Why Merce Cunningham used coin tosses to choreograph the future of modern dance
In short: Merce Cunningham revolutionized dance by abandoning traditional narrative and structure. By using chance procedures like coin tosses and the I Ching to dictate movement, he stripped away the idea of a central focal point, forcing audiences to navigate a stage where every angle held equal, unpredictable importance.
Born in 1919 in Centralia, Washington, Merce Cunningham initially studied acting but found the reliance on text and miming too restrictive. After dancing as a soloist for Martha Graham for six years, he formed his own company in 1953 at Black Mountain College. Alongside his lifelong partner and collaborator, composer John Cage, Cunningham sought to decouple dance from music, famously asserting that the two should not be intentionally coordinated. This radical departure from tradition allowed him to explore movement as an abstract, non-representational art form.
Cunningham’s methodology often relied on chance operations to determine the sequence of steps. In his 1953 work Suite by Chance, he used coin tosses to assign space, time, and positioning. Later, in 1969, he used playing cards to randomize movements for the piece Canfield. By removing the traditional beginning, middle, and end, Cunningham challenged the concept of artistic responsibility, viewing these serendipitous discoveries as more authentic than forced narrative. He even eliminated the concept of 'centre stage,' often arranging audiences in configurations that required them to choose their own focus among multiple simultaneous activities.
A pioneer in technology, Cunningham began experimenting with film in the 1970s and later adopted the LifeForms software to choreograph using digital avatars. He also explored motion capture, releasing his hand-choreography Loops as open-source data in 2008. Before his death in 2009 at age 90, he established the Legacy Plan, a pioneering roadmap that ensured his works would be preserved through digital documentation and managed by the Merce Cunningham Trust. Following his final performance at the Park Avenue Armory in 2011, his company dissolved in 2012, cementing his status as a transformative figure who viewed randomness as an essential, positive quality of real life.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Merce Cunningham
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