Minnesota hosts epic modern dance performance

'Ocean'
The Merce Cunningham Company will perform "Ocean" in a quarry near St. Cloud this week. People are expected to come from all over the world to see the show.
Image courtesy Walker Art Center

Thousands of modern dance fans will travel to central Minnesota this week to watch a unique performance in a quarry in Waite Park, near St. Cloud.

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform "Ocean" on a specially-built stage at the bottom of the Rainbow Quarry. The piece was created in the early 1990s but is rarely performed because if its epic scale, which includes surrounding the audience with 150 musicians.

Choreographer Merce Cunningham says he is eager to experience the work in this new setting.

"This is this huge cavern, not really a cavern, a quarry, against which the sound will resound. And I myself am looking forward to it very much," Cunningham said.

Because of safety concerns, audiences will be bussed into the quarry from a nearby parking lot. The stage is 150 feet below ground level.

All three performances are sold out.

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