There are no fixed points in space

“There are no fixed points in space”

Table of Contents
Introduction 3
History of dance and its impact on society 3
Criticality of Dance 4
Merce Cunningham and dance 6
Merce Cunningham and his dance form 10
Feminism (dance form) 14
Impact of his dance form on society 20
Reference 24

Introduction
This chapter discusses the history of dance and how it impacts over society.
History of dance and its impact on society
Is it true that today's society is impacted with the cultural values for example dance,
movements and expressions from the pasts? According to Vaughan, D. and Cunningham, M.
(2002), the expression and gesture of an artist worth more than action, in today‟s culture Artistic
expression pays a civilly prevalent. In today‟s society dance plays a very important role, to
communicate their ideas through various medium. The variety form of dance use the oldest
expressions from the culture, and experiment it in a new style. For many in the society dance are
entertainment, education, stress release, and a form of worship. Beyond everything in life the
thoughts of dance and art serves a greater purpose, artist believes that dance denotes the meaning
of tradition and the results of its expression depicts the reaction of culture on society. Dance is an
initiation of culture and tradition to the human torso in its most raw form, whether one is
bringing up their hand or performing in ballet, in whatever way the artist is holding out and
holding back the tradition and style alive (Vaughan, D. and Cunningham, M. 2002).
Dance allows the creative people to display their talents to the creation by linking up the
society in every level, through its magnificent art form (Brown, 1998). It offers numerous
customs and tradition for the people to arise the talent in them towards dance, whether it is alone
or with a partner. When all artists come together in one platform of perform art, the term “dance”
the serves an amusing purpose based on the atmosphere. What is happens when all these dances
forms occur at places surrounded by the society gazing at your body? There are more than 100
art forms in the world and the society what we leave in share one single thought. When an artist

is been trained by experts during his/her practices, they come across many features which will
help them to curb their fear (to face society). Recreational dancing is one of the most revealing
forms of movement in today‟s culture, and artists under this kind of dancing expose their body to
people close to them.
Dance, links people through gesture and look in various actions, tend to respect each
other in the most elementary fashion. Dance of any from like ballet, salsa, belly dance,
breakdance and other form of art were very flexible in terms of thoughts and expression. These
dance forms dint hold any kind of restriction or rule like for instance in ball dance - hip overhead
rotation, head rotation, jazz split (hurdler) or split position onto the performing surface are not
allowed etc. Many artists think that dislike of a subject might curb the full expression and
performance of an artist. Today the society has adopted dance as it is, the medium of connecting
tradition with modern art or a unique form of introducing society to country through dance and in
this world of art the word gesture and movement mattered a lot. For example – Commercials
often display woman as a medium to sell the product and men in the ads were disappeared. The
cameras provide a perfect viewing of the women‟s entire body from different angles and later
they use to demonstrate the merchandise. Slowly as and when dance took its stage, the entire
creation of advertising focused more on dance and performance which later gave equal
importance to gender. We can catch the performer, which gets them nearer to our reality, and
nearer to our note cases!
Criticality of Dance
Moving from the critical form of dance to flexible style of art, dance is still reflected as a part of
many aspects of admiration. Many ancient philosophers like Butoh, Pina Bausch,Maurice
Béjart, Keneth Mac Millan, Robert Joffrey, John Neumeier, , Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Nacho

Duato, Mark Morris, Jean Cristophe Maillot, Maguy Marin, Angelin Preljocaj, Dominique
Bagouet, Wim Vandekeybus and Matthew Bourne stated dance as a sacred form that allows
participants to translate their belief towards tradition and respect through expression. From the
year dance as an art was formed, the piece of art became a major piece of spiritual rituals and
parades, people use to come together to make a dance for themselves or for their divine (Daly,
2002). The creativity displayed in dance as an art form ultimately highlights the function of
dance as an exposure and expression of the human body. “There is vitality, a life force, energy, a
quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all
time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium
and will be lost” (Daly, 2002). Martha Graham. As the quote suggests today a dancer has a
theme, perfects there body and has come to know their body so well, it moves with a rhythm of
music, each beat has a new step included with a new gesture (Newman, 1998). Today, the
concept is same but the way to present the dance form is different, the new forms that are created
make an audience see the lengths the human body can achieve. The classical ballet composed by
mercy Cunningham, maintained the image of renaissance perspective. He utilized the space of
linear form, to discover a new form of dance called dance and space. The modern American
dance composed by mercy, stemmed German expressionism and the personal feelings of the
various American pioneers. The dance created space into a series of knobs which staged no
relation to the larger space of the stage area. The simple form of connecting the entire space
within a given time, through dance was remarkable. The thought of “space in dance” was
emerged by the German dance “the space out” which was composed by a female artist named
Martha Graham. Mercy Cunningham uncovered some part of dance from the “the space out” and

