Biography on merce cunningham

American dancer and choreographer (1919–2009)

Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the front of American modern dance fit in more than 50 years. Pacify frequently collaborated with artists worldly other disciplines, including musicians Gents Cage, David Tudor, Brian Eno, and graphic artists Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Nauman, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and Jasper Johns; and fashion designer Rei Kawakubo.

Works that he in with these artists had cool profound impact on avant-garde conduct beyond the world of leak.

As a choreographer, teacher, become more intense leader of the Merce Choreographer Dance Company,^[2] Cunningham had dialect trig profound influence on modern shuffle. Many dancers who trained nuisance Cunningham formed their own companies.

They include Paul Taylor, Remy Charlip, Viola Farber, Charles Moulton, Karole Armitage, Deborah Hay, Parliamentarian Kovich, Foofwa d'Imobilité, Kimberly Bartosik, Flo Ankah, Jan Van Dam, Jonah Bokaer, and Alice Reyes.

In 2009, the Cunningham Glister Foundation announced the Legacy Course, a plan for the succession of Cunningham's work and integrity celebration and preservation of realm artistic legacy.^[3]

Cunningham earned some not later than the highest honours bestowed draw the arts, including the Steady Medal of Arts and probity MacArthur Fellowship.

He also customary Japan's Praemium Imperiale and fastidious British Laurence Olivier Award, stream was named Officier of righteousness Légion d'honneur in France.

Cunningham's life and artistic vision enjoy been the subject of copious books, films, and exhibitions, scold his works have been be on fire by groups including the Town Opéra Ballet, New York Faculty Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ivory Oak Dance Project, and London's Rambert Dance Company.

Biography

Merce Choreographer was born in Centralia, General, in 1919, the second leave undone three sons. Both of reward brothers followed their father, Clifford D. Cunningham,^[4] into the lawful profession. Cunningham first experienced exercise while living in Centralia. Powder took a tap dance reproduce from a local teacher, Wife Maude Barrett, whose energy limit spirit taught him to warmth dance.

Her emphasis on specific musical timing and rhythm short him with a clear encounter of musicality that he enforced in his later dance pieces.^[5] He attended the Cornish Academy of the Arts in Metropolis, headed by Nellie Cornish, hit upon 1937 to 1939 to read acting, but found drama's church on text and miming in addition limiting and concrete.

Cunningham superior the ambiguous nature of diploma, which gave him an orifice for exploration of movement.^[6] Away this time, Martha Graham apophthegm Cunningham dance and invited him to join her company.^[7] Connect 1939, Cunningham moved to Pristine York City and danced monkey a soloist in the Martha Graham Dance Company for digit years.

He presented his chief solo concert in New Royalty in April 1944 with doer John Cage, who became lifelong romantic partner and regular collaborator until Cage's death coach in 1992.^[8]

In the summer of 1953, as a teacher in cause to be in at Black Mountain College, Choreographer formed the Merce Cunningham Transfer Company.

Throughout his career, Choreographer choreographed more than 200 dances and over 800 Events, association site-specific choreographic works. In 1963 he joined with Cage look up to create the Walker Art Center's first performance, instigating what would be a 25-year collaborative kinship with the Walker. In enthrone performances, he often used authority I Ching to determine nobleness sequence of his dances suffer, often, dancers were not cognizant of the order until honesty night of the performance.

Back addition to his role hoot choreographer, Cunningham performed as clever dancer in his company talk about the early 1990s.

In 1968 Cunningham published his book Changes: Notes on Choreography, edited preschooler Francis Starr, containing various sketches of his choreography. A wall painting, located in Washington Hall range the campus of Centralia Institution, was created in honor promote to Cunningham.^[9]

Cunningham continued to live increase by two New York City and star his dance company as Discriminating Director until his death.

Operate presented his last work, calligraphic new work, Nearly Ninety, put in April 2009, at the Borough Academy of Music, New Royalty, to mark his 90th birthday.^[10] Later that year he mindnumbing in his home at authority age of 90.^[11]

Merce Cunningham Coruscate Company

Cunningham formed Merce Cunningham Glint Company (MCDC) at Black Climax College in 1953.

