An ostrich, one of the fastest of living bipeds

A Man Running - Eadweard Muybridge

Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped ( /ˈbaɪpɛd/), meaning "two feet" (from the Latin bi for "two" and ped for "foot"). Types of bipedal movement include walking, running, or hopping, on two appendages (typically legs).

Relatively few modern species are habitual bipeds whose normal method of locomotion is two-legged. Within mammals, habitual bipedalism has evolved multiple times, with the macropods, kangaroo mice, dipodids, springhare,^[1] hopping mice, pangolins and homininan apes as well as varius other extinct groups evolving the trait independently. In the Triassic period some groups of archosaurs (a group that includes the ancestors of crocodiles) developed bipedalism; among their descendants the dinosaurs, all the early forms and many later groups were habitual or exclusive bipeds; the birds descended from one group of exclusively bipedal dinosaurs.

A larger number of modern species utilise bipedal movement for a short time. Several non-archosaurian lizard species move bipedally when running, usually to escape from threats. Many primate and bear species will adopt a bipedal gait in order to reach food or explore their environment. Several arboreal primate species, such as Gibbons and Indriids, exclusively utilise bipedal locomotion during the brief periods they spend on the ground. Many animals rear up on their hind legs whilst fighting or copulating. A few animals commonly stand on their hind legs, in order to reach food, to keep watch, to threaten a competitor or predator, or to pose in courtship, but do not move bipedally.

Definition[link]

The word is derived from the Latin words bi(s) 'two (2)' and ped- 'foot', as contrasted with quadruped 'four feet'.

Facultative and obligate bipedalism[link]

Zoologists often label behaviors, including bipedalism, as "facultative" (i.e. optional) or "obligate" (the animal has no reasonable alternative). Even this distinction is not completely clear-cut — for example, humans normally walk and run in biped fashion, but almost all can crawl on hands and knees when necessary. There are even reports of humans who normally walk on all fours with their feet but not their knees on the ground, but these cases are a result of conditions such as Uner Tan syndrome — very rare genetic neurological disorders rather than normal behavior.^[2] Even if one ignores exceptions caused by some kind of injury or illness, there are many unclear cases, including the fact that "normal" humans can crawl on hands and knees. This article therefore avoids the terms "facultative" and "obligate", and focuses on the range of styles of locomotion normally used by various groups of animals.

Movement[link]

There are a number of states of movement commonly associated with bipedalism.

1. Standing. Staying still on both legs. In most bipeds this is an active process, requiring constant adjustment of balance.
2. Walking. One foot in front of another, with at least one foot on the ground at any time.
3. Running. One foot in front of another, with periods where both feet are off the ground.
4. Jumping/Hopping. Moving by a series of jumps with both feet moving together.

Bipedal animals[link]

The great majority of living terrestrial vertebrates are quadrupeds. Among mammals, bipedalism is a normal method of ground locomotion in various groups of primates (e.g. lemurs, gibbons and Hominina), in the macropods (kangaroos, wallabies, etc.), and in a few groups of rodents, including kangaroo rats, gerbils and spring hares. All birds are bipeds when on the ground, a feature inherited from their dinosaur ancestors. Bipedalism evolved more than once in archosaurs, the group that includes both dinosaurs and crocodilians.^[3] Many species of lizards become bipedal during high-speed, sprint locomotion, including the world's fastest lizard, the spiny-tailed iguana (genus Ctenosaura). There are no known living or fossil bipedal amphibians.

Most bipedal animals move with their backs close to horizontal, using a long tail to balance the weight of their bodies. The primate version of bipedalism is unusual because the back is close to upright (completely upright in humans) and, among primates that move bipedally, only the lemurs have tails.^{[citation needed]}

Humans, gibbons and large birds walk by raising one foot at a time. On the other hand most macropods, smaller birds, lemurs and bipedal rodents move by hopping on both legs simultaneously. Tree kangaroos are able to utilize either form of locomotion, most commonly alternating feet when moving arboreally and hopping on both feet simultaneously when on the ground.

