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Merce Cunningham was born in Washington in 1919, and spent 6 years as a student and performer with Martha Graham. In 1944, he presented his first solo concert with his partner and composer John Cage. He also formed his own company in 1953, called the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Black Mountain College.
As he developed his own style, Cunningham became interested in "pure movement" and "chance procedures." For example, Cunningham often used the IChing to determine the order of his dance pieces and did not tell the dancers until the beginning of the dance performance. These techniques moved modern and contemporary dance in the direction of non-linear, non-climactic, and non-psychological abstract work. Cunningham believed that in his dances, each element should be in and of itself expressive, and the observers should themselves determine the meaning of the piece. Cunningham also believed that the human potential for expression through movement was limitless; though he has passed away, his vision of dance lives on through his techniques and choreography. Please see below a video of Cunningham dancing to his own choreography, with music composed by John Cage.