Composer John Cage stretched every limit of the term music, even writing one song that consisted of nothing but silence. Merce Cunningham, who was Cage's creative and personal partner, takes a similar approach to dance, blending choreography with edgy art and specially composed music. Its perfectly suited to the avant-garde offerings of the Subtropics Music & Sound Arts Festival, Gustavo Matamoros's annual showcase of out-there sonic adventure, held this year in collaboration with Merce in Miami. Challenging, crazy, and cool, the heady mix of disciplines and cutting-edge ideas that Cunningham consistently delivers will get full display through two weeks of events at a number of venues, the biggest at the Carnival Center.
The highlight will be the world premiere on February 23 of a piece commissioned for this festival, and created in conjunction with Miami visual artist Daniel Arsham and composer David Behrman: eyeSpace. It begins at 8:00 p.m. and will be followed by Crwdspcr, a 1993 work by Cunningham, with tickets ranging from $15 to $65. New World School of the Arts student dancers will present free performances in the lobby. Subtropics events at the Carnival Center begin the next night (Saturday, February 24). A collaboration between Cunningham and Icelandic band Sigur Rós is Sunday. For a complete rundown of events, visit www.merceinmiami.org, www.carnivalcenter.org, and www.subtropics.org.
Feb. 23-24, 8 p.m.