Merce Cunningham Dance Company alum Silas Riener and undergraduate dance students present a performance and lecture-demonstration of Cunningham’s technique and compositional tools of chance procedure and indeterminacy. Led by Riener, this new generation of dancers will showcase the legendary choreographer’s groundbreaking contributions to the field, and reveal the possibilities that emerge through new experiments.
This event culminates a series of workshops led by Riener for the student participants, who are from The Ailey School, Harvard University, The Juilliard School, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
This project is supported through the Cage Cunningham Fellowship, established in 2015 for artists who demonstrate John Cage and Merce Cunningham’s commitment to artistic innovation. In recognition of Cunningham's centennial celebration in 2019, the 2018-19 Cage Cunningham Fellowship extends the award to five artists including Silas Riener.
Lead support of dance programming at BAC is provided by the Rudolf Nureyev Endowment.
Major support for dance programming and activities provided by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
This event is part of the Merce Cunningham Centennial. Centennial Community Programs are generously supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Major funding for the Centennial is provided by the Merce Cunningham Trust, the Paul L. Wattis Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the American Express Foundation, Judith Pisar, and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Silas Riener
Silas Riener graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with a degree in Comparative Literature and certificates in Creative Writing and Dance, with a focus on Linguistics. As a dancer he has worked with Chantal Yzermans, Takehiro Ueyama, Christopher Williams, Joanna Kotze, Jonah Bokaer, Rebecca Lazier, Tere O'Connor, Wally Cardona, and Kota Yamazaki.
Anna Finke, Liza Voll, Walker Art Center