Although I was not able to speak with director Alla Kovgan directly, I did email her some questions about her latest film, “Cunningham,” about the iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company. Her answers were so comprehensive and illuminating!
Susan Kandell: As one of the founders of KINODANCE Company, you’re obviously interested in dance (& other interdisciplinary arts)….but why this project?
Alla Kovgan: I always say that I never wanted to make a film about Merce Cunningham because he was a kind of choreographer who worked with space so much. He’d had 16 dancers moving in different directions and one cannot make a single shot. But in 2011, I saw “Pina,” a 3D film by Wim Wenders about a German choreographer Pina Bausch, and I realized immediately that 3D and dance had incredible potential. I especially loved the RITE OF SPRING sequence because I could feel the proximity to the dancers, as though I could step inside the dance. The release of “Pina” coincided with the last performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company that closed on December 31st, 2011. And I remember sitting in the audience watching Cunningham dancers moving in all these different directions, and it hit me that 3D and Merce could be a good fit. So everything began with 3D and Merce’s work. My intention was to translate his ideas into cinema with capital “C” rather than capture his dances.
SK: The film is not really a biopic – there’s more about Merce we’d like to learn – perhaps that’s for a different film?! Why did you concentrate solely on his works from ’42 – ’72?
AK: I believe there are 18 documentaries about Merce and many of them are biographical. I was making a different kind of film. I wanted the audience to experience Merce’s work so I only shared insights and stories from his life that helped the viewer to enter the work. When I began the project, I knew of Merce as a visionary and iconic American choreographer, but I knew very little of him as a person. When I began researching and watching black and white documentaries from the 1960s, I realized how much Merce had to go through and to struggle. I was moved and in awe of his spirit – he persevered against all odds. For these first 30 years, he had nothing: no audience, no money, no press and most importantly, no opportunities to perform. He lived in an atmosphere of constant uncertainty, and every day, he had to face his changing body – “the instrument that deteriorates from birth.” Now, think about it! How does it feel to a dancer at the height of his physical ability to perform only a few times per year? How does it feel to a dancer to achieve his success at the age of 45? I was interested in the story of Merce’s becoming Merce – from a younger dancer to an established choreographer.
Besides, a lot of people remember Merce as an old man. He died in 2009, it is his 100th anniversary this year. But very few people saw him dancing when he was young. And he was a magnificent dancer. Dancing and performing on stage was the most important thing for him. I wanted to resurrect those years for the audience. This era is also the time of his major collaborations with the visual artist Robert Rauschenberg (they made 16 out of 22). It was fascinating how three artists – dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham, composer John Cage, and visual artist Robert Rauschenberg started a dance company. They shared “poverty and ideas,” according to Rauschenberg. Merce and dancers were of a similar age. The first company was like a family. The spirit of generosity presided. In the 1970s, the company turned into the institution, and his dancers were already 20 years younger than he was, things changed. It was not better or worse, it was just different.
SK: Working in 3D must have added another level of difficulty to the filmmaking process. You’re brave! Why 3D?
AK: Absolutely. 3D cinema is a different language. You can’t, for instance, cut easily from a wide shot to a close-up. The viewer gets disoriented and lost because his perception of space is disrupted. I think that the best 3D film will be the one that will have no cuts. Remember, Alexander Sokurov’s “Russian Arc,” a 90-minute single shot at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. It would have been great in 3D.
In 3D, the person’s brain works 30% harder. The viewers settle in, allow themselves to watch and then begin seeing. They are more concentrated and the reward is a new kind of experience – they can feel the proximity to dancers moving and their relationship to the space. Their kinesthetic empathy awakens. It is an event, a happening, and they are fully immersed in it. “Cunningham” is very different in 3D and 2D. In 3D, the dances take over, in 2D, the story comes forward. But it works in both.
The preparation process was immense. First, together with Robert Swinston, who worked with Merce for 32 years, and Jennifer Goggans, who worked with Merce for 12 years, we went through a massive research process selecting dances between 1942 and 1972. Merce made 80 works within that period and it took us good 6 months to select 14 pieces and then excerpts from those pieces to re-imagine in 3D. I learned a lot about Merce and his choreography, Robert and Jennifer learned about cinema. The idea was to create a cinematic experience of Cunningham’s dances by choreographing the audience’s eye. We thought of each dance in cinematic terms, conceptually. If it is a dance based on the action of falling (WINTERBRUNCH, 1964), we will put it on the rooftop. If it is about being physically close, tied together, we will find a way to create a sense of confinement (CRISES, 1960). If it is about layering (RUNE, 1959), we will put the dance in the woods to amplify the idea of multiple planes/layers. We had rehearsals for the dancers and the camera as well as a 3D test in 2013.
In 2015, we did a pilot – SUMMERSPACE sequence in France. This was also the test for our process. We scouted locations in New York, modeled them in CAD, an architecture program, put them in PREVIZ software to storyboard. Everything was planned to a second. We struggled to find enough funding in the US and had to make the film European. Our financing required us to film in Germany in three provinces in the North, in the middle and in the South. As a result, we had to restart: to find all the locations in Germany and go through the storyboarding process again. It took months to prepare. The biggest challenge was to align the choreography of the camera with the choreography of the dancers. Our crane crew and Steadicam operator had to become dancers with the camera. On set, it was like a military regime, everything was planned to a minute because we could only afford 18 shooting days (15 days in Germany, 2 in France and 1 in New York). I still do not know how we could do this within the time period. It is a miracle! Merce must have been looking out for us.
SK: What’s next for you (besides a well-earned vacation!)?
AK: I would like to make a fiction film with dance – something between Bob Fosse and Lars von Trier – because I strongly believe in bringing physicality back to cinema. Cinema was made popular by the very first actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and physical comedians, and all of them came from physical performance whether vaudeville, tap, circus, variety shows. I want cinema to dance again!
“Cunningham” is now playing in select theaters
