Gus Solomons jr Photo © Yi-Chun Wu

13th Annual Modern Dance Festival at The Modern
July 23-24 and July 30-31, 2016 at 1pm
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth, TX 76107)

Admission to the dance festival is free, with all events taking place in the Grand Lobby and the Museum Auditorium.  Admission to the galleries to see the Stella exhibition is free on Sundays.  Regular admission ($10 adults/$4 students and seniors) applies during Saturday events for patrons who plan to visit the galleries, too.  Gallery admission is always free for children 12 and under. 

For directions to The Modern and other visitor information, please visit their website at www.themodern.org.

The 13th annual Modern Dance Festival at The Modern simultaneously celebrates the current exhibition "Frank Stella:  A Retrospective" and the 13 years of Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth's summer festival. 

In honor of the current exhibition, and the various traditions, aesthetics, and themes which have been envisioned and manifested by stars of the arts world, such as Frank Stella and Merce Cunningham, CD/FW will present two weekends of free events, ranging from historical/informative to interactive and whimsical.

Special guest Gus Solomons jr (choreographer/performer/teacher/writer/reviewer - NYC) will bring the past to light with a glimpse into the only collaboration between Frank Stella and Merce Cunningham:  "Scramble" -- on Saturday July 30, Solomons will give a lecture in regards to his participation as an original cast member in the creation of this work, along with the screening of excerpts from two films:

The first 23-minutes of 498, 3rd Ave. [1967, Written & Directed by Klaus Wildenhahn, which tells the story of the making of Scramble, and features Gus Solomons jr performing as an original cast member.

A short clip from GREAT PERFORMANCES:  DANCE IN AMERICA:  #314 Merce Cunningham:  An Event For Television (1977)

Solomons biography includes a degree in architecture from M.I.T., and this dance from his "Steps" series is one of a long line of architectural puzzles he created as challenges for himself as a choreographer.

An audience Q&A session will include long-distance interaction with Jeff Slayton (Long Beach, CA), who was the first dancer to take over Mr. Solomons’ role in Scramble.  A remarkable performer, choreographer, writer, etc. in his own right, Slayton will participate in an audience Q&A and discussion of Merce Cunningham's work, his one collaboration with Frank Stella, and how his own work was influenced by these artists. Solomons and Slayton will also speak to aspects of how dance and "live" performance works evolve and change with cast changes, as they become re-embodied and re-interpreted through new eyes. 

In honor of Mr. Solomons' presence and the 13th edition of the festival, Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth will restage Gus Solomons jr's Steps #13:  Thirteens, with original music by Jalulu Kalvert-Nelson, to be performed in the Grand Lobby on July 30-31. This will be a great opportunity for audience members to see this architectural work from entirely different perspectives. While the dance was originally created around the framework of a proscenium stage, Solomons designed the dance so it could be viewed from any direction, and the brilliance of the architecture of the dance -- which is nearly entirely structured from five phrases of 13 counts --  becomes much more obvious when you have the opportunity to walk around it and look at the structure from all sides of the room.

CD/FW will also premiere ConStellaTions:  Cosmos to Chaos – a new work inspired by the Stella exhibition, in collaboration with costume designer Crickett Pettigrew and composer/musician John Hopkins, who will be joined by local musicians Allen Austin and Bob Mansfield. Other guest companies and artists will come play in the Grand Lobby with them, as they explore the 3-dimensional space in the spirit of great explorers from earlier generations, such as Frank Stella and Merce Cunningham, and esteemed elders such as Gus Solomons jr and Jeff Slayton.

Shapes Dance – A family-friendly audience participation activity with cut outs of Stella-inspired geometric shapes will be included on July 23, 24 and 31.  Designed for an intergenerational dance experience for people of all ages to dance together, carrying, swirling, supporting and interacting with paper cut out shapes.