t) is in and of itself expressive; what it communicates is in large part determined by the observer himself. (Merce Biography)This new style of dance demanded the most out of the dancers in Cunningham’s company. Everything they knew about traditional dancing had to be forgotten in order to be successful in Cunningham’s innovative style.Traditional stage space was even something that Cunningham had abandoned. Since the Renaissance Period, the center of the stage had always been the “center of gravity”(Klosty 12). Klosty compared the stage to a class society where the center of the stage was regal, where the soloist should appear, and the outskirts of the stage were for the leftovers. However, Cunningham refused to use this stage setup in his dances. The best spot on the floor could be anywhere at any given time. Cunningham’s use of space relationship has made his dances seem to be overflowing with action. Events in the dance would happen in one corner of the stage only to be followed up by the next main section in the opposite corner of the stage. Other people had not implemented this type of choreography, but the audience embraced this new form with widespread acceptance. However, other individuals in the dancing community were less tolerant to Cunningham’s new style. Some saw this change as threatening to their traditional types of dances.One famous dance using Cunningham’s “’choreography by chance’” was entitled Suite By Chance (Britannica Online). Not only did Suite By Chance use this new style of choreography, it was also the first modern dance to use an electronic score. This dance was the first major dance where almost everything was to put together by chance. Since Suite By Chance was choreographed, Cunningham has used this chance method in every dance he has choreographed.Cunningham’s new style of dance “embraced an extraordinarily wide sp...
