The American Merce Cunningham (born 1919) was a solo dancer of commanding presence, a controversial choreographer, an influential teacher, and an organizer of an internationally acclaimed avant-garde dance company.

Born in Centralia, Washington, on April 19, 1919, Merce Cunningham studied modern dance under Bonnie Bird in Seattle. Here he met the composer John Cage. From 1940 to 1945 Cunningham was a soloist with the Martha Graham Company, creating such roles as the Christ Figure in El Penitente, the Acrobat in Every Soul Is a Circus, March in Letter to the World, and the Revivalist in Appalachian Spring.

While still with the Graham Company, Cunningham began independent work, at first in solo concerts. His first important large creation was The Seasons (1947), with music by Cage. For the next quarter century, Cage acted as Cunningham's chief composer and musical adviser.

Cunningham's first substantial success came in 1952 (also the year he formed his own company-school) with...