Archosaurs (include birds, crocodiles, and dinosaurs)[link]

Birds are bipedal when not flying, with small birds tending to hop and larger birds walking with an alternating gait^{[citation needed]}. All dinosaurs are believed to be descended from a fully bipedal ancestor, perhaps similar to Eoraptor. Bipedal movement also re-evolved in a number of other dinosaur lineages such as the iguanodons. Some extinct members of the crocodilian line, a sister group to the dinosaurs and birds, also evolved bipedal forms - a crocodile relative from the triassic, Effigia okeeffeae, is believed to be bipedal.^[4] Pterosaurs were previously thought to have been bipedal, but recent trackways have all shown quadrupedal locomotion.

Mammals[link]

Bipedal movement is less common among mammals, most of which are quadrupedal. All primates possess some bipedal ability, though most species primarily use quadrupedal locomotion on land. Primates aside, the largest mammalian group using exclusive bipedal movement are the macropods (kangaroos, wallabies and their relatives), which move via hopping^{[citation needed]} . Other mammals also move via hopping, such as the kangaroo rat, springhare and certain primates such as the sifaka and sportive lemur. Very few mammals other than primates commonly move bipedally by an alternating gait rather than hopping. Exceptions are the ground pangolin and in some circumstances the tree kangaroo. [1]

Primates[link]

Many primates can stand upright on their hind legs without any support. Chimpanzees, bonobos, gibbons^[5] and baboons^[6] exhibit relatively advanced^{[clarification needed]} forms of bipedalism. Injured chimpanzees and bonobos have been capable of sustained bipedalism.^[7]

Primates that live in tropical areas often wade through water in a bipedal stance^{[citation needed]}. Gorillas, bonobos, proboscis monkeys and baboons have been observed wading bipedally^{[citation needed]}. Three captive primates, one macaque Natasha^[8] and two chimps, Oliver and Poko (chimpanzee), were found to move bipedally^{[clarification needed]}]. Natasha switched to exclusive bipedalism after an illness, while Poko was discovered in captivity in a tall, narrow cage.^[9][10] Oliver reverted to knuckle-walking after developing arthritis.

In addition, non-human primates often use bipedal locomotion when carrying food. One hypothesis for human bipedalism is thus that it evolved as a result of differentially successful survival from carrying food to share with group members,^[11] although there are other hypotheses, as discussed below.

Limited bipedalism in mammals[link]

Other mammals engage in limited, non-locomotory, bipedalism. A number of other animals, such as rats, racoons, and beavers will squat on their hindlegs to manipulate some objects but revert to four limbs when moving (the beaver may also move bipedally if transporting wood for their dams). Bears will fight in a bipedal stance to use their forelegs as weapons. Ground squirrels and meerkats will stand on hind legs to survey their surroundings, but will not walk bipedally. Dogs can stand or move on two legs if trained, or if birth defect or injury precludes quadrupedalism. The gerenuk antelope stands on its hind legs while eating from trees, as did the extinct giant ground sloth and chalicotheres. The spotted skunk will also use limited bipedalism when threatened, rearing up on its forelimbs while facing the attacker so its anal glands, capable of spraying an offensive oil, face its attacker.

Limited bipedalism in non-mammals[link]

Bipedalism is unknown among the amphibians. Among the non-archosaur reptiles bipedalism is rare, but it is found in the 'reared-up' running of lizards such as agamids and monitor lizards. Many reptile species will also temporarily adopt bipedalism while fighting.^[12] One genus of basilisk lizard can run bipedally across the surface of water for some distance. Among arthropods, cockroaches are known to move bipedally at high speeds [2]. Bipedalism is rarely found outside terrestrial animals, though at least two types of octopus walk bipedally on the sea floor using two of their arms, allowing the remaining arms to be used to camouflage the octopus as a mat of algae or a floating coconut.^[13]

Advantages[link]

Limited and exclusive bipedalism can offer a species several advantages. Bipedalism raises the head; this allows a greater field of vision with improved detection of distant dangers or resources, access to deeper water for wading animals and allows the animals to reach higher food sources with their mouths. While upright, non-locomotory limbs become free for other uses, including manipulation (in primates and rodents), flight (in birds), digging (in giant pangolin), combat (in bears and the large monitor lizard) or camouflage (in certain species of octopus). Running speeds can be increased when an animal lacks a flexible backbone^{[citation needed]}, though the maximum bipedal speed appears less fast than the maximum speed of quadrupedal movement with a flexible backbone – the ostrich reaches speeds of 65 km/h (40 mph) and the red kangaroo 70 km/h (43 mph), while the cheetah can exceed 100 km/h (62 mph).^[14][15] Bipedality in kangaroo rats has been hypothesized to improve locomotor performance^{[clarification needed]}, which could aid in escaping from predators.^[16][17]

Evolution[link]

Bipedalism has a number of adaptive advantages, and has evolved independently in a number of lineages.

Early reptiles and lizards[link]

The first known biped is the bolosaurid Eudibamus whose fossils date from 290 million years ago.^[18][19] Its long hindlegs, short forelegs, and distinctive joints all suggest bipedalism. This may^[which?]have given increased speed^{[citation needed]}. The species was extinct before the dinosaurs appeared.

Independent of Eudibamus, some modern lizard species have developed the capacity to run on their hind legs for added speed^{[citation needed]}

Dinosaurs and birds[link]

Bipedalism also evolved independently among the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs diverged from their archosaur ancestors approximately 230 million years ago during the Middle to Late Triassic period, roughly 20 million years after the Permian-Triassic extinction event wiped out an estimated 95% of all [life on Earth].^[20][21] Radiometric dating of fossils from the early dinosaur genus Eoraptor establishes its presence in the fossil record at this time. Paleontologists believe Eoraptor resembles the common ancestor of all dinosaurs;^[22] if this is true, its traits suggest that the first dinosaurs were small, bipedal predators.^[23] The discovery of primitive, dinosaur-like ornithodirans such as Marasuchus and Lagerpeton in Argentinian Middle Triassic strata supports this view; analysis of recovered fossils suggests that these animals were indeed small, bipedal predators.

Mammals[link]

A number of mammals will adopt a bipedal stance in specific situations such as for feeding or fighting. A number of groups of extant mammals have independently evolved bipedalism as their main form of locomotion - for example humans, giant pangolins, the extinct giant ground sloths, numerous species of jumping rodents and macropods. Humans, as their bipedalism has been extensively studied are documented in the next section. Macropods are believed to have evolved bipedal hopping only once in their evolution, at some time no later than 45 million years ago.^[24]

Humans[link]

There are at least twelve distinct hypotheses as to how and why bipedalism evolved in humans, and also some debate as to when. Bipedalism evolved well before the large human brain or the development of stone tools.^[25] Bipedal specializations are found in Australopithecus fossils from 4.2-3.9 million years ago.^[26] Recent evidence regarding modern human sexual dimorphism (physical differences between men and women) in the lumbar spine has been seen in pre-modern primates such as Australopithecus africanus. This dimorphism has been seen as an evolutionary adaptation of females to bear lumbar load better during pregnancy, an adaptation that non-bipedal primates would not need to make.^[27][28] The different hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive and a number of selective forces may have acted together to lead to human bipedalism. It is important to distinguish between adaptations for bipedalism and adaptations for running, which came later still.

Possible reasons for the evolution of human bipedalism include freeing the hands for tool use and carrying, sexual dimorphism in food gathering, changes in climate and habitat (from jungle to savanna) that favored a more elevated eye-position, and to reduce the amount of skin exposed to the tropical sun.

