Cunningham in California.

Early in March, the air at Stanford University, felt like champagne. Maybe it was because the winter rains had finally let tip and the acacias were in bloom. But the lightness of spirit was just as likely the result of Stanford's "ENCOUNTER MERCE: An Interdisciplinary Exploration Through the Arts," a campus-wide celebration of the work of choreographer Merce Cunningham and his late creative partner, the composer John Cage. The project culminated in a week-long residency by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

While interviews, panel discussions, special exhibits, and guest speakers contributed to the festivities, it was the student involvement that made this ambitious endeavor--the largest multidisciplinary arts project ever undertaken by the university--such an invigorating affair. One evening, students packed Roble Studio as their friends in the music and dance departments collaborated on an evening of work based on chance technique. Stanford alumna Heidi Schweiker was one of three people asked to choreograph a piece. She recalled the experience working on Conundrum as both scary and enjoyable. "The hardest part was not knowing what the impact of the music was going to be," she said.

On Saturday afternoon the Cunningham dancers climbed on an outdoor stage for White Plaza Event #1. In their candy-colored leotards they looked like exotic birds, flapping their limbs and nestling against each other in the pale March sun. Flanking them from under dark oak canopies were two different, but equally flee-spirited student ensembles. Students participating in the "Silence! The Music of John Cage" seminar tore up paper, knocked together stones, and plucked the inside of a prepared piano.

A few nights earlier, a golden glow had suffused the reminiscences of Black Mountain College by Cunningham and early company members Remy Charlip and Carolyn Brown, who recalled that heady era of experimentation. Cunningham praised the college's "openness of spirit, which let people do what they wanted." This panel discussion was followed by a high tech version of the first "Happening" in 1952. This one was presented by computer music students who took over the Cantor Arts Center's auditorium, a second story balcony, and the large lawn area. Cables, synthesizers, microphones, monitors, and umpteen technicians competed for attention with live musicians, like the two demure shawm players, an invisible violinist, and the flute player whose strains resulted in astral-like explosions on a supersized adjacent video screen.

Then, a series of Cunningham works specifically created for the camera included the world premiere of the elegant Views for Video. Filmmaker Charles Atlas explained that the movie provided the material for Views on Stage, given its North American premiere on the Stanford program.

The star of these activities was Cunningham himself. Though frail at 84, he seemed to be everywhere, sitting in the doorway of the Cantor's auditorium to soak in the "happening," observing his dancers perform through the Spanish-style arches of the old Student Union, leading the throws of the dice before the evening's performance of Split Sides. Interviewed by New York Times dance critic John Rockwell, Cunningham patiently answered questions about his work, but demurred when asked about the company's future. "I don't concern myself with that," the choreographer said. "I try to keep going as well as I can."