Merce Cunningham
Dancer, Award Winner
1919 – 2009
Who was Merce Cunningham?
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American modern dance for more than 50 years. He is also notable for his frequent collaborations with artists of other disciplines, including musicians John Cage and David Tudor, artists Robert Rauschenberg and Bruce Nauman, designer Romeo Gigli, and architect Benedetta Tagliabue. Works that he produced with these artists had a profound impact on avant-garde art beyond the world of dance.
As a choreographer, teacher and leader of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Cunningham had a profound influence on modern dance. Many dancers who trained with Cunningham formed their own companies, and they include Paul Taylor, Remy Charlip, Viola Farber, Charles Moulton, Karole Armitage, Robert Kovich, Foofwa d’Imobilité, Kimberly Bartosik, Floanne Ankah and Jonah Bokaer.
In 2009, the Cunningham Dance Foundation announced the Legacy Plan, a precedent-setting plan for the continuation of Cunningham’s work and the celebration and preservation of his artistic legacy.
Cunningham earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts, including the National Medal of Arts and the MacArthur Fellowship. He also received Japan's Praemium Imperiale, a British Laurence Olivier Award, and was named Officier of the Légion d'honneur in France.
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- Born
- Apr 16, 1919
Centralia - Also known as
- Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham
- Mercier Philip Cunningham
- Merce Philip Cunningham
- Siblings
- Spouses
- John Cage
(1945 - 1992/08/12)
- John Cage
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- George Washington University
(1936 - ) - Cornish College of the Arts
(1937 - 1939)
- George Washington University
- Employment
- Black Mountain College
- Lived in
- Centralia
(1919/04/16 - ) - West Village
( - 2009/07/26)
- Centralia
- Died
- Jul 26, 2009
Manhattan
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Merce Cunningham." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/merce_cunningham>.
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