Traveling efficiency hypothesis[link]

An alternative explanation is the mixture of savanna and scattered forests increased terrestrial travel by proto-humans between clusters of trees, and bipedalism offered greater efficiency for long-distance travel between these clusters than quadrupedalism.^[29][30]

Postural feeding hypothesis[link]

The postural feeding hypothesis has been recently supported by Dr. Kevin Hunt, a professor at Indiana University. This hypothesis asserts that chimpanzees were only bipedal when they ate. While on the ground, they would reach up for fruit hanging from small trees and while in trees, bipedalism was utilized by grabbing for an overhead branch. These bipedal movements may have evolved into regular habits because they were so convenient in obtaining food. Also, Hunt hypothesises that these movements coevolved with chimpanzee arm-hanging, as this movement was very effective and efficient in harvesting food. When analyzing fossil anatomy, Australopithecus afarensis has very similar features of the hand and shoulder to the chimpanzee, which indicates hanging arms. Also, the Australopithecus hip and hind limb very clearly indicate bipedalism, but these fossils also indicate very inefficient locomotive movement when compared to humans. For this reason, Hunt argues that bipedalism evolved more as a terrestrial feeding posture than as a walking posture. As Hunt says, “A bipedal postural feeding adaptation may have been a preadaptation for the fully realized locomotor bipedalism apparent in Homo erectus.”^{[citation needed]}

Provisioning model[link]

One theory on the origin of bipedalism is the behavioral model presented by C. Owen Lovejoy, known as "male provisioning".^[31] Lovejoy theorizes that the evolution of bipedalism was linked to monogamy. In the face of long inter-birth intervals and low reproductive rates typical of the apes, early hominids engaged in pair-bonding that enabled greater parental effort directed towards rearing offspring. Lovejoy proposes that male provisioning of food would improve the offspring survivorship and increase the pair's reproductive rate. Thus the male would leave his mate and offspring to search for food and return carrying the food in his arms walking on his legs. This model is supported by the reduction ("feminization") of the male canine teeth in early hominids such as Sahelanthropus tchadensis^[32] and Ardipithecus ramidus,^[33] which along with low body size dimorphism in Ardipithecus^[34] and Australopithecus,^[35] suggests a reduction in inter-male antagonistic behavior in early hominids.^[36] In addition, this model is supported by a number of modern human traits associated with concealed ovulation (permanently enlarged breasts, lack of sexual swelling) and low sperm competition (moderate sized testes, low sperm mid-piece volume) that argues against recent adaptation to a polygynous reproductive system.^[36]

However, this model has generated some controversy, as others have argued that early bipedal hominids were instead polygynous. Among most monogamous primates, males and females are about the same size. That is sexual dimorphism is minimal, and other studies have suggested that Australopithecus afarensis males were nearly twice the weight of females (as well as a great deal taller)^{[citation needed]}. However, Lovejoy's model posits that the larger range a provisioning male would have to cover (to avoid competing with the female for resources she could attain herself) would select for increased male body size to limit predation risk.^[37] Furthermore, as the species became more bipedal, specialized feet would prevent the infant from conveniently clinging to the mother - hampering the mother's freedom^[38] and thus make her and her offspring more dependent on resources collected by others. Modern monogamous primates such as gibbons tend to be also territorial, but fossil evidence indicates that Australopithecus afarensis lived in large groups. However, while both gibbons and hominids have reduced canine sexual dimorphism, female gibbons enlarge ('masculinize') their canines so they can actively share in the defense of their home territory. Instead, the reduction of the male hominid canine is consistent with reduced inter-male aggression in a group living primate.

Early bipedalism in homininae model[link]

Recent studies of 4.4 million years old Ardipithecus ramidus suggest bipedalism, it is thus possible that bipedalism evolved very early in homininae and was reduced in chimpanzee and gorilla when they became more specialized. According to Richard Dawkins in his book "The Ancestor's Tale", chimps and bonobos are descended from Australopithecus gracile type species while gorillas are descended from Paranthropus. These apes may have once been bipedal, but then lost this ability when they were forced back into an arboreal habitat, presumably by those australopithecines who eventually became us (see Homininae). Early homininaes such as Ardipithecus ramidus may have possessed an arboreal type of bipedalism that later independently evolved towards knuckle-walking in chimpanzees and gorillas^[39] and towards efficient walking and running in modern humans (see figure). It is also proposed that one cause of Neanderthal extinction was a less efficient running.

