The Resume

(April 16, 1919-July 26, 2009)
Born in Centralia, Washington
Soloist with Martha Graham's dance company
Founded the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1953)
Frequent collaborator and life partner with avant-garde composer John Cage
Works choreographed include 'Sixteen Dances for Soloist a Company of Three' (1951), 'Crises' (1960), 'How to Punt, Kick, Fall and Run' (1965), 'Rainforest' (1968), 'Sounddance' (1975), 'Channel/Inserts' (1981), 'Fabrications' (1987), 'Ocean' (1994), 'BIPED' (1999) and 'Nearly Ninety' (2009)

Why he might be annoying:

He said of leaving Graham to pursue the avant-garde, 'I wanted dada, not mama.'
He separated dance from music: although his company's dancing and Cage's music occurred at the same time, there was deliberately no attempt to match the two.
His dancers rehearsed their steps in silence and discovered what the music sounded like during the first performance.
During his company's first European tour (1964), audiences in Paris threw tomatoes and eggs, with some leaving in mid-performance to buy more.

Why he might not be annoying:

His set designers included artists Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
He incorporated cutting-edge technology in dance, including computer-aided choreography and motion-capture technology.
He danced regularly with his company until he was 70, and choreographed new works after his 90th birthday.
Mikhail Baryshnikov said, 'No words can describe my admiration and fascination with this man.' (1999)

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Allegedly Gay Men
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 22]
• Choreographers
• D.J.'s and M.C.'s
• I Attended Bennington College
• I Attended George Washington University
• I Died in 2009 (Ranked: 90)
• Kennedy Center Honorees (Ranked: 1985)
• Look at Me, I'm Dancing
• MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant Recipients
• Nobody Told Me I'm Old
• Profiles 26251-26500 (Ranked: 26463)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 36 Votes: 8.33% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 181 Votes: 76.24% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 112 Votes: 67.86% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying