Dance with a new twist

An iPod may seem like an odd accessory to wear to the theater, but for Saturday’s performance at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, it’s requisite.

The miniature MP3 player isn’t the only unprecedented aspect of the latest creation in modern dance from celebrated choreographer Merce Cunningham. It’s also a multi-venue affair.

Coming to the center for the first time in more than a decade, the company will present a series of dance performances, including the West Coast premiere of “eyeSpace,” which incorporates both an “environmental soundscape” of local city noises as well as a score from Mikel Rouse, as heard by audience members in shuffle mode on the iPods.

“It doesn’t really matter for us what music we’re dancing to, because we dance all the time in silence,” said Robert Swinston, who joined the company in 1980 and serves as Cunningham’s assistant. “This way, every audience member will have a different experience.”

Cunningham, 88, founded the world-famous company in 1953, relying on his method of “chance operations” to choreograph his work, meaning the order of his dance phrases could be randomized. The result is an organic and unpredictable — though never improvised — movement.

Furthermore, Cunningham dancers often experience a show’s décor and music only when it premieres, allowing them to remain autonomous from any type of cue.

“With Merce, there’s never a narrative, and he doesn’t try to tell a story with his work. It’s all about movement for its own sake,” said Bonnie Brooks, chair of the dance department at Columbia College Chicago.

Brooks will present a preview talk before the performances to acquaint audiences with the chorographer’s distinctive style.

“This dancing is very different from, for instance, Gene Kelly doing ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ ” she said. “Merce is constantly creating a whole new set of possibilities for new ways of dancing and thinking about the stage.”

The evening’s dancing will begin in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall with “Event,” a 20-minute collage of excerpts from past and present Cunningham pieces.

As audiences check out iPods and move to Segerstrom Hall for “eyeSpace,” “Beach Birds for Camera” — a film collaboration of Cunningham, his late partner John Cage and Elliot Caplan — will be projected on the side of the building.

Following the main event, dance students from UC Irvine’s advanced modern and ballet classes will perform “minEvent,” accompanied by audio and visual contributions from Chapman University and Cal State Fullerton students.

Prior to the performance, the UCI dancers will complete a week-long, intensive tutorial with former Cunningham dancer Michael Cole, who will teach them phrases from Cunningham’s “Playground.”

“Mr. Cunningham is an icon and we are incredibly fortunate to be a part of this,” said dance professor Jodie Gates, who coordinated the event. “What appeals to me about his work is that he is a pioneer and paved the way for thinking outside the box.”

For audiences new to Cunningham’s work, Swinston recommends coming to the show with an open mind.

“It’s best not to expect anything,” he said. “You would never ask a tap dancer what their dancing means. You just watch them dance.”

To learn more about Cunningham and his dance company, go to www.merce.org.