a.pe.ri.od.ic presents

A JOHN CAGE FESTIVAL

April 13-15, 2012

Chicago

Variations V (1965), a monumental, multimedia work originally a collaborative performance between John Cage, Merce Cunningham and such notables as Robert Moog, David Tudor, James Tenney, Nam June Paik, Stan Vanderbeek, Billy Klüver, Max Mathews, and Carolyn Brown. This 45-minute piece is presented by a team of Chicago sound artists and musicians, with Cunningham dancer Enid Smith.  The evening will include two performances of the work- an early (7pm) and late (9pm) concert.

Variations V deals obliquely with sound; at its premiere, dancers moved across the stage triggering photocells or antennae, which in turn activated radios and tape playback.  Early iterations of this work further toyed with multimedia, allowing the dancer's motions to additionally trigger lights and background film. As with many of Cage's projects, Variations V confounds traditional conceptions of performer and curator.  The composer was present at early performances, manipulating the sounds induced by the dancers in real-time.  Cage derived the instructions guiding both physical actors and sonic consequences through chance procedures, flipping coins.  The veiled but detailed score consists of thirty-five remarks, each informing the structure and procedure of the performance including technical elements and rehearsal instructions.

**Amplifiers and horn speakers generously donated by Ian Schneller/Specimen Products.