connected a temporary production of connection, but too often the space was not visual enough
because the physical action was all of lightness, like sky without earth, or heaven without hell.
Each and every movement is a part of the language of the dancer, they are revealing to the
audience (the world) and choreographer who has created them. The expression of the dancer can
find us within her soul, while the choreography can find us within the theme. Dance ultimately
exposes the danger and the recipients of their campaign, pull together an understanding of one
another. The consistency is the vehicle for this sympathy; it is revealed to the cosmos, providing
an unsaid language for all to learn (Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011). Whether a
professional dancer is performing a choreographed piece of work or a school girl walks down the
street, etc. everything involves a way of showing it. Dance functions as a communicator in every
facet of its existence.
Merce Cunningham and dance
One of the popular choreographer merce Cunningham gave a different meaning to dance. His
style varied from others, he did not believe in having the dance rely on music nor does the music
rely on the dance. His concept of dance involved various sequence, his dance showed dance
based on relationship, love and concern (regarding issues). His abstract dance forms varied
greatly in mood but often the art form characterized contrasts in movement and unique
expression (Kostelanetz, R. 1998). When cage stated that, any form of art should performed
based on the agreement, but permitted to stroll freely during the time and space of performance.
But, each performance should contain separate tones and rhythms. Debating on the same subject
of time and space, Cunningham made a statement that there is no fixed point in space and every
point is interesting and equally changeable. Theory of one space inspired Cunningham to

discover many forms of dance with no limits and space (Vaughan, D. and Cunningham, M.
2002).
His form of dance and performance were criticized by many expert and religious
believers in the society. Society raised their voice against his art form, because people found that
his performance was too obscene and his themes for feminine group were bad. Even after lots of
hurdles, Cunningham led his art form and today it‟s called as one of the best art form in the
world (Kostelanetz, 1998).
There is no fixed point
“So I decided to open up the space to consider it equal, and any place, occupied or not,
just as important as any other. In such a context you don‟t have to refer to a precise point in
space. When I happened to read that sentence of Albert Einstein‟s: „There are no fixed points in
space‟, I thought, indeed, if there are no fixed points, then every point is equally interesting and
equally changing.” Merce Cunningham (Brown and Carolyn, 2007).
In general this tile of “There are no fixed points in space‟ was borrowed from Albert
Einstein's quote (Greene, David Mason, 2007). With this quote, it seems that Merce was master
of negotiating performance -audience relationships. Through the positions of the dancers, their
nonverbal gestures and movement, Merce overcame traditional limitations of the stage. In
traditional understanding, it can be said that the upper stage is far distant from audience and this
is considered weaker while downstage is considered as more intimate. Based on these facts,
Merce believed that there is no area of stage is more important than any other thing. According
to Merce, the stage only has four different fronts, remaining open on all sides. Cunningham was
a master of ne conveying performer and he maintained his bond with his audience through his

work (Kostelanetz, 1998). When it came to dancing Merce dint bother or neither did he believe
ranking system in artists while training! He was a master of perfection; his stage had four
different fronts, remaining open on all sides. He structured the space which ensured the
performers‟ bodies angled at fluctuating heights, expressing a new visual tale to each audience
member. This means,' There is no fixed point in space for dance' (Merce Cunningham, and
Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).
According to him there is no fixed point in space, indeed he believed that every point is
equal interest and equal shifting moves. In a dance form there is no fixed sequence the
movement can be continuous and numerous transformation can be imagined. According to him a
person can dance in different forms and different phrases on one stage at the given time.
Different phrases divide one dance form in to different ways and each time the space could be
constant fluid, instead of being fixed space in the theater (Kostelanetz, 1998). As an artist we are
well aware of fixed space on the stage to which spectators and dancers refer. His view about
“There are no fixed points in space‟ created a sensation message among artists and society that
was inspired by many artists. His philosophy of “There are no fixed points in space‟ by taking
nothing else than space, an artist can see how many possibilities does he/she have to reveal.
Suppose you take a dimension of time, the artists can do more than six different movements with
perfect rhythm and expression (Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011). But there are artists
who can perform more than 8 different style of dance on different rhythm and that are where the
real complexity comes in. Society may not like it, but once if an artist thinks beyond the circle
of “no fixed points in space‟ then the possibilities can be enormous (Merce Cunningham, and

