Sights and Sounds Note 10 Jeff Slayton
Slayton who was apart of the Cunningham Dance Company and this tour remarked that the group would have dinner together once or twice a week during their tour and it was this social time where he talked to the composers of this group including Cage, Tudor and Mumma. Occasionally, Cage would forage and cook mushrooms for everyone. Slayton enjoyed a close relationship with Tudor.
The company was smaller in 1968, and therefore it was easy to become friends. David Tudor was the one that I became the closest to and he would occasionally allow me to watch him work on his electronic music equipment or mix together his herbal mixtures. He was a very private person, but full of humor and wisdom once he relaxed around people. While David worked or performed on the piano for Cunningham’s Winterbranch, my instructions were to watch but not speak. I did share hotel rooms with David Tudor in South America and there we chatted more often and freely.
I would like to thank Jeff Slayton, a seminal figure in the Cunningham dance company, for his response to my questions regarding his time during their Northern California residency.