Merce Cunningham Dance Company had a profound impact on American art and the avant-garde since its founding in 1953. Guided by Merce Cunningham’s radical approach to space, time, and technology, the Company forged a distinctive style, reflecting Cunningham’s technique and illuminating the near limitless possibility for human movement. For nearly sixty years, MCDC’s collaborations with groundbreaking artists from all disciplines have redefined the way audiences experience the visual and performing arts. MCDC was formed at Black Mountain College, and included dancers Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber, Paul Taylor, and Remy Charlip, and musicians John Cage and David Tudor. In its early years, the Company famously toured in a Volkswagen bus driven by Cage with just enough room for six dancers, the two musicians, and a stage manager, who was often Robert Rauschenberg. MCDC’s first international tour in 1964—which included performances in Western and Eastern Europe, India, Thailand, and Japan—marked a turning point for the Company and initiated a constant stream of national and international engagements. In the years since, MCDC has inspired artists and audiences with innovative performances, serving as an ambassador for contemporary American culture around the world.

In addition to its influence in the world of dance, MCDC cultivated a body of new music, commissioning more work from contemporary composers than any other dance company. Its repertory includes works by musicians ranging from Cage and Christian Wolff to Gavin Bryars and Radiohead. Cage’s association with the Company as Musical Advisor since its inception continued until his death in 1992, when he was succeeded by David Tudor.  Since 1995, MCDC has been under the music direction of Takehisa Kosugi.

The Company collaborated with an array of visual artists and designers. Rauschenberg, whose famous “Combines” reflect the approach he used to create décor for a number of MCDC’s early works, served as the Company’s resident designer from 1954 through 1964. Jasper Johns followed as Artistic Advisor from 1967 until 1980, and Mark Lancaster from 1980 through 1984. The last Advisors to be appointed were William Anastasi and Dove Bradshaw in 1984. Other artists who have collaborated with MCDC include Daniel Arsham, Tacita Dean, Rei Kawakubo, Roy Lichtenstein, Bruce Nauman, Ernesto Neto, Frank Stella, Benedetta Tagliabue, and Andy Warhol.

MCDC was featured extensively in film and video choreographed by Cunningham, first with Charles Atlas and later in collaboration with Elliot Caplan. With support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Atlas filmed Cunningham’s epic work Ocean (1994) in the fall of 2008 at Minnesota’s Rainbow Quarry, 100 feet below the surface of the earth, surrounded by the 150-member St. Cloud Orchestra. Atlas’ film of Split Sides, which premiered on the 50th anniversary of the Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2003, was released on DVD by ARTPIX. More recently, ARTPIX released a boxed-set of Atlas films highlighting three of Cunningham’s significant collaborations with Robert Rauschenberg; Suite for Five (1956-1958), Summerspace (1958) and Interscape (2000).

With Merce Cunningham’s passing in 2009, MCDC embarked on its final, two-year world tour.  Launched in February 2010 at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio, the Legacy Tour was a celebration of Cunningham’s lifetime of artistic achievement, showcasing 18 seminal works from throughout his career—including the revival of seven historic dances—to offer audiences around the world a final opportunity to see Cunningham’s choreography performed by the company he personally trained. The Legacy Tour concluded with the Company’s performances on New Years Eve 2011 at Park Avenue Armory in New York City.