Merce Cunningham

Fig. 1. Merce Cunningham in Sixteen Dances for Soloist and Company of Three (1952). Photograph: Gerda Peterich.

Merce Cunningham was one of the foremost leaders in contemporary dance through the twentieth century. A prolific creator, drawing from ballet and modern dance he created over 180 choreographic and over 800 ‘events’. Cunningham always engaging with new technologies and collaborated with many other artists in his own unique way. Artists such and Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns were engaged with to create decor for Cunningham’s performances, with music being composed by the likes of John Cage, Cristian Wolffe and Sigur Ros. These pieces were created independently of one another and presented to an audience in a shared time and space. Cunningham worked with chance procedures to create work where the movements had no meanings. Throughout his career Cunningham actively engaged with technologies to bring his dances to new audiences. Cunningham pushed the boundaries of traditional theatre norms and how dance could be presented and engaged with.

Fig. 2. Merce Cunningham rehearsing How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1970). Photograph: James Kosty.

In this website I seek to give the reader a brief over view of Cunningham’s career, review an article, and present an augmented reality app inspired by Cunningham’s practices, engagement of technology and ‘events’.