February 4th Fine Arts Center dancers took a field trip to see the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s final performance in North Carolina at the Durham Performing Arts Center. The company will disband in December 2011, which is two years after Merce Cunningham’s death. The dancers saw the company perform Sounddance (1975), Duets (1980) and Biped (1999).

Merce Cunningham’s dance company was formed at Black Mountain, NC in 1953 and influenced American art and the avant-garde. He worked with musician and composer John Cage and artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.

On Friday the dancers visited UNCSA in Winston-Salem, NC where they were able to observe a partnering class and have a campus tour. On Saturday morning the dancers visited Duke University where the acclaimed American Dance Festival is held every summer.

Photos were taken on the campus of Duke University.