Merce Cunningham Studio Information

The Merce Cunningham Trust (MCT) was established by Merce Cunningham in 2000, with the mission to preserve, extend and maintain the integrity of Merce Cunningham's choreography, a vast repertory spanning more than seventy years, and to make such works available for the benefit of the public. In 2012, MCT established offices at New York City Center, where it oversees the licensing of Merce Cunningham's choreography and administers programs related to the preservation and promotion of Cunningham's legacy worldwide. MCT maintains a robust licensing program, with projects ranging from productions of complete masterworks by world-renowned companies to introductory workshops designed for young dancers new to Cunningham's work. Since 2012, MCT has worked with thirty-five professional companies and museums, and more than fifty schools. MCT offers daily Cunningham Technique classes at City Center, and hosts periodic intensive workshops taught by former Merce Cunningham Dance Company dancers. MCT supports the training and preparation of current and future stagers of Cunningham's work through the Cunningham Fellowship Program. Cunningham Fellows are awarded funds to study and reconstruct Cunningham repertory during intensive workshops with select dancers. The workshops are free for participating dancers, with stipends awarded to exceptional dancers. Each workshop culminates in a free public studio showing, now live-streamed in partnership with NYU's Tisch Dance and New Media Program. To date, MCT has awarded twenty-eight Cunningham Fellowships, and included more than 300 dancers in its intensive workshops. MCT supports key university dance programs, initiating gifts to underwrite the teaching of Cunningham Technique and repertory within the university setting. Cunningham Technique and repertory are currently taught at numerous universities and conservatories, including Purchase College, State University of New York, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, The Juilliard School, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, CNSMD Paris, and CNDC Angers. MCT has also financed the sorting and cataloguing of the Cunningham Archive at the New York Library for the Performing Arts. MCT has located and digitized two lost Cunningham films, as well as secured distribution rights for another ten archival films. MCT sustains educators, researchers and curators through the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the Merce Cunningham Dance Capsules, its digital technology platform, and through social media, film resources, and live-streaming initiatives. The Trustees of the Merce Cunningham Trust are Trevor Carlson, Laura Kuhn, Patricia Lent, Allan G. Sperling, and Robert Swinston.