The Lyon Opera Ballet’s *Cunningham Forever* is more than just a performance—it’s a portal into the mind of one of modern dance’s most revolutionary figures, Merce Cunningham. As reviews from *The Guardian*, *Slipped Disc*, and *The Telegraph* suggest, this production is a masterclass in honoring a legacy while breathing new life into it. But beyond the critical acclaim, what makes this tribute so compelling is how it captures the essence of Cunningham’s wild ambition and unrelenting creativity.
Cunningham’s work was never about comfort or convention. It was about pushing boundaries, challenging perceptions, and redefining what dance could be. Watching *Cunningham Forever*, you can’t help but feel the weight of his influence. The Lyon Opera Ballet doesn’t just perform his choreography—they embody his spirit. The precision, the unpredictability, the sheer audacity of his vision are all there, pulsating through every movement.
What strikes me most about this production is how it manages to feel both timeless and contemporary. Cunningham’s choreography, with its abstract forms and avant-garde sensibilities, could easily feel dated in the wrong hands. But the Lyon Opera Ballet infuses it with a fresh energy, proving that great art transcends eras. The dancers move with a kind of hypnotic grace, pulling you into Cunningham’s world of strange, almost otherworldly beauty.
The reviews highlight the “strange, hypnotic beauty” of the performance, and I couldn’t agree more. There’s something almost meditative about watching Cunningham’s work. It’s not about narrative or emotion in the traditional sense—it’s about the pure, unfiltered experience of movement. The Lyon Opera Ballet captures this perfectly, creating a performance that feels both cerebral and visceral.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing about *Cunningham Forever* is how it reminds us of Cunningham’s enduring relevance. In a world that often feels chaotic and fragmented, his work offers a kind of clarity. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t have to conform to expectations—it can be wild, unpredictable, and utterly transformative.
If you have the chance to see *Cunningham Forever*, don’t miss it. It’s not just a tribute to a great choreographer—it’s a celebration of the boundless possibilities of dance. And in a time when we could all use a little more inspiration, that’s something truly special.
Cunningham once said, “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.” *Cunningham Forever* captures that fleeting moment, over and over again, and in doing so, it keeps his legacy alive in the most beautiful way.
