Merce Cunningham was one of the most influential American dancers and choreographers of the 20th century. He was born on April 16th 1919 in Washington. His work, which spanned more than six decades, changed the way the world perceives dance through experimentation with movement. Cunningham’s artistic legacy continues to shape the world of contemporary dance till today.
Cunningham began his dance career formally in 1939, at the Cornish School in Seattle, Washington. Cunningham studied at Mills College and later at the Bennington College which he was invited by Martha Graham who later tutored him herself. Along with his partner John Cage, he changed the music approach of dance as he was able removed the relationship between dance and music by going against the music. This was a revolution at the time.
In 1953, he founded the Merce Cunningham Dance Company where he was able to experiment further with chance, spacial awareness and the use of technology.
Merce Cunningham began to work with technology as he introduced body tracking in dance. Body tracking is when sensors in your body sense the movement on camera and convert it to a computer. He based most of his choreographies on the choreographic technique of chance. Where he took decisions of his dance based on the result of a coin or dice.
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