Warning display (Aposematic) model[link]

Joseph Jordania from the University of Melbourne recently (2011) suggested that bipedalism was one of the central elements of the general defense strategy of early hominids, based on aposematism, or warning display and intimidation of potential predators and competitors with exaggerated visual and audio signals. According to this model, hominids were trying to stay as visible and as loud as possible all the time. Several morphological and behavioral developments were employed to achieve this goal: upright bipedal posture, longer legs, long tightly coiled hair on the top of the head, body painting, threatening synchronous body movements, loud voice and extremely loud rhythmic singing/stomping/drumming on external subjects.^[40] Slow locomotion and strong body odor (both characteristic for hominids and humans) are other features often employed by aposematic species to advertise their non-profitability for potential predators.

Other behavioural models[link]

There are a variety of ideas which promote a specific change in behaviour as the key driver for the evolution of hominid bipedalism. For example, Wescott (1967) and later Jablonski & Chaplin (1993) suggest that bipedal threat displays could have been the transitional behaviour which led to some groups of apes beginning to adopt bipedal postures more often. Others (e.g. Dart 1925) have offered the idea that the need for more vigilance against predators could have provided the initial motivation. Dawkins (e.g. 2004) has argued that it could have begun as a kind of fashion that just caught on and then escalated through sexual selection. And it has even been suggested (e.g. Tanner 1981:165) that male phallic display could have been the initial incentive.

Thermoregulatory model[link]

The thermoregulatory model explaining the origin of bipedalism is one of the simplest theories so far advanced, but it is a viable explanation. Dr. Peter Wheeler, a professor of evolutionary biology, proposes that bipedalism raises the amount of body surface area higher above the ground which results in a reduction in heat gain and helps heat dissipation. When a hominid is higher above the ground, the organism accesses more favorable wind speeds and temperatures. During heat seasons, greater wind flow results in a higher heat loss, which makes the organism more comfortable. Also, Wheeler explains that a vertical posture minimizes the direct exposure to the sun whereas quadrupedalism exposes more of the body to direct exposure. Analysis and interpretations of Ardipithecus reveal that this hypothesis needs modification to consider that the forest and woodland environmental preadaptation of early-stage hominid bipedalism preceded further refinement of bipedalism by the pressure of natural selection. This then allowed for the more efficient exploitation of the hotter conditions ecological niche, rather than the hotter conditions being hypothetically bipedalism's initial stimulus.

Carrying models[link]

Charles Darwin wrote that "Man could not have attained his present dominant position in the world without the use of his hands, which are so admirably adapted to the act of obedience of his will" Darwin (1871:52) and many models on bipedal origins are based on this line of thought. Gordon Hewes (1961) suggested that the carrying of meat "over considerable distances" (Hewes 1961:689) was the key factor. Isaac (1978) and Sinclair et al. (1986) offered modifications of this idea as indeed did Lovejoy (1981) with his 'provisioning model' described above. Others, such as Nancy Tanner (1981) have suggested that infant carrying was key, whilst others have suggested stone tools and weapons drove the change.^[who?]

Influence of water and aquatic food sources[link]

Several theories have been proposed regarding the influence of water on human bipedalism. The aquatic ape hypothesis, promoted for several decades by Elaine Morgan, proposed that swimming, diving and aquatic food sources exerted a strong influence on many aspects of human evolution, including bipedalism.^[41] It is not accepted by or considered a serious theory within the anthropological scholarly community.^[42][43]

Other theories have been proposed that suggest wading and the exploitation of aquatic food sources (providing essential nutrients for human brain evolution^[44] or critical fallback foods^[45]) may have exerted evolutionary pressures on human ancestors promoting adaptations which later assisted fulltime bipedalism.

Physiology[link]

Bipedal movement occurs in a number of ways, and requires many mechanical and neurological adaptations. Some of these are described below.

Biomechanics[link]

Standing[link]

Energy-efficient means of standing bipedally involve constant adjustment of balance, and of course these must avoid overcorrection. The difficulties associated with simple standing in upright humans are highlighted by the greatly increased risk of falling present in the elderly, even with minimal reductions in control system effectiveness.

