Merce Cunningham’s 50 Looks

Date/Time:  May 16 & 17, 2026

Location: MFAH Rienzi |

Tickets: Pay what you can

Frame Dance presents a restaging of 50 Looks, Merce Cunningham’s landmark 1970 work, performed in the MFAH Rienzi Gardens. Cunningham prioritized independence, chance, and the body in space—the work endures as a powerful exploration of shapes in space.

Performed by Frame Dance’s multigenerational ensemble, 50 Looks reflects Cunningham’s timeless vision. Dancers of varied ages and experiences embody the work against Rienzi’s distinctive architecture and landscape, creating a site-specific dialogue between body, environment, and history. This performance honors choreographic legacy while expanding access to dance and reimagining where it can live.

***WORKSHOP: LIFE AND LEGACY OF MERCE CUNNINGHAM

  • Date/Time:
  • Location: MFAH Rienzi
  • Cost: Pay What You Can

In advance of the May 16 restaging in the Rienzi Gardens, Jamie Williams, Professor and Director of Dance at San Jacinto College, will offer a contextual lecture on the life and artistic legacy of Merce Cunningham.

The talk will explore Cunningham’s radical reimagining of movement, structure, and perception, with particular attention to his groundbreaking use of chance procedures in dance composition. By illuminating his creative process and artistic philosophy, the lecture provides valuable context for experiencing the restaging that follows, deepening audiences’ understanding of Cunningham’s enduring influence on contemporary dance.

This lecture is designed for both longtime Cunningham enthusiasts and those encountering his work for the first time.

 

Mise en Scéne

Date/Time:  2026 Show Times TBD

Location: Frame Dance Studio | 2426 Bartlett St, Suite D, 77098

Tickets: Pay what you can

Mise en Scéne is a highly-conceived choreographic performance series in which artists are brought together to interpret tasks, environment, and sound collaboratively in real time before an audience. Over 3 performances, different artists from different pockets of the Houston dance, theater, and music community will come together to create new combinations…without ever having spoken to one another or the creators of the show.

Mise en Scéne is a culmination of over a decade of creative research by dancemakers and long-time collaborators Lydia Hance and Ashley Horn. This highly experimental work allows performers to navigate a series of tasks without prior information, guided only by physical items received in the mail in the weeks leading up to their performance and an immersive visual art installation that will continue to inform their movement and creative choices for the evening. This project redefines artistic boundaries by creating a space where spontaneity and structure coexist, fostering a unique, dynamic interaction between performers and their environment.

Mise en Scéne is generously funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.