Merce Cunningham Dance Analysis

Leap, pirouette, stop, turn the knob of the radio, throw the paint sideways, and whatever you do, do not react to the bird call. Although all of those things seem to be random, they all have intention. Every action, reaction, and idea has a purpose. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Jackson Pollock were all artists in different fields who created work personifying the balance between freedom and control, meaningless and purposeful actions, and random and planned events. They were pioneers of future artistic styles and they all challenged society.
“There is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end” (Fiero). The key motif of Jackson Pollock’s career was action painting. In a daring move against all artists before him, he discarded
Each dancer is given different movements that do not seem to relate to anyone around them, and then Cunningham would have them turn the same direction or hold hands for a brief moment to provide a random encounter or chance happening. Merce Cunningham is recognized as a pioneer of modern dance. He makes use of pedestrian movements such as walking, standing, and posing as if talking to each other or observing something. Cunningham utilizes quick and seemingly random movements like a jump in the middle of a dancer turning. The most important aspect of his choreography is the use of improvisation, or what looks like random movement created at that moment. However, he created each dancer’s movement ahead of time. Improvisation completely changed the way modern dance developed and is now a much needed and learned skill in the dance world. In order for dancers to be successful at creating spur of the moment choreography, it takes a great deal of practice. The idea of practicing on the spot random movement may seem pointless, but it builds upon the foundation of Cunningham’s work and his knowledge of the difference between freedom and control. In his work Variations V, dancers seems to live in their own worlds, observing film on the walls or other dancers moving. To a passerby, it may look like futile and often repetitive actions. However, to someone looking for meaning, it could stand for society submerged in media and the
Even if his creative ways did not impact listeners in a popular way when he first introduced it, Cage practically created a new art form. Cage is a powerful mind in regards to music because he essentially redefined the whole concept of “music.” One of his most notable works, Imaginary Landscape No. 4, really is the incarnation of the balance between chance and choice. He structures the piece with twelve radios shared between twenty-four performers, and has a musical score that he bases the composition on (Fiero). The fact that the performers are using radios really brings to light the concept of chance. There may be a commercial, song, or individual speaking at any given time. Due to that element of chance, the possibility of truly recreating the original piece is next to none. Cage and other composers of the Information Age created a style coined musique concrete. The style was one of the first version of electronic music (Fiero). Cage pieced seemingly random soundbites together to form interesting compositions. Listeners can take the songs at face value or they can search for deeper meanings that may impact their own lives. Another composition of his is titled 4’33” in which the entire song consists of musical rests. A piano player takes a seat at the instrument and sit at attention, intently observing his sheet music and turning the pages as the song progresses. The whole idea of a performer sitting at an instrument