100 Years of Merce Cunningham

Through relentless innovation, Merce Cunningham revolutionised modern dance. He and composer John Cage – his partner and frequent collaborator – developed the method of creating choreography independent of music and design; bringing the three together only at the time of the performance. They also used chance in their work, throwing dice to determine a sequence of movements. The technique he developed is taught all over the world.

The Merce Cunningham Centennial will celebrate his life’s work.

As part of this moment of celebration, we wanted to hear from those who were close to Cunningham, both the man and his work, about the impact he left on his collaborators, performers and contemporaries.

We spoke to dancers, directors, stagers and producers and heard how Cunningham's legacy encompasses not only his choreography but his approach to creativity, innovation and collaboration across dance, music and visual arts.

Trevor Carlson

Cunningham Centennial Producer

‘I was with Merce for the 12 years before he died – we had an incredible relationship that blurred the lines between employee, best friend and collaborator. I was his legs at a time when his own legs weren’t working, although his mind was still as curious as ever.

‘Merce loved to film on a handheld camera. He would shoot from his wheelchair and I have a shoebox full of cassettes of what he was filming. One day I started looking through them and realised he hadn’t only been shooting when I was there, so we decided to incorporate some of his home films into Not a moment too soon. It was a way of bringing him to the performance.

‘Night of 100 Solos is not a memorial, it’s about the future of dance. All 75 dancers had never performed for Merce, so they’re going to bring their own interpretation to the work. It’s about being in the present – without Merce, but with his great gifts.

‘I’ll remember Merce as someone who would allow his curiosity to drive him and wouldn’t be afraid where it would take him. He would always try to challenge himself so far that he might fall. He was always pushing to be in whatever moment he was in, and experience it all.’

Siobhan Davies

Founder of Siobhan Davies Dance

‘Merce inspired me because he was a maverick and rigorous, curious and unorthodox. The practice of dance was going one way and he kept holding the course he totally believed in, and made a company of visual artists, musicians and composers who worked incredibly hard for him and were extremely dedicated.

‘His way of working, of bringing people together again and again, and his inquisitiveness about what could come next, are how I remember him. His work was a constant refreshment of what it is to be a choreographer. That’s incredibly important because it’s quite hard for dancers to move out of the common public perception of what dance should be.’

Daniel Squire

Stager of Night of 100 Solos in London

‘We’ve chosen 100 solos from 1953-2009 to show in London. They won’t be performed in isolation – there’s just not enough time to do 100 solos in 90 minutes – so there’ll be times when there are a number of dancers performing at the same time. We’re trying to show the many aspects of his work. For people watching, it might be too much to take in and they might want to see it again to focus on the parts they didn’t see; but it won’t happen again. We’ve done it this way because it’d be
wrong to show something and say “this is a comprehensive view of Merce’s work and you can see every detail”.

‘I was a dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for over 10 years. In the studio there was always a healthy reverence for Merce. If he was teaching, you didn’t speak. He would teach without music and all you could hear was the sound of his voice and footfalls. It was a very potent atmosphere. It really forces you as a dancer to listen to your own musicality and become more disciplined.

‘I remember him watching with great attention. He had this really impressive sense of paying very close attention, but simultaneously being prepared to be surprised.’

Jeannie Steele

Former dancer and research assistant for Merce Cunningham and stager of Night of 100 Solos

‘Merce didn’t look for one way of doing something, he looked for many, many different ways and that’s why his dancers were really valued as individuals and their opinion was also valued.

‘He gave me the space to figure things out – I knew he was never judging me. It’s a huge gift that he’s passed onto me that I now try to pass onto the students and professionals that I work with.

‘There was a feeling of beginning a journey that you didn’t really know the destination but you were excited about the different things that you might encounter on your way. He encouraged all of us and gave us the space to change within the work. Working with dancers now, what we really want them to experience from Merce’s work is their own experience trying to find themselves in the movement. This was the approach he created to evolve within the framework of the company – and now into the future’.

Toke Strandby

Dancer at Candoco Dance Company

‘I was introduced to Merce through my training at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, where I had Cunningham lessons every day for three years.

‘It had a huge impact on my own functionality and technicality – not only in my own body, but also how it reacts in space, and how I am able to design the space around me. Those things really incorporate his work and way of thinking.

‘When I think about Merce, I’m drawn to the simplicity of his work and how he managed to create an atmosphere. It reminds me of my own training. Also, the physicality of the work – it’s not easy because you work from such a deep place – everything comes from within.’