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Dance in Film · 1966

Variations V (1966)

This rare 1966 screen record makes Merce Cunningham's choreography physically operate John Cage's live-electronic score: seven dancers trigger sound through twelve antenna fields and photocells while Stan VanDerBeek and Nam June Paik projections turn the NDR studio into a responsive intermedia environment.

Variations V is a 1966 dance film centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.

Jump to the 4 dance sequences ↓

Where to watch: Mode Records DVD purchase ($19.99, listed in stock); availability verified 2026-08-08.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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