Set design for Ground Level Overlay, a production of Merce Cunningham Dance Company, New York, NY
£10 / £5 MEMBERS / £5 CONCESSIONS
Join us for a rare screening of the performance piece Ground Level Overlay, a collaborative work by artist Leonardo Drew and choreographer Merce Cunningham with sound by Stuart Dempster. The footage was recorded live in New York in 1995 and has never been screened.
The film will be followed by a conversation with Ned McConnell, Malik Nashad Sharpe and Lily Tonge on the nature of collaboration between visual artists, choreographers and composers.
ABOUT GROUND LEVEL OVERLAY
Ground Level Overlay (1995) is a seminal dance piece by choreographer Merce Cunningham, made in collaboration with artist Leonardo Drew and musician Stuart Dempster, among others. Created in 1995, the work exemplifies Cunningham’s pioneering approach to interdisciplinary performance. He often worked with fashion designers, artists, and composers as equal creative partners. Each contributor worked on the piece independently, allowing their creations to coexist as distinct voices within the performance.
The choreography unfolds in front of Leonardo Drew’s monumental installation No. 47, now housed in the Walker Art Center’s collection. Made from hanging ropes, the work includes throwaway objects, shoelaces, feathers, and a baseball glove. This piece is typical of Drew’s practice in the early ’90s, when he used found objects for large-scale monochromatic installations.
ABOUT THE PANELLISTS
Ned McConnell is a curator at the Roberts Institute of Art and a writer specialising in performance, multidisciplinary practices, exhibitions and curatorial collaborations in contemporary art. He has been curator at Pump House Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery, shaping exhibitions and performance programmes that explore the dynamic intersections of live art and visual culture. McConnell’s work consistently foregrounds performance as a critical and experimental force within contemporary art, fostering collaborations that push the boundaries of curatorial practice.
Malik Nashad Sharpe is a choreographer and movement director working with dance, dark fantasy, and horror. Creating primarily underneath the alias Marikiscrycrycry, he creates provocative performances that are formally engaged with construction of affect, atmosphere, and dramaturgy from marginal perspectives. He graduated with a BA in Experimental Dance with highest honours from Williams College, and holds a certificate in Contemporary Dance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance, where he won the Simone Michele Prize for Outstanding Choreography.
Lily Tonge is Exhibitions and Events Curator at the South London Gallery and Curator of Leonardo Drew: Ubiquity II.
GROUND LEVEL OVERLAY CREDITS
Choreographer: Merce Cunningham
Staged by: Robert Swinston, Jeannie Steele
Composer: Stuart Dempster
Set designer: Leonardo Drew
Costume designer: Suzanne Gallo
Lighting designer: Aaron Copp
World premiere: 8 Mar 1995, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, City Center Theater, New York, New York, USA
Duration: 30 minutes
Number of dancers: 15 dancers
Music title: Underground Overlays (1995)
Music details: Recorded music overlaid with live musicians playing hosepipe and conch shells
ACCESS
- Wheelchair Access and Disabled Toilets are available at this site.
- Seating is available.
- Please contact mail@southlondongallery.org with any further access requirements.
- If you would like to attend this event but the ticket price is a limitation please get in touch as we have reserved a number of free tickets for low-income individuals. Contact us at: adoudu@southlondongallery.org
TICKET INFORMATION
- Tickets are limited and sold online through Eventbrite.
- If an event is sold out, there may still be tickets on the door. These will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis and are not guaranteed.
- Please note the South London Gallery’s terms and conditions.
- All tickets purchased through the South London Gallery’s website and/or the South London Gallery’s Eventbrite account are non-refundable.