Merce Cunningham R.I.P.

US choreographer Merce Cunningham, widely recognised for revolutionising modern dance, has died "of natural causes" at the age of 90.

In a statement, the Cunningham Dance Foundation, which he founded in 1953, said that he "revolutionised the visual and performing arts, not for the sake of iconoclasm, but for the beauty and wonder that lay in exploring new possibilities".

You'll find a biography here.

Indeterminacy 159

When David Tudor, Merce Cunningham, Carolyn
and Earle Brown, and I arrived in
Brussels a year or so ago for programs
at the World’s Fair, we
found out that Earle Brown’s Indices was
not going to be played since the
orchestra found it too difficult.
So, putting
two and two together, we
proposed that Merce Cunningham and Carolyn
Brown dance solos and duets
from Merce Cunningham’s Springweather and
People (which is his title for
Earle Brown’s Indices) and that
David Tudor play the piano
transcription as accompaniment.
With great difficulty,
arrangements were made to
realize this proposal.
At the last minute the
authorities agreed.
However, just before the
performance, the Pope died
and everything was canceled.

- John Cage

Indeterminacy 178

Merce Cunningham’s father delights
in gardening.
Each year
he has had
to move the shrubs back
from the driveway
to protect them from
being run over when Mrs.
Cunningham backs out.

One day Mrs. Cunningham
in backing out
knocked down but
did not hurt
an elderly gentleman who
had been taking a
stroll.
Getting out of
her car and seeing
him lying on the
sidewalk,
Mrs. Cunningham said,
“What
are you doing there?”

- John Cage

Indeterminacy 110

One winter David Tudor and I were touring in the
Middle West. From Cincinnati we drove to
Yellow Springs to drum up an engagement for Merce
Cunningham and his Dance Company. In this
way we met the McGarys. Keith was teaching
philosophy at Antioch College and Donna taught
weaving and dancing. My conversation with
Keith McGary had no sooner begun than we
discovered our mutual interest in mushrooms.
I told him that I’d never seen the
winter-growing Collybia velutipes. He opened
the front door and, using a flashlight,
showed me the plant growing in the snow from the
roots of a nearby tree. He told me what
difficulty he was having finding books about fungi.
I gave him my copy of Hard which I’d
brought along. This book deals especially
with Ohio mushrooms. The next day I
located two copies of the book in a second-hand
bookstore in Columbus. I bought them both.
Each winter I find the Collybia,
the velvet footed, in quantity.
How is it I didn’t notice it
during the winters before I met Keith McGary?

- John Cage

Indeterminacy 139

One summer day, Merce Cunningham and I took eight
children to Bear Mountain Park. The paths through
the zoo were crowded. Some of the children ran
ahead, while others fell behind. Every now and then
we stopped, gathered all the children together, and
counted them to make sure none had been lost. Since
it was very hot and the children were getting
difficult, we decided to buy them ice cream cones.
This was done in shifts. While I stayed with some,
Merce Cunningham took others, got them cones, and
brought them back. I took the ones with cones. He
took those without. Eventually all the children were
supplied with ice cream. However, they got it all
over their faces. So we went to a water fountain
where people were lined up to get a drink, put
the children in line, tried to keep them there,
and waited our turn. Finally, I knelt
beside the fountain. Merce Cunningham turned
it on. Then I proceeded one by one to wash
the children’s faces. While I was doing this,
a man behind us in line said rather loudly,
“There’s a washroom over there.” I looked up at
him quickly and said, “Where? And how did
you know I was interested in mushrooms?”

- John Cage

Indeterminacy 50

In 1949 Merce Cunningham and I went to Europe on a
Dutch boat. As we were approaching Rotterdam, the
fog became so thick that landing was delayed. To
expedite matters, the customs officials came aboard
the boat. Passengers formed into lines and one by
one were questioned. Merce Cunningham was in one
line, I was in another. I smoke a great deal,
whereas he doesn’t smoke at all. However, he was
taking five cartons of cigarettes into Europe for
me and I had that number myself. We were both
traveling through Holland to Belgium and then
France, and the customs regulations of all those
countries varied with regard to cigarettes. For
instance, you could at that time take five cartons
per person into France but only two per person into
Holland. When I got to my customs officer, all of
this was clear to both of us. Out of the goodness
of his heart, he was reluctant to deprive me of my
three extra cartons or to charge duty on them, but
he found it difficult to find an excuse for letting
me off. Finally he said, “Are you going to go out
of Holland backwards?” I said, “Yes.” He was
overjoyed. Then he said, “You can keep all the
cigarettes. Have a good trip.” I left the line and
noticed that Merce Cunningham had just reached his
customs officer and was having some trouble about
the extra cartons. So I went over and told the
official that Merce Cunningham was going to go out
of Holland backwards. He was delighted. “Oh,” he
said, “in that case there’s no problem at all.”

- John Cage