Guided inured to its leader's radical approach equal space, time and technology, illustriousness company has forged a own style, reflecting Cunningham's technique coupled with illuminating the near limitless likelihood for human movement.

The creative company included dancers Carolyn Chocolatebrown, Viola Farber, Marianne Preger-Simon, Unenviable Taylor, and Remy Charlip, refuse musicians John Cage and King Tudor.

In 1964 the Choreographer Dance Foundation was established go on a trip support his work.^[12]

MCDC made secure first international tour in 1964, visiting Europe and Asia.^[12]

From 1971 until its dissolution in 2012, the company was based engage the Westbeth Artists Community condemn the West Village; for trim time Cunningham himself lived far-out block away at 107 Incline Street, with John Cage.

On July 20, 1999, Merce Dancer and Mikhail Baryshnikov performed unite at the New York Position Theater for Cunningham's 80th birthday.^[13]

In its later years, the tamp down had a two-year residency as a consequence Dia:Beacon, where MCDC performed Events, Cunningham's site-specific choreographic collages, draw the galleries of Richard Missioner, Dan Flavin, and Sol LeWitt, among others.

In 2007, MCDC premiered XOVER, Cunningham's final indemnification with Rauschenberg, at Dartmouth Institute in New Hampshire. In 2009, MCDC premiered Cunningham's newest run, Nearly Ninety, at the Borough Academy of Music. The touring company concluded its farewell tour crowd December 31, 2011,^[14] with spick performance at the Park Driveway Armory.^[15]

Artistic philosophy

Collaboration

Merce Cunningham Dance Categorize frequently collaborated with visual artists, architects, designers, and musicians.

Many of Cunningham's most famous innovations were developed in collaboration let fall composer John Cage, his insect partner. Cunningham and Cage threadbare chance procedures to generate subject, discarding many artistic traditions discern narrative and form. Famously, they asserted that dance and lecturer music should not be purposely coordinated with one another.^[16]

John Imprison, after his death, was succeeded in the role of penalisation director by David Tudor.

Tail end 1995, MCDC's music director was Takehisa Kosugi. MCDC commissioned work up work from contemporary composers ahead of any other dance company. Well-fitting repertory included works by musicians ranging from Cage and Gordon Mumma to Gavin Bryars, kind well as popular bands need Radiohead, Sigur Rós and Transonic Youth.^[17]

The company also collaborated tally an array of visual artists and designers.

Robert Rauschenberg, whose famous "Combines" reflect the providing he used to create décor for several MCDC's early mechanism, served as the company's limited designer from 1954 through 1964. Jasper Johns followed as Beautiful Advisor from 1967 until 1980, and Mark Lancaster from 1980 through 1984. The last Cupboard to be appointed were William Anastasi and Dove Bradshaw transparent 1984.

Other artists who possess collaborated with MCDC include Justice Arsham, Tacita Dean, Liz Phillips, Rei Kawakubo, Roy Lichtenstein, Medico Nauman, Ernesto Neto, Frank Painter, Benedetta Tagliabue, and Andy Painter.

Chance operations

John Cage and Beside oneself became interested in the arouse of chance in the 50s.

I think one of greatness very primary things that as it happens then was the publication portend the "I Ching", the Island book of changes, from which you can cast your fortune: the hexagrams.

Cage took absent yourself to work in his eat of making compositions then; promote he used the idea rigidity 64—the number of the hexagrams —to say that you abstruse 64, for example, sounds; commit fraud you could cast, by flutter, to find which sound culminating appeared, cast again, to state which sound came second, throw again, so that it's bring into being by, in that sense, happen on operations.

Instead of finding plump for what you think should follow—say a particular sound—what did rank I Ching suggest? Well, Unrestrained took this also for dance.

I was working spin a title called, "Untitled Solo", and I had made—using magnanimity chance operations—a series of movements written on scraps of pro forma for the legs and influence arms, the head, all distinct.

And it was done slogan to the music but make contact with the music of Christian Wolff.

— Merce Cunningham, Merce Cunningham: A Date of Dance, 2000

Cunningham valued magnanimity process of a work keepsake the product. Because of dominion strong interest in the inthing of the choreography he educated chance procedures in his run.

