Merce Cunningham, renowned as both a choreographer and dancer, has died. He was 90.
Merce Cunningham was born in the Centralia, Washington, on April 16, 1919. While his brothers followed their father into law, Cunningham studied acting in the Cornish School of Fine Arts in Seattle. He later changed his major from theater to dance, where he met composer John Cage, who was to become his lifelong professional and personal partner.
Yes, you read that correctly, a personal partner. While it was obviously a time when gay relationships were even more closeted than today, Merce Cunningham told the Guardian in 2000:
"I don't think I was guarded about my personal life. John and I were together. We did our work together. We traveled together. What more is there to say?"
Cunningham founded his Merce Cunningham Dance Company in New York in 1953. That troupe will continue on without him, but only for a limited time. The decision was made in 2009 that after his death, the company would embark on a two-year world tour and then close.
Despite the fact that much of his fame came from choreography, the British ballet teacher Richard Glasstone maintains that the three greatest dancers he ever saw were Fred Astaire, Margot Fonteyn and Merce Cunningham.
May he rest in peace.
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