ABSTRACT
Merce Cunningham grew up in Centralia, Washington, where he studied dance with Maude Barrett. From her he learned tap dance and soft shoe, exhibition ballroom, and ethnic styles and had many opportunities to perform. After a year at George Washington University, he attended the Cornish School in Seattle, where he studied dance and theater and met John Cage, who was to be his lifelong collaborator. Cunningham went to New York in 1939 and joined Martha Graham’s dance company as a soloist. In 1945 he left Graham’s company, focused on choreographing, and in 1953 formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Cunningham developed a dance technique that serves his choreography. Based on an upright posture with a flexible spine that can curve, arch, and twist, his technique emphasizes articulation, quickness, and the ability to change directions at any moment. His Westbeth Studio in New York’s West Village continues to be a prominent center for dance training.
