In his career as a dancer and choreographer, Merce Cunningham formed how modern dance was defined. Passionately, he continued to dance, teach, and collaborate for many many years in his studio in New York, until his death in 2009. Since then his studio remained open for a period of time and his company toured his last pieces.
I had the rare privilege of taking a private class with two of his company members last week, and learn a bit more about what it was like to dance for this visionary man. He truly wanted to push forward, perfect, and change the dances each time to create something special and new.
Today at 6pm and next M-F at 11am and 6pm are the LAST classes to be offered at the Merce Cunningham studio, for drop-in only. Then it will shift into a different kind of legacy. If you are movement-inclined, or open to risk embarrassment for the sake of a historic experience, I highly recommend jumping at this final chance
*Image, and many thanks credited to Carli Beseau.
*An interesting note: the dancers did not learn these pieces to music, infact sometimes heard the music for the first time when performing – The expectation was that the dancers counted every beat and would stick to that plan, no matter what the other dancers or music was doing.