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Practitioner focus: Merce Cunningham

Merce Cunningham threw the dice and built a unique choreography technique built on chance. Victoria Harrocks explores the dance master’s unusual methodology, and how it could be utilised in theatre education.
 Students at Formby High School using Merce Cunningham’s methods
Students at Formby High School using Merce Cunningham’s methods - CLARE GARNETT

Merce Cunningham has been recognized in his lifetime as one of the most innovative and influential choreographers of the 20th century. He danced in the Martha Graham Company for six years before founding his own company in 1953. Cunningham’s work focused three key ideas: reconsidering the relationship between music and movement; employing chance as a method of devising new choreography; and exploring the possibilities of mixing artistic endeavour with technology. Cunningham was a pioneer of dance for camera, whose work was documented and preserved through film. His methods live on, not only in dance but also in the wider arts and theatre movements.

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