Walking[link]

Walking is characterized by an "inverted pendulum" movement in which the body vaults over a stiff leg with each step.^[46] Force plates can be used to quantify the whole-body kinetic & potential energy, with walking displaying an out-of-phase relationship indicating exchange between the two.^[46] Interestingly, this model applies to all walking organisms regardless of the number of legs, and thus bipedal locomotion does not differ in terms of whole-body kinetics.^[47]

In humans, walking is composed of several separate processes^[46]:

• Vaulting over a stiff stance leg
• Passive ballistic movement of the swing leg
• A short 'push' from the ankle prior to toe-off, propelling the swing leg
• Rotation of the hips about the axis of the spine, to increase stride length
• Rotation of the hips about the horizontal axis to improve balance during stance

Running[link]

Running is characterized by a spring-mass movement.^[46] Kinetic and potential energy are in phase, and the energy is stored & released from a spring-like limb during foot contact.^[46] Again, the whole-body kinetics are similar to animals with more limbs.^[47]

Musculature[link]

Bipedalism requires strong leg muscles, particularly in the thighs. Contrast in domesticated poultry the well muscled legs, against the small and bony wings. Likewise in humans, the quadriceps and hamstring muscles of the thigh are both so crucial to bipedal activities that each alone is much larger than even the well-developed biceps of the arms.

Respiration[link]

A biped also has the ability to breathe whilst it runs. Humans usually take a breath every other stride when their aerobic system is functioning. During a sprint, at which point the anaerobic system kicks in, breathing slows until the anaerobic system can no longer sustain a sprint.

This is not necessarily an advantage over quadrupeds, as not only can many quadrupeds breathe while running, but in mammals such as dogs, the act of running helps to expand and contract the lungs. The muscles of the trunk thus perform locomotive and respiratory tasks at the same time, making breathing while running more efficient in these animals than in bipeds.^{[citation needed]}.

Bipedal robots[link]

ASIMO - a bipedal robot

For nearly the whole of the 20th century, bipedal robots were very difficult to construct and robot locomotion involved only wheels, treads, or multiple legs. Recent cheap and compact computing power has made two-legged robots more feasible. Some notable biped robots are ASIMO, HUBO and QRIO. Recently, spurred by the success of creating a fully passive, un-powered bipedal walking robot,^[48] those working on such machines have begun using principles gleaned from the study of human and animal locomotion, which often relies on passive mechanisms to minimize power consumption.

See also[link]

• Allometry
• Quadrupedalism
• Orthograde posture

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Darwin, C., "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex", Murray (London), (1871).
• Dart, R.A., "Australopithecus africanus: The Ape Man of South Africa" Nature, 145, 195-199, (1925).
• Dawkins, R., "The Ancestor's Tale", Weidenfeld and Nicolson (London), (2004).
• Hewes, G.W., "Food Transport and the Origin of Hominid Bipedalism" American Anthropologist, 63, 687-710, (1961).
• Hunt, K.D., "The Evolution of Human Bipedality" Journal of Human Evolution, 26, 183-202, (1994).
• Isaac, G.I., "The Archeological Evidence for the Activities of Early African Hominids" In:Early Hominids of Africa (Jolly, C.J. (Ed.)), Duckworth (London), 219-254, (1978).
• Jablonski, N.G. & Chaplin, G. "Origin of Habitual Terrestrial Bipedalism in the Ancestor of the Hominidae", Journal of Human Evolution, 24, 259-280, (1993).
• Lovejoy, C. O., "The Origin of Man." Science, 211, 341-350, (1981).
• Tanner, N.M., "On Becoming Human", Cambridge University Press (Cambridge), (1981).
• Wescott, R.W., "Hominid Uprightness and Primate Display", American Anthropologist, 69, 738,(1967).
• Wheeler, P. E., "The Evolution of Bipedality and Loss of Functional Body Hair in Hominoids." Journal of Human Evolution, 13, 91-98, (1984).
• Vrba, E., "The Pulse that Produced Us." Natural History, 102(5), 47-51, (1993).

External links[link]

• The Origin of Bipedalism

Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance. He is also notable for his frequent collaborations with artists of other disciplines, including musicians John Cage and David Tudor, artists Robert Rauschenberg and Bruce Nauman, designer Romeo Gigli, and architect Benedetta Tagliabue. Works that he produced with these artists had a profound impact on avant-garde art beyond the world of dance.

As a choreographer, teacher and leader of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company,^[2] Cunningham had a profound influence on modern dance. Many dancers who trained with Cunningham formed their own companies, and they include Paul Taylor, Remy Charlip, Viola Farber, Charles Moulton, Karole Armitage, Robert Kovich, Foofwa d’Imobilité, Kimberly Bartosik, Floanne Ankah and Jonah Bokaer.

In 2009, the Cunningham Dance Foundation announced the Legacy Plan, a precedent-setting plan for the continuation of Cunningham’s work and the celebration and preservation of his artistic legacy.^[3]

Cunningham earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts, including the National Medal of Arts and the MacArthur Fellowship. He also received Japan's Praemium Imperiale, a British Laurence Olivier Award, and was named Officier of the Légion d'honneur in France.

Cunningham’s life and artistic vision have been the subject of numerous books, films, and exhibitions, and his works have been presented by groups including the Paris Opéra Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, White Oak Dance Project, and London's Rambert Dance Company.

Biography[link]

Merce Cunningham was born in Centralia, Washington in 1919, the second of three sons. Both his brothers followed their father into the legal profession. Cunningham initially received his first formal dance and theater training at the Cornish School (now Cornish College of the Arts) in Seattle, which he attended from 1937–9 at age 20. During this time, Martha Graham saw Cunningham dance and invited him to join her company.^[4]

In the fall of 1939, Cunningham moved to New York and began a six-year stint as a soloist in the company of Martha Graham. He presented his first solo concert in New York in April 1944 with composer John Cage, who became his life partner and frequent collaborator until Cage's death in 1992.

In the summer of 1953, as a teacher in residence at Black Mountain College, Cunningham formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as a forum to explore his new ideas on dance and the performing arts.

Over the course of his career, Cunningham choreographed more than 200 dances and over 800 “Events,” which are site-specific choreographic works. In 1963 he joined with Cage to create the Walker Art Center's first performance, instigating what would be a 25-year collaborative relationship with the Walker. In his performances, he often used the I Ching in order to determine the sequence of his dances and, often, dancers were not told until the night of the performance. In addition to his role as choreographer, Cunningham performed as a dancer in his company into the early 1990s.

He continued to lead his dance company until his death, and presented a new work, Nearly Ninety, in April 2009, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, to mark his 90th birthday.^[5]

Cunningham lived in New York City, and was Artistic Director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. He died peacefully in his home.^[6]

Merce Cunningham Dance Company[link]

Cunningham formed Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) at Black Mountain College in 1953. Guided by its leader's radical approach to space, time and technology, the Company has forged a distinctive style, reflecting Cunningham’s technique and illuminating the near limitless possibility for human movement.

The original Company included dancers Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber, Paul Taylor, and Remy Charlip, and musicians John Cage and David Tudor.

In its early years, MCDC toured in a Volkswagen bus driven by John Cage with just enough room for six dancers, the two musicians, and a stage manager, who was often Robert Rauschenberg. MCDC’s first international tour in 1964—which included performances in Western and Eastern Europe, India, Thailand, and Japan—solidified a constant stream of national and international bookings. In the years since, MCDC has continued to tour the world to critical and popular acclaim, serving as an ambassador for contemporary American culture.

Recent performances and projects include a two-year residency at Dia:Beacon, where MCDC performed Events, Cunningham’s site-specific choreographic collages, in the galleries of Richard Serra, Dan Flavin, and Sol LeWitt among others. In 2007, MCDC premiered XOVER, Cunningham’s final collaboration with Rauschenberg, at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. In 2009, MCDC premiered Cunningham’s newest work, Nearly Ninety, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The Company is presently concluding its farewell tour. ^[7]

Final Performance:

Park Avenue Armory Events (2011)
Arranged by: Robert Swinston
Music: David Behrman, John King, Takehisa Kosugi and Christian Wolf
Décor: Daniel Arsham
Costumes: Anna Finke
Lighting: Christine Shallenberg

Artistic philosophy[link]

Collaