Variations V (1966)

The dance sequences in Variations V

4 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.

1. Bicycle finale

   Intermedia performance action

   Danced by Merce Cunningham · Choreography Merce Cunningham

   The bicycle crossing closes the piece as a striking, deliberately nontraditional final image.

   The documented ending replaces a conventional dance climax with Cunningham riding a bicycle through the performance space, extending the work's movement-triggered sound logic into an everyday action.

   Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. ACMI states that Cunningham rides a bicycle through the space at the end; no timestamp is supplied. No dance_key is forced because ACMI groups it with the work's non-dance activities.

2. Dance through the sound-sensitive antennae

   Cunningham Technique

   Danced by Merce Cunningham Dance Company · Choreography Merce Cunningham

   The stage becomes an instrument, with bodies and even shadows activating different electronic sounds.

   Dancers make the score physically: entering the four-foot radii of twelve antenna-like poles and interrupting photo-electric cells triggers sounds that the musicians alter or delay.

   Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No timestamp asserted. EAI identifies a 49:05 film and offers institutional rental; the Cunningham Trust lists 49 minutes, while ACMI catalogs 50 minutes and no online viewing.

3. Plant potting and repotting contact-mic action

   Intermedia performance action

   Danced by Merce Cunningham; Carolyn Brown · Choreography Merce Cunningham

   A domestic gardening task becomes part of the electronic performance environment as every movement can produce sound.

   Within the dance work, Cunningham pots a large plant and Brown repots it; the attached contact microphone turns handling the object into audible choreographic action.

   Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. ACMI explicitly catalogs this as a non-dance activity inside the work, so no dance_key is forced; no timestamp is provided. EAI lists rental access, while ACMI's copy is unavailable online.

4. Projected rehearsal-footage passage

   Cunningham Technique

   Danced by Merce Cunningham Dance Company · Choreography Merce Cunningham

   Live bodies appear enveloped by rehearsal footage, stock images, and altered television projections.

   Stan VanDerBeek's filmed rehearsals and contemporary-image montage, transformed by Nam June Paik and projected around the live dancers, makes the moving image part of the choreography rather than mere documentation.

   Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No timestamp asserted. The Trust describes the 1966 filmed version and its projected rehearsal material; EAI currently lists rental access for its 49:05 film copy.