Most of us take our iPods everywhere nowadays, and it’s not uncommon to see people wearing them in unusual places. In restaurants. In the grocery store. There are even gizmos that allow you to bring your iPod in the shower with you now. But when is the last time you saw people wearing their iPods at the theater?

Legendary modern dance choreographer Merce Cunningham considered this, and tonight and Saturday evening at Sidney Harman Hall, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform eyeSpace to an audience full of people wearing iPods. The score for eyeSpace is a mix of vocal, instrumental, and spoken word which can be downloaded on an iPod before attending the performance (including on iTunes), or you can just snag one of the iPods provided for audience members when you get to there. An additional “environmental score” will also be performed live in the theater to reflect the sounds that portable music players attempt to tune out.

Photo by Anna Finke

Cunningham is encouraging audience members to select their own individual accompaniment to his choreographer, shuffling the score at random or listening to the ambient noise in the auditorium, each audience member creating their own experience. The possibilities are endless, because you could obviously also bring your own music. Try Cunningham to hard rock, classical, or country. See how the dancers look set to Billy Joel, Kanye West, or one of those Britney Spears songs you’re embarrassed to own. Heck, it’s Washington. Check out the performance as you listen to an NPR podcast and see how it turns out.

If you want to do things in the way Merce envisioned them, however, the Washington Post saya that there is a method to the madness, noting that, “before the piece begins, the audience is instructed to put the iPod on shuffle so there's no telling when a spectator will hear bossa nova, electronic music, prepared piano music, rock-and-roll or another selection.” The composer of the score, Mikel Rouse, estimates that there is the potential for three million different permutations.

While the concept for eyeSpace is new, pushing the envelope when it comes to the relationship between dance and music is nothing new for Cunningham, who has always argued that the two should coexist independent from each other. But you’ve got to hand it to the guy – he’s 88 years old and is still managing to come up with something current and different.

The company will also perform other Cunningham works including Second Hand, a piece based on elaborate finger positions, and CRWDSPCR, a work originally choreographed in 1993 using visualization software called DanceForms, that allows a piece to be "made" before dancers even enter the studio. Each of Cunningham’s works is special and innovative, but the highlight of the evening should be eyeSpace. Tickets for the 8 p.m. performances are $25-$63, and are available online or by calling (202) 785-9727.