Dance among the Water Lilies • John Scott Dance Company & Kashyl Company-Ashley Chen, Cunningham Solos

7 pm and 8.30 pm, Water Lilies Room

January 19th, 2026

The American choreographer Merce Cunningham began his career as a modern dancer when he was 20 years old, spending six years as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company. He presented his first public recital in 1944 and formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1953, enabling him to experiment and implement his innovative concepts.
Over the course of his career, he choreographed more than 150 pieces and over 800 events. Dancers who trained with him before going on to found their own companies include Paul Taylor, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Karole Armitage... and John Scott and Ashley Chen, both of whom have been invited to give a “dance concert” with four performers.

Cunningham Solos
Choreographies by Merce Cunningham
In agreement with the Merce Cunningham Trust
With: Four Solos / John Scott Dance Company (four solos one after the other, arrangement par Patricia Lent)
Followed by Solos Suite / Kashyl Company – Ashley Chen

The Four Solos (John Scott) are drawn from the following pieces: 50 Looks (1989) performer: Magdalena Hylak, Changeling (1957) performer: François Malbranque, Solo (1975) performer: Boris Charrion, RainForest (1968) solo extract, performer: François Malbranque. Finally, Ashley Chen performs Second Hand (1970), Loose Time (2002) and Changing Steps (1973) himself.

From 50 Looks, which Cunningham danced himself for many years, to a solo born of his observation of animals in a San Diego zoo (Solo), from RainForest, whose title borrows from memories of Cunningham’s childhood spent in North America’s Northwest Pacific region, to Changing Steps (1973) and Loose Time (2002)… this innovative program invites audiences to acquaint themselves with a long choreographic career and a truly out-of-the-ordinary repertoire. Everything is mastered, meticulous, cadenced, virtuoso and highly poetic. With regard to RainForest, a piece created for six dancers and in which Cunningham himself danced this solo, the choreographer used to joke, in Rimbaud’s words, “I alone have the key to this wild parade”.

Four solos, John Scott Dance
Music: John King, 100tone-candles
Costumes: Catherine Garnier (for François Malbranque and Boris Charrion)
Staged by: Patricia Lent (50 Looks), Ashley Chen, (Changeling, RainForest) and Cheryl Therrien (Solo),
Commission by the Irish Arts Center, New York
John Scott Dance is supported by the Arts Council and Culture Ireland

Solos Suite / Kashyl Company – Ashley Chen
Staged by Robert Swinston & Andrea Weber (Second Hand), and Ashley Chen, dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 2000 to 2003.
The Kashyl Company is supported by the Normandy DRAC, the Normandy Region, the département of Calvados and the City of Caen.
Kashyl Company thanks the United States Foundation.