In his concerts, he showcased different style of dance where his artists sometimes fell out of
“character” intentionally, and the audience could just gaze at each move the way they spoke,
bothered, swallowed, strained and refreshed themselves for short-term. Of all his partnerships,
with John Cage, they proposed a number of radical innovations (Leonard, 1995). The most
famous and considered piece of performance concerned the bond between dance and music,
which they concluded may occur at the same time and space. The two forms of art made wide
use of casual actions by avoiding musical forms, narrative and other predictable elements of
dance composition (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).His dance doesn‟t
have any sort of cause, effect or climax it was an act that depicted more than 8 stories in it, which
made it popular. Spectators of the act were not allowed to distract not even for a sec, indeed they
were connected with the artists throughout the act. It is believed that every ordinary person
performs a daily dance through their particular patterns of movement. For example - a person
while mopping the floor through graceful arcs, a toddler‟s indefinite motions forward. As a
popular dancer he /she will no longer be dancing under his name, they will be dancing in the
choreography of daily life in the city.
His thought and his debate on “there are no fixed points in space‟ inspired many artists to
form their own style of dance with silence. The theme selected by the artists were unique and the
elements of chance and indeterminacy to free their imagination from habitual movement (David
Mason, 2007). Cage and Cunningham composed musical scores for the dance shows
independently that the resulting dance deserted conservative efforts for dance to match music.
The group performance in New York City earned lot of popularity, a number of works such as
The Seasons (1947) and Inlets (1978) earned lots of standing ovation. In 1952 Cunningham

formed his own dance company, but however he used the “there are no fixed periods in space‟ in
each movement that he made (Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011).
Merce Cunningham and his dance form
“All my subsequent involvement with dancers who were concerned with dance as a conveyor of
social message or to be used as a testing ground for psychological types have not succeeded in
destroying that feeling Mrs. J. W. Barrett gave me that dance is most deeply concerned with each
single instant as it comes along, and its life and vigor and attraction lie in just that singleness. It
is as accurate and impermanent as breathing” Merce Cunningham (Appeared in Vaughan, 1999).
In 1932, a 13-year-old boy developed a special interest towards dance; based out of
interest the little passionate boy joined Maud Barrett. At the age of 23 the little boys changed the
traditional style of dance to modern dance (Bondi, 1995). The little boy is none other than
Merce Cunningham; the young dancer formed his own style of dance and performance. When
people of his age were experimenting with chemicals, he researched on different gesture of art
and performance because he believed in entertaining people with his performance (Humphrey,
1991). In a very short span of time he choreographed more than 100 original works, through a
series of colorfully tracked conservative notions of art far behind imagination.
His first work in the 1940s created a new vocabulary and style in the book of art and
movement. The standard blend of expressions from modern dance and ballet, created a new
gestures of vocabulary in the urban movements/ performance. Urban performances from years
were known as the art of tradition, and it was considered as a single mode of communication
between society and the culture awareness. The art form was popular until Cunningham
introduced his silent featured art performance, the original sequence was improvised. He

