Mercy, Mercy, Merce

Photograph by Richard Rutledge of Merce Cunningham in his work Antic Meet (1958)

Merce Cunningham, how do we admire thee? From the depth and breadth of your list of collaborators and accomplishments: John Cage, Martha Graham, Black Rock College, Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Nauman, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Karole Armitage, Paul Taylor, 200 choreographed dances, 800 site-specific choreographic works, and a MacArthur Foundation Grant. You were working up to the last minute of your 90 years, most recently ensuring that your legacy would endure, wrapping up all the loose ends. For all of your commitment to chance, you left nothing up to it. Bless your impish, curly little head! Hope you and John are enjoying the after-party.

Photograh of Merce and John by Hans Wild