On the passing of Merce Cunningham

We mourn the passing of choreographer Merce Cunningham, a gentle man who made enormous changes in the way that dance is made and seen around the world.  Merce was deeply spiritual and understood the great power of time and space and their intersection.  His dancers had a supreme power of their own, based on extremely rigorous technique that derived from Merce’s respect for and extension of the architecture of the human body in the realms of time and space.  He was never afraid to press past the boundaries of “acceptable” art and ultimately his own aesthetic and philosophy gave enormous freedom to generations of artists who followed.

I had the great honor and privilege of working with Merce in 1987.  Thanks to my dear friend Bessie Schonberg, we met to discuss his participation in a crazy idea I had to bring dance to Grand Central Terminal (it was not the beautiful station we see now and I had no prior experience to recommend me).  It seemed to me that this place where time and space met, in the center of the city, was the ideal locus for his work.  Astonishingly he agreed, and was game enough to have his company dressing room in the old OTB office off the main floor (which he shared with them, albeit, in a curtained off area).  He had no airs, only quiet enthusiasm, and after two nights of 8000 people sitting on the floor watching for an hour with rapt attention, he commented, “so many people, free to come and go, and who stayed and were relatively quiet…”

To the end, he was thoughtful, thought provoking and kind.  As in all things, his exit was extraordinarily elegant.  His enormous presence will be deeply missed.  Our sympathy to his company and all the dancers, musicians, visual artists, administrators, presenters, and audiences who participated in his work and who it so profoundly touched.  May his memory be a blessing.

-Elise Bernhardt, President and CEO, Foundation for Jewish Culture