Zlata A. VOINOVA Vaganova Ballet Academy
2 Str. Zodchego Rossi, Saint Petersburg, 191023, Russian Federation
Postgraduate Student
e-mail: zlatavoynova@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0001-5046-9526
Chaos Theory in Postmodern Choreography: Merce Cunningham – Pina Bausch – Robert WilsonAbstract: The article analyzes the conceptual foundations of the work of Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch and Robert Wilson, defining indeterminate dance structures that arose under the influence of chaos theory and stochastic principles. The change of the scientific paradigm not only radically changed the picture of the world, but also influenced artistic thinking. Composer Yanis Xenakis became the first person to use a mathematical approach to music. He begins his stochastic music theory with the need to decompose musical sound into independent components. To create musical compositions, they were offered formulas, vector matrices. Elements of randomness can be traced in the works of Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Pina Bausch and Robert Wilson. The article analyzes the works of not only philosophers and art theorists, including Michel Foucault, Norbert Servos, but also scientists James Gleick and Robert Dewani. Space and time in musical and choreographic art have been reinterpreted, moving further and further away from the classical concepts of space-time structures. In the new realities, it has become impossible to continue following the set trajectory that determined the development of art in previous eras. Composer John Cage, in collaboration with choreographer Merce Cunningham, proposed the concept of aleatorics, applicable both in music and choreography. Randomness and the creative energy of chaos, like natural phenomena, have become the main guiding principle in the process of creating works of art. Cunningham, as one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century, influenced other authors, including the German choreographer Pina Bausch and the American avant-garde director Robert Wilson. The article discusses the issue of interdisciplinary understanding of the phenomenon of chaos. Chaos theory as a mathematical concept turned out to be applicable in the process of creating a postmodern choreographic performance. The conclusion was the determination of the specifics of the pairing of the individual and the general in the work of Pina Bausch, the projection on the theory of chaos of the aleatory attitudes of Cunningham and Wilson, who introduced elements of multilevel desintegration into the process of creating a choreographic performance.
Key words: choreography, postmodern dance, aleatoric, improvisation, indeterminism, chaos, chaos theory, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, Robert Wilson.
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For Citation: Voinova, Z. (2022) Chaos Theory in Postmodern Choreography: Merce Cunningham – Pina Bausch – Robert Wilson. International Journal of Cultural Research, 4 (49). 35–46. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2022_4_35
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2022_4_35