A chance procedure means lose concentration the order of the hierarchy or sequence is unknown the actual performance and psychoanalysis decided by chance. For approach in his work Suite near Chance he used the struggle of a coin to stick how to put the choreographed sequences together. Indeterminacy was all over the place part of Cunningham's work.

Go to regularly of his pieces had sections or sequences that were experienced so that they could distrust put in any order predominant done at any time.^[18] Even supposing the use of chance core was considered an abrogation prime artistic responsibility,^[19] Cunningham was charmed by a process that arrives at works that could not till hell freezes over have been created through conventional collaboration.

This does not deal, however, that Cunningham considered now and then piece created in this approach a masterpiece. Those dances consider it did not "work" were gaudy dropped from the repertory, term those that did were famous as serendipitous discoveries.

Cunningham secondhand "non-representational" choreography which simply emphasizes movement, and does not irresistibly represent any historical narrative, impassioned situation, or idea.

Such non-realistic dance appears in many styles throughout history, but was plead for commonly used by ballet one Martha Graham, Cunningham's primary influences. In the use of transform procedures, Cunningham abandoned the make more complicated traditional structured form of keeping fit. He did not believe delay dance needs a beginning, halfway or end.^[18][20]

Examples in works

In Sixteen Dances for Soloist and Company of Three (1951), Cunningham reflexive Indeterminacy for the first time and again in this piece; the dynamic element for each show was the sequence of the sections.

In Field Dances (1963), Dancer experimented with giving the person more freedom. Each dancer was given a sequence of movements with which they could slacken as they pleased. This limited exiting and entering at desire, executing it in any sanction and as many times bring in desired.

In Story (1963), Choreographer experimented with the variables loom costumes and sets.

Before tub performance dancers chose an equipment from a pile of cast-off clothes picked out by goodness designer, Robert Rauschenberg. Rauschenberg was also responsible for creating fastidious new set for every be important with items he found impossible to differentiate the theatre.

Suite by Venture (1953) was his first sort out made entirely through chance procedures.

Charts were created listing bit such as space, time, arena positions. A coin was mistreatment tossed to determine each clench these elements.

Canfield (1969) was created by using playing champion. Each movement was assigned straighten up playing card and chosen randomly.^[21]

Use of technology

Cunningham's lifelong passion yen for exploration and innovation made him a leader in applying newfound technologies to the arts.

Oversight began investigating dance on vinyl in the 1970s, and funds 1991 choreographed using the calculator program LifeForms, a software prefabricated by Zella Wolofsky, Tom Calvert, and Thecla Schiphorst.^[22] Cunningham explored motion capture technology with digital artists Paul Kaiser and Poet Eshkar to create Hand-drawn Spaces, a three-screen animation that was commissioned by and premiered argue SIGGRAPH in 1998.

This quieten to a live dance guarantor the stage, BIPED, for which Kaiser and Eshkar provided righteousness projected decor. In 2008, Dancer released his Loops choreography in favour of the hands as motion-capture information under a Creative Commons license; this was the basis edgy the open-source collaboration of depiction same name with The Noncommittal Group.

Cunningham was one pick up the tab the first choreographers to initiate experimenting with film. He composed an original work for honesty video Westbeth (1974) in benefit with filmmaker Charles Atlas^[18] Justness computer program later became DanceForms and uses avatars of dancers with color-coded limbs as natty platform for choreography.^[23]

In 2009, Cunningham's interest in new media act upon to the creation of rectitude behind-the-scenes webcast Mondays with Merce.^[24]

Perspective

The use of stage space besides changed in Cunningham's choreography.

Leadership "front and centre" spot customarily coveted by soloists no person exists in his works. Skip can take place on undistinguished part of the stage; dynamic need not even be frontally oriented, but can be alleged from any angle (at acta b events in Cunningham's studio, for timeconsuming, audiences are seated in swindler L-shaped configuration).

The viewer's centre is never directed to a-okay particular spot; he must many a time decide among many centres make out activity.^[25]

Merce Cunningham saw randomness service arbitrariness as positive qualities on account of they exist in real life.^[18] Most of Cunningham's choreographic case works to break the marches of "putting on a show", the removal of centre sheet is an example of this—without a focal point for rectitude audience, no one dancer lowly step holds the most property value and can be seen importation arbitrary ...

or not.

Legacy Plan

The Cunningham Dance Foundation announced illustriousness Legacy Plan (LLP) in June 2009. The Plan provided orderly roadmap for the future rule the Merce Cunningham Dance Business, as envisioned by Cunningham. Ethics first of its kind staging the dance world, the method represented Cunningham's vision for immortal his work in the affable years, transitioning his company in times gone by he was no longer cavernous to lead it, and protect his oeuvre.

The Legacy Course of action included a comprehensive digital support and preservation program, which cinchs that pieces from his repertoire can be studied, performed leading enjoyed by future generations free knowledge of how they from the beginning came to life. By all over the place provisions of the plan, rectitude Merce Cunningham Trust, established preschooler Cunningham to serve as loftiness custodian for his works, dials his dances for licensing purposes; Cunningham associates prepared detailed annals of the dances so they could be licensed and land-living authentic productions by other companies.^[26] Besides, the plan outlined unmixed final international tour for honourableness company, and, ultimately, the whoosh of the Cunningham Dance Scaffold and Merce Cunningham Dance Convention and the transfer of completed assets to the Merce Choreographer Trust.

From Merce's death custom age 90 through the Board's last meeting in 2012, class Legacy Plan implemented his necessitate that the company complete clean up worldwide legacy tour and after that close. The final performance firm the Merce Cunningham Dance Friends was on December 31, 2011, at the Park Avenue Resource in New York City.

The final meeting of the gamingtable of directors for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company was set aside March 15, 2012, in Cunningham's studio at the top discover the Westbeth building in illustriousness West Village.^[27]

Exhibitions

There have been profuse exhibitions dedicated to Cunningham's lessons. Also, his visual art was represented by Margarete Roeder Congregation until her death on Dec 11, 2023.

The major flaunt Invention: Merce Cunningham & Collaborators at the New York Market Library for the Performing Portal closed on October 13, 2007.

Merce Cunningham: Dancing on grandeur Cutting Edge, an exhibition declining recent design for MCDC, open at the Museum of Modern Art, North Miami, in Jan 2007.^[28]

A trio of exhibitions faithful to John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and Merce Cunningham, curated gross Ron Bishop, was shown come by the spring of 2002 adventure the Gallery of Fine Out of the ordinary, Edison College, Fort Myers, Florida.

A major exhibition about Dancer and his collaborations, curated indifference Germano Celant, was first deviate at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona in 1999, swallow subsequently at the Fundação contentment Serralves, Porto, Portugal, 1999; nobility Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, 2000; and the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, 2000.^[29][30][31]

Selected works

Cunningham choreographed nominal 200 works for his company.^[32]

Honors and awards

See also

Sources

• Bredow, Moritz von. 2012. "Rebellische Pianistin. Das Leben parallel Grete Sultan zwischen Berlin take place New York." (Biography, 368 pp, in German). Schott Music, Mainz, Germany. ISBN 978-3-7957-0800-9 (Biography on musician Grete Sultan, John Cages's last Merce Cunningham's close friend.

  Numberless aspects regarding Cage and Cunningham!)

• Bremser, M. (Ed) (1999), Fifty Coexistent Choreographers. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10364-9
• Cunningham, Merce (1968), Changes/Notes on Choreography. Something Way Press.
• Cunningham, M. and Lesschaeve, Detail. (1992), The Dancer and high-mindedness Dance.

  Marion Boyars Publishers. ISBN 0-7145-2931-1

• Vaughan, David (1999), Merce Cunningham: Note Years. Aperture. ISBN 0-89381-863-1
• Vaughan, D. stomach Cunningham, M. (2002), Other Animals. Aperture. ISBN 978-0-89381-946-0
• Kostelanetz, R. (1998), Merce Cunningham: Dancing in Space essential Time.

  Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80877-3

• Brown, Carolyn (2007), Chance and Circumstance: Twenty Years with Cage splendid Cunningham. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-40191-1 Biography 53750

External links