Cunningham lightheartedly references commedia dell’arte and silent films in Deli Commedia, a film with a comedic narrative plot resembling the dramatic storylines of early 20th century movies. Commedia dell’arte, emphasizes group improvisational comedy and contributes to the silent film allusion. To humorously reference the basic concepts of commedia dell’arte and silent film and reminisce on childhood, Cunningham utilizes the transposition and repetition of movement and an idiosyncratic use of music.

           

Transposing actions creates a playful atmosphere that reveals the comedic narrative plot, a basic idea of commedia dell’arte. Simple movement amusingly transforms into another with the same structure behind it, establishing the adolescent tone of the piece. With repeated attitudes standing and laying on ones back on the floor, the dancers’ uninterested presence cannot be fixed by changing one’s physical stance. Similar to a child, the boredom disappears randomly with no explanation, leaving the audience intentionally confused. When two dancers transpose a wide second position split in the air and on the floor, the stereotypical dance action transforms into a child’s expression of enjoyment; it seems to be two children playing leap frog. This connection between the transposition of one action and a childhood game supports Cunningham’s attempt to lightheartedly joke about the historical art forms.

 

Cunningham uses simple gestures repeated in an exaggerated way to imitate miming in commedia dell’arte and silent films and generate a cheery atmosphere reflecting childhood amusement. The repetition of dancers returning to the same pose and position in space as they travel establishes the lighthearted mocking tone. The repeated actions allow the viewer to witness the intentional humor. The reminiscing of youth continues with attitude hops and jazz squares as bodies closely relate to one another, emphasizing the upbeat actions. The buoyant repetition with intertwining spatial patterns reads juvenile and youthful, evoking childhood delights; this moment resembles a game of tag. Without tagging, playful chasing shows through exuberant resiliency repetition demonstrated with actions in a close group.

 

Cunningham explored repetition of movement outside of the 20th century modern field. Ballroom dance partnering, including waltzes, tangos, and jives, take place with subtle variations as the dancers loosely reference each one. The tango section lacked triplet tango music, but the difference in the basic structure of the tango because of the music simplifies the movement, emphasizing juvenile qualities. The jive section does not have the distinctive quick feet of a jive but still possesses the resilient quality. The reappearance of ballroom dance with an inexperienced, youthful spirit lacking proficiency demonstrates child-like enjoyment of basic steps.

 

The dance film feels animated with theatrics, so the simplicity of repeated casual gestures with quirky details causes confusion because of the change opposing the drama. The dancers repeatedly walk around the space with arms banging on an imaginary door above their heads; the dancers make a normal action abnormal because of the irregular gestures. The confusion brought upon by the unexpected repetition sets in as an example of Cunningham’s suggestion that the miming in commedia dell’arte and silent movies left viewers unsure of what was happening; nonetheless, audiences disregarded the confusion and continued to be entertained.

 

Cunningham plays also plays with the musicality and creates variations in the movement with the tendencies of the music. Overall, the music inclined towards melodramatic tones, replicating music in silent films to provide dramatic effect and narrative plot. The dancers’ movement mirrors and contrasts the qualities of the music. The performers emulate the theatrical music, a distinguishing quality of silent films. In the male’s solo, the movement correlates with the music; he walks in a circle, crawls on his hands, and sneaks around to the beat of the music. With the precise notes of the piano as well as its tone, the dancer illustrates a young, mischievous boy playing somewhere he should not be. The forceful passé jumps taking place with the aggressive music show parallelism and resemble a child’s temper-tantrum. Because of the mirroring between the music and the movement, the youthful quality is portrayed in the narrative plot.

 

After the temper-tantrum, the music becomes increasingly aggressive; the performers lessen their intensity and walk calmly, opposing the music. The obliviousness in the intention of the dancers as they proceed tranquilly is emphasized with the loud, heavy piano. This juxtaposition of the music and movement humorously signifies the moments after a failed temper-tantrum when children become stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat. In combination with two chorographic tools, the unique use of music amusingly alludes to childhood through reference to two historical art forms.