Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) is widely considered to be one of the most important choreographers of all time. His approach to performance was groundbreaking in its ideological simplicity and physical complexity: he applied the idea that “a thing is just that thing” to choreography, embracing the notion that “if the dancer dances, everything is there.” He also once said, “Dance is most deeply concerned with each single instant as it comes along, and its life and vigor and attraction lie in just that singleness. It is as accurate and impermanent as breathing.”

Cunningham began dancing at a young age. At the Cornish School he first encountered the work of Martha Graham ; Cunningham had a six-year tenure as a soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company. It was also at Cornish that Cunningham first met John Cage, who would become the greatest influence on his practice, his closest collaborator, and his life partner until Cage’s death in 1992. Cunningham once wrote, “My work has always been in process. I do not think of each dance as an object, rather a short stop on the way.”

Cunningham’s lifelong passion for exploration and innovation made him a leader in applying new technologies to the arts.
An active choreographer and mentor to the arts world until his death at the age of 90, Cunningham earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts. Cunningham’s life and artistic vision have been the subject of several books and numerous major exhibitions, and his dances have been performed by groups including the Paris Opera Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, White Oak Dance Project, the Lyon Opera Ballet, Ballett am Rhein, and London’s Rambert, to name a few.

Cunningham died in his New York City home on July 26, 2009. Always forward-thinking, he oversaw the development of a precedent-setting Legacy Plan prior to his death, to guide his Company and ensure the preservation of his artistic legacy. Through the Merce Cunningham Trust, his vision continues to live on, regenerated time and time again through new bodies and minds.