introduced unplanned tasks in middle of the performance and made the quality of being vague
and poorly defined through better and effective composition. His relationship between dance,
music, and visual décor created difference, but performed simultaneously with a positive outlook
(Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985). Performance of space and time was
taken into pieces of different notion; the performance urbanized the actions of dancers radiate
from a fundamental spot (Vaughan, 1999). His law of dance was, a perfectionist on the stage
can‟t be known through his /her name rather people should recognize him with is art form. Also,
through artists he displaced the linear, plot-driven narrative of traditional dance with a dynamic
arena in which outcome was no longer governed the performers‟ actions. Since, structures were
not strictly arranged, the necessity of moment in space and time, sustained in a countless
interpretations.
Cunningham‟s career as a professional dancer was not simple as other renowned artists. He
always believed in perfection and to achieve that he augured on various subjects like future of
dance, time & space, performance of different gesture and silent actions etc. Under the guidance
of Bonnie Bird at the Cornish School of Performing and Visual Arts, Cunningham learned the
Martha Graham dance technique (Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011). While he was
learning his performing art, He met John Cage, who later became one of most significant and
long-lasting creative partner of Cunningham. Cunningham joined Martha Graham Company of
performance art and delivered his art in many states and countries like California, United states
etc.
By pairing with Martha Graham, Cunningham developed his skills as a dancer and her
company moved him to imagine and perform different forms of fundamentally different
possibilities for innovative dance. Throughout his life he admired Graham‟s efforts to reach

beyond classical ballet and he appreciated all, her ability to reach the weight sector of the torso,
to achieve gravity in expressive form. But, as and when the days passed by the principle
objective of strong emotionalism used in performance by Graham‟s, hindered his form of
performance. Graham‟s, art form relied mostly on the narrative version of vulnerable summary
about life (Lansdale, 1994). When he accompanied Graham‟s in her art form, he felt her art form
is amazing but didn‟t think the rest of it. He just tried his best to learn and experiment his skills
by applying her lessons. While he was being trained by Graham‟s, he use to always feel stuck
between ballet and its proficiency. But, later when he was equipped to use his learned skills in a
different way, the method and process of each movement was improvised from narrative to just
silent expression (Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011). His work in the dance field like
Totem Ancestor and Root of an unfocused had a blended of Cunningham‟s own ideas about
movement and Graham‟s ballet dance. He adopted gestures and movements from ballet and
Graham‟s style of modern dance. He choreographed and composed the music for them, and the
collaboration marked the commencement of a striking new relationship between music and
dance (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).
Slowly when he paired with John Cage, cage refused the concept of a one art form
supporting another art form or any art relying on another art form, for survival. But, cage loved
one concept of independence and he along with Cunningham found several form of dance that
catered music and dance (Mark Swed, 2012). They performed different forms of dance in solo
without any music support. Though the artists felt a bit difficulty while performing art form but
at the same time there was wonderful excitement flowing inside the artists while performing. The
independent yet synchronized union of dance and music lead both the artists to perform an
effective expression and a work of sense, freshness and unpredictability. They believed in being

dependent upon the music but hitting the rhythm with dance. They always came after the term
“Be loose and precise at the same time", because they assumed that a person with liberal mind
can perform any kind of dance (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).
The cultural climate created by Cunningham and his fellow artists dint shine more in
New York. Indeed, a lot of parallels separated the modern developments of the city‟s art world
and Cunningham‟s idea of renovations in modern dance (John, 1991). Cunningham used the
new technologies to strike the chance and indeterminacy.
Induced from these developments from Chinese classes and signs from contemporary Fluxus
artists, helped Cunningham to use methods to design a structure based on his phrase. He
designed a structure based on the number of dancers he handled, how they will be aligned and
from where would they enter and exit (Bremser, 1999). He designed this structure to maintain
uniformity and perfection. He was a unique and innovative master of his dance form, he use to
choreograph a piece or section of dance by tossing a coin. He found his resource in the play by
following his idea, energy and law, which some think is in human and systematic in creating a
dance instead of thumbing through old notepads for ideas.
While choreographing for time and space, he stated that each dancer in the hall had
different flaws. He demonstrated the act of time and space in dance through silence, he just
expected his fellow artists to communicate the spectators through action and keep them engaged
through expression. For the first time in the entire form of art and performance a new theme of
time space created sensation all around the world (Foulkes, 2002). His logic towards dance as a
mode to communication with audience in silence actually gained popularity among many

because the chorography of Cunningham was so unique that people were stuck gazing at the
expressions and the act was so clear that the spectators dint require any explanation.
In whole the theme “There are no fixed points in space” and other art work like the unbalanced
march, courante, contagion, renaissance testimonials, seeds of brightness, credo in us ad lib,
totem ancestor, in the name of the holocaust, shimmer, a root of an unfocused, unavailable
memory of the spontaneous earth, tossed as it is untroubled, triple-paced, four walls and others
Used unexpected tempo and dramatic pauses in action between all performances, explained
varied background, to add further interest in the pieces of performance delivered by the artists
(Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).
Feminism (dance form)
Feminism during 1960s was struggling to enter the art of dance, as the dance of emotions,
narrative and Ballet was meant only for men. When fine arts became the source of entertainment,
the society categorized the style of dance offered to a female group as ridiculous and obscene.
From old traditional format of dance to modern art form of ballet had inspires many feminine
artists around the world (Vaughan, 1999). The questions arise here as 'is the feminism helps in
evolving the dance?' In general opinion it is not seems true but based on research (Mark Swed,
2012) this is true that the dance forms are evolved and led to the modern time due to feminism
dance culture in the societies.
Ballet for many women, were not so easy task, they held to face lots of constrains and
restriction by torturing their body. Rather than getting artificial in expressing the dance form
constructed by the male group, the ladies like Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, Katharine

Dunham, and others moved forward and designed their own performance circle. These women
incorporated self-expression and danced with bare feet, and allowed emotion, narrative and art of
gravity to breath a bit in the restricted movement designed by the male (Catriona Moore, 1994).
The societies initially were against this form of dance and women‟s participation was restricted
completely. But still the mothers of modern dance set back all the hurdles and leaved their
passion (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).
Slowly when the fame of expression and narration hit the field of art, women became
famous in the field of ballet. As a result many popular male artists joined their movement leaving
their ego a side. Why Women Dominate Modern Dance? Modern dance tracked its roots from
some founding fathers and several founding mothers. The foundations of modern dance with the
emergence of founding mother got departed from the male-driven tradition to female centric art
forms (Long, 1995). The bond between feminism and modern dance were going well and good
when they performed. The Women when they developed a play in ballet they often used themes
related to female, so they played a key role in each act at the time of modern art and the post-
modern art.
During 1850 Dance like formal balls, woolshed rural dances, tea dances, church socials,
youth club etc were organize as a platform for men to choose their women. Between 1840 and
1917 most dances were organized by families or communities, and young men and women had
an opportunity to get to know one another and fall in love, apart this they dint have any platform
to showcase their talent. Men were popular as the society considered them to be the owner of
dance and expression and women s house makers (Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011).
This system was followed till the World War II, Later the society let the women play their role of
exhibiting their emotions through dance. Many renowned artists like Merce Cunningham, Louis

Horst, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Carlos Surinach, Norman Dello Joio, and other
dancers learned their lessons of ballet from the founding mothers (Mark Swed, 2012). Women in
ballet were meant to be flexible and very expressive in nature, they were asked to perform their
art in any form. The term of any form /style, troubled the society a lot in terms of status, act and
tradition. So, many critics raised their voice against the growth of women in the field as an artist.
Modern dance choreographers explored the different aspects of feminism. Graham who inspired
Merce Cunningham, Louis Horst, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Carlos Surinach, Norman
Dello Joio, and Gian Carlo Menotti were the founder of many new form of art like for instance
radical, sexual technique centered on the natural concept of contraction (Merce Cunningham, and
Starting from "Night Journey," her reworking of "Oedipus Rex," Graham emphasized the
difficulty of Queen Jocasta, with Oedipus which seemed merely a fatally seductive instrument of
her doom. Later she worked on "Seraphic Dialogue" and "Letter to the World" , these earned
popularity among the mass. Under both piece of art she exhibited innovation, self-reliant women
without ignoring their conflicts. Through dance she uncovered female victimization, and showed
society the piece of art as aself-imposed subject of maze in which a terrorized Ariadne ultimately
confronts and conquers her fear (symbolized as the bestial, unmistakably male Minotaur). After
dancing a solo in which a young bride surveys her future as wife, mother and member of a
community, Graham shows the character's tormenting self-doubt in another solo (Martha
Bremser, and Lorna Sanders, 2011). However, we don't feel that this bride is afraid of the
challenge; we feel that it may not be enough. Desirously she gazes at the horizon, kisses her
fingers and stretches them to the sky. Her new husband comes up behind her and lovingly pulls
her hands down to her breast. “She turns to face him: a specific future in a universe of

possibilities. A few moments later she will say a troubled farewell to those possibilities and
very deliberately place herself below him in a classic domestic tableau. Even here, as the light
fades, in our last glimpse of her we see an arm drifting toward that sky. . . .” ( LAT, 1991 )
She faced many controversies due to her art form, her description about sex was so unsparingly
that her "theme of sex" was picked aa apart of controversy in Congress and they quoted it as
obscene (Tracie, 2007). During an interview with Los Angeles Times, following the controversy
Martha Graham defined “ballet as a femininity condition of miraculous lightness” this form of
art was a major for all woman choreographer in ballet; she challenged the vision through modern
art managed to displace it. Many artists like Twyla Tharp, Isadora Duncan, Katharine Dunham,
and others moved denied accepting the challenge form Graham, as they failed to exhibit
frankness and boldness in the act.
Graham's technique of "Phaedra DREAMS” in general offered a wide concept of female identity
rooted in the earth. Soon the technique contained terms of manhood and technique, its essential
element achieved the definition of woman as somebody connected to procedures followed by the
nature from both ends outside and within her. This sense of combination established new
standards of success and identity for Euro-American dance and with the identity female freedom
shined to the core (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985). Following the success
in the field of dance and art during 1926 Graham created a theatre called Martha Graham Center
of Contemporary Dance that changed the male views of myth and history in the society. When
the student of Graham, Merce Cunningham entered the field of art and performance, he
introduced a piece of art which was unique and standard in its own way. Women were good at
narratives and expression but with the introduction of unique art form, the women felt like they
are placed back in the jail (Roszika Parker, 1981). For Cunningham the great factor of space

was his key element. According to him dancing is that space that explains emotions through
action and the time cannot be disconnected, and everyone can see and understand that. A body
still is taking up just as much space and time as a body moving. The result is that neither the one
nor the other-moving or being still-is more or less important, except it's nice to see a dancer
moving. But the moving becomes clearer if the space and time around the moving are one of its
opposite-stillness.
Aside from the personal skill and clarity of the individual dancer, there are certain things that
make clear to a spectator what the dancer is doing. In the ballet the various steps that lead to the
larger movements or poses have, by usage and by their momentum, become common ground
upon which the spectator can lead his eyes and his feelings into the resulting action. This also
helps define the rhythm, in fact more often than not does define it. In the modern dance, the
tendency or the wish has been to get rid of these "unnecessary and balletic" movements, at the
same time wanting the same result in the size and vigor of the movement as the balletic action,
and this has often left the dancer and the spectator slightly short (Merce Cunningham, and
Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985). His logic towards dance as a mode to communication with
audience in silence actually gained popularity. Because the cerography of Cunningham was so
unique that people were stuck gazing at the expressions and the act was so clear that the
spectators dint require any explanation. Earlier Cunningham was gripped by the factors of
chance, such as filling in cube on charts or tossing coins to determine specific movement
combinations.
This form of art was known as modern art and the role of women in ballet were very
complex, but slowly as and when the days passed by women got equipped with all forms of
ballet dance. Today, ballet is referred as an art preferred only for feminine and discipline

involved in training requires Enormous will. The most famous and debated piece of performance
concerned the bond between dance and music, which they concluded may occur in the same time
and space (Brown, 2007). The two form of art made wide use of casual actions by avoiding
musical forms, narrative and other predictable elements of dance composition. Spectators of the
act were not allowed to distract not even for a sec, indeed they were connected with the artists
throughout the act.
Most of his dance form included Paxton‟s style of dance making depart from
Cunningham‟s resolve on heteronormative associate. Paxton‟s style as in he followed classic
ballet form men still supported and lifted women in quite traditional ways. The opposite sex
respected each other‟s form and concentrated deeply in their performance. For example-Men did
not follow or worked together with men nor did women support women. They supported each
other without any restrictions or bias! Today modern dance has repeatedly represented a female-
driven territory that breaks it limitations, holds freedom, and reflects altering social group like
society and community more. Earlier women dint have any uniformity when it comes to dress,
but today perfection starts from uniformity in dress to expression. The modern dancers today are
expected to wear pink dresses, apply attractive eyelashes, and wax their legs to achieve the
choreographer‟s vision (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve 1985).
Feminist artists like Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, Katharine Dunham, and others
tested all forms of art like dance and thought to many new artists like Merce Cunningham, Louis
Horst, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Carlos Surinach, Norman Dello Joio. They played
with the ideas of gender differences, theme of society and their identity they used the theme to
performance art in terms of recording, training and other artistic expression that would relate to

significant in Postmodernism. But, the theme presented by the feminine group (Martha Graham,
Isadora Duncan, Katharine Dunham) had no touch of tradition, urban style.
The role of women during 1950 was devoted to the spaces that presented live art, concert,
installation and film works. And the Performance in its most broad sense, someone acting
something out for someone else. This process was registered as a beautiful history in human life
in one form or another. The fifties was a decade of flaws – at the same time future-focused and
nostalgic.
Impact of his dance form on society
In mid 1960s modern dance firms employed only female dancers; the society was against this
law of hiring female dancers. Graham was the founder of all radical, sexual technique focused on
the natural concept of reduction. She was in to many arguments and debates due to her art form
“Marnie”. The society felt that her art form was misguiding many young girls and crossing the
level of obscenity. The artist was tagged as a trouble maker from her start; her description about
sex was so liberal or profuse that her "Phaedra" was criticized in Congress as obscene (de Mille,
1991). She defined “ballet as a femininity condition of amazing grace” and she argued that this
form of art is a major form of performance at all woman choreographers in ballet; she challenged
the vision through modern art managed to displace it (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline
Lesschaeve 1985).
Dance during 1950 was just an occasion were young women and men meet each other to
step in to a new relationship. After the World War II, the social dancing like Rumba, swing, Jazz
and other forms became a traditional form of dance in mid 1940s. The genera of dance were
shifted from dance bands to concerts in night clubs. This was due to many factors like music, the
aesthetics, cool jazz, and a generation of post-war veterans. But teenagers during 1950 still like

the dances like Rumba, swing, Jazz and others. Teens' dancing during the 1950s was widely
varied in steps and styling. Many artists like Merce Cunningham, Louis Horst, Samuel Barber,
William Schuman, Carlos Surinach, Norman Dello Joio, and others who were trained from their
masters like Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, Katharine Dunham, and others started
experimenting new form of dance keeping expression as a tool. For instance Mercy
Cunningham- dance in space and Louis Horst- composed dance including Japanese Spear. The
dance composed by these artists still included swings, but each swing was connected to the
rhythm of music.
The society during 1950 accepted the change in dance and they started to motivate
themselves to cope up with new variations in the form of dance. Teens from then didn't want to
dance like their parents, who were actively disapproving of their lifestyle. So, the teens moved
ahead and invented a wide range of step and style from the modern dance and replaced them
with the traditional dance and made it an improvised version of dance. For instance Rock'n'roll
simply called for different styles of dancing, some of which copied the strong backbeat of rock.
The Terminology used in the dance was same but the way they presented it was different and the
generation named it as jitterbug or boogie-woogie.
On the other hand one of the best discoveries of art in the field of dance was the modern dance
which made use of gravity of the body in weight. This dance form choreographed by
Cunningham denied gravity by scaling into the air, the weight of the body was dropping down
with the gravity. The word "heavy" implies something improper, the style is depicted as baring a
bag of cement which is tumbling, due to heaviness. The dance presented how the heaviness of a
living body, tents to fall with full intent of eventual rise (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline
Lesschaeve 1985).This is not a charm or a use of heaviness as an accent against a predominately

light quality, but a thing in itself. This generous move created space, that unconnected spots like
gravity, rhythm, expression and emotions along with the lack of clear-connecting movements in
the modern dance. The independent yet synchronized convergence of dance and music gave
chance to revolutionize the style of dance in to new improvised form of modern dance.
Conclusion
Merce Cunningham was a master of innovation; he performed many forms of art like
dance in space, Tap dance, and others, let the spectators in blue. His philosophy of “There are no
fixed points in space‟ by taking nothing else than space, an artist can see how many possibilities
does he/she have to reveal. Suppose you take a dimension of time, the artists can do more than
six different movements with perfect rhythm and expression. But there are artists who can
perform more than 8 different style of dance on different rhythm and that are where the real
complexity comes in. Society may not like it, but once if an artist thinks beyond the circle of “no
fixed points in space‟ then the possibilities can be enormous.
During 1960s women struggled to enter the art of dance, because society had quoted Ballet was
meant only for men. When fine arts converted the basis of performing art, the society categorized
the style of dance as ridiculous and obscene for female groups. From traditional art to modern
art form of ballet had inspired many feminine artists around the world. The cultural climate that
Cunningham and his company found in New York in the 1950s and 1960s could not have been
more stimulating than it is exhibited now (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve
1985). Indeed, clear equivalents between the revolutionary developments renovated the modern
dance. The dance composed by use of objects such as old tires, crumpled newspapers, and cheap

clocks in the paintings coincides Cunningham‟s everyday movements in dance. But perhaps the
most signal of Cunningham‟s adopted new techniques in use of chance and indeterminacy.
“I am finding my resources in that play, which is not the product of my will, but which is
energy and a law which I too obey” Merce Cunningham (Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline
Lesschaeve 1985). The accepted his style of modern dance, as a result today the society realized
that Feminist Art idealized connectivity and saw the artist as part of society, not working
separately.

Reference
1. Janet Adshead-Lansdale, and June Layson (1994). Dance History: An Introduction.
Routledge. Publsihed Routledge- 2 edition. pp. 1-304
2. Martha Bremser, and Lorna Sanders (2011), Fifty Contemporary Choreographers,
Routledge Key Guides, pp. 192-382
3. Brown, J. Woodford, C, H. and Mindlin, N (1998). The Vision of Modern Dance: In
the Words of Its Creators). Independent Publishers Group. ISBN 0-87127-205-9
4. Bondi (1995). "Picasso of Dance -Martha Graham was to modern dance what Pablo
Picasso was to modern art." Tate Gallery and the Contemporary Art Society, p.74
5. Brown, Carolyn (2007), Chance and Circumstance Twenty Years with Cage and
Cunningham. Alfred A. Knopf, Published by Northwestern University Press; 1
edition. pp. 200-656
6. Bremser, M. (Ed) (1999), Fifty Contemporary Choreographers. Routledge. ISBN 0-
415-10364-9
7. Catriona Moore (1994). Dissonance: Feminism and the Arts, 1970-1990. Allen and
Unwin and Artspace.
8. Cage, John (1991). "An Autobiographical Statement". Southwest Review. Retrieved
March 14, 2007.
9. Darnell, Tracie (2007). "Martha Graham Dance Company returns to Chicago for
long-awaited performance at MCA". Medill. Archived from the original on 2013-10-
12. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
10. Daly, A. (2002) Done into Dance: Isadora Duncan in America. Wesleyan Univ Press.
ISBN 0-8195-6560-1

11. de Mille, A. (1991) Martha : The Life and Work of Martha Graham. Random House.
ISBN 0-394-55643-7
12. Foulkes, J, L. (2002) Modern Bodies: Dance and American Modernism from Martha
Graham to Alvin Ailey. The University of North Carolina Press.
13. Greene, David Mason (2007). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers.
Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd. p. 1407
14. Gerald, Newman (1998). Martha Graham: Founder of Modern Dance. Danbury,
Connecticut: Franklin Watts.
15. Humphrey, D. and Pollack, B (1991) The Art of Making Dances Princeton Book Co.
ISBN 0-87127-158-3
16. Kostelanetz, R. (1998), Merce Cunningham: Dancing in Space and Time. Da Capo
Press. ISBN 0-306-80877-3
17. Leonard, George J. (1995). Into the Light of Things: The Art of the Commonplace
from Wordsworth to John Cage. University of Chicago Press. p. 120 ("...when
Harvard University Press called him, in a 1990 book advertisement, "without a doubt
the most influential composer of the last half-century," amazingly, that was too
modest.")
18. Mark Swed (2012), John Cage's genius an L.A. story Los Angeles Times.
19. Roszika Parker; Griselda Pollock (1981). Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology.
Pandora, RKP.
20. Vaughan, D. and Cunningham, M. (2002), Other Animals. Aperture. ISBN 978-0-
89381-946-0
21. Vaughan, David (1999), Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years. Aperture.

22. Merce Cunningham, and Jacqueline Lesschaeve (1985), The Dancer and the Dance,
Volume 1 of Dancer & the Dance, Cloth, Published by M. Boyars. Print

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