Merce Cunningham’s Event #32. A Modularized Contribution to the History of Dance in Museums

Abstract

This article contributes to the history of dance in museums. Offering a multilevel (or: modularized) analysis of Merce Cunningham’s Event #32 at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, in 1972, the article sheds light on questions such as: What led to the approximation of dance and museums in the 1970s? What were the implications for the arts, artists, institutions, and audiences? What may be its lasting legacies? Instead of highlighting the ontological differences between dance and museums, the article focuses on their productive intersections, thus offering a fresh perspective. In working from original archive material, it reveals the remarkable roles Merce Cunningham and the Walker Art Center played in paving the way for the staging of dance in museums as we see it today.