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COLLECTION — Box: 1 Identifier: MS Thr 2165

Merce Cunningham dance score for How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run, with handbill designed by Jasper Johns

Overview

Dance score expressed in charts by Merce Cunningham for "How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run" with handbill designed by Jasper Johns.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1965

Creator

Condition Description

In very good condition.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

This collection is shelved offsite. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.

Extent

.1 linear feet (1 box)

Six matted sheets with numbered charts in ink showing entrances and exits, paths of movement, and number and gender of dancers; the mats are signed by Merce Cunningham. Also with a handbill for Merce Cunningham and Dance Company designed by Jasper Johns and inscribed "to Bob and Laura, with my love, Merce Cunningham" (i.e., Bob and Laura Bostwick).

Biographical / Historical

How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run premiered November 24, 1965, at the Harper Theater in Chicago; it had an athletic theme. The music was by John Cage.

Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (1919-2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who frequently collaborated with artists from other disciplines.

Former owner Laura Bostwick (circa 1945-2021) was the great granddaughter of Jabez Bostwick, a founder and first treasurer of Standard Oil, and a close friend of Merce Cunningham and John Cage.

Physical Location

Harvard Depository

Custodial History

Previously owned by Laura Bostwick.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2022MT-38. Purchased from Doyle Auction House with the Howard D. Rothschild Bequest, 2021 September 23.

Processing Information

This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation. (Melanie Wisner, 2022)

Creator

Title
Cunningham, Merce. Merce Cunningham dance score for How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run, circa 1965 (MS Thr 2165): Guide
Status
completed
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard University
Date
2021 December 10
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
hou03425

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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