Merce Cunningham Dance Company

 

The Merce Cunningham Studio, residence of Merce Cunningham Dance Company, formally opened in 1959 with Merce Cunningham teaching a two-week Christmas Course in New York. Members of his company, other dance professionals, and former students from Connecticut College Summer School of Dance made up the student body in the beginning. Within the first year, three levels of technique were available for beginning, intermediate and advanced level dancers. Carolyn Brown and Viola Farber, company members since 1953, augmented the faculty. In 1960-1961 a composition class was also offered, taught by resident accompanist, Robert Dunn. Its students, many of whom formed the nucleus of the Judson Dance Theater, included Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, David Gordon, Alex and Deborah Hay, and Elaine Summers.

Today, the Merce Cunningham Studio continues to be the source of Cunningham dance technique at the professional level, providing dancers with an ongoing experience in learning to see, understand, and explore movement. The faculty has expanded to include past and present members of Merce Cunningham Dance Company and other qualified teachers. The diverse student body includes American and international dancers, drawn together by common interest in Merce Cunningham's groundbreaking ideas about dance.
 
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