley Farmer, Jonah Bokaer, Lisa Boudreau, Robert Heishman
• Directors: Merce Cunningham, Charles Atlas
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: ArtPix
• DVD Release Date: June 30, 2009
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0026BTRVE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,156 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

About the Director

Working in tandem with Merce Cunningham (1919-2009), Charles Atlas has directed or collaborated on over 35 film or video projects with Cunningham Dance Company.  Atlas was the company’s filmmaker in residence from 1974-1983.  Atlas is internationally acclaimed for his original film work as well as for his films of dance.

Product Description

Merce Cunningham’s Split Sides (2003) captures the iconic modernist choreographer’s most radical use of chance procedures. As the title implies, the piece is divided into two part. Each 20 minute part features one of two options for the different creative elements of the piece: set design, costumes, lighting, music and choreography. The order in which each element appears during a given performance is determined by an onstage dice roll before the performance. There are thus 32 possible combinations for any performance. In addition to Merce Cunningham’s two choreographic segments, the work features two sets designs (one by Robert Heishman and one by Catherine Yass), two sets of costumes (by Jame Hall) and two lighting plots (by James F. Ingalls). Original scores , composed specifically for this collaboration by the British alternative rock group Radiohead and the Icelandic experimentalist group Sigur Rós, offer the two choices of music. This two disc DVD set, by giving the viewers the opportunity to alternate soundtracks, presents 4 of the 32 possible variations of the work . Filmmaker Charles Atlas masterfully captures the dance with Merce close at his side. Cunningham calls the films Split Sides 45 and Split Sides 46, because they capture the 45th and 46th performances of this epic collaboration.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dance to the Music!, November 10, 2009

By 

Lesser Knowns (San Mateo, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Split Sides (DVD)

Length:: 1:14 Mins

If you enjoy experimental dance, you need to add this to your dance DVD collection. I recommend "Split Sides - Merce Cunningham Dance Company" because it is an intriguing idea for a role of dice to decide the costumes, set design, music, lighting, and choreography. The dancers are extraordinary, the costumes are unusual and they dance to two of my favorite bands, Sigur Ros and Radiohead. Watching the choreography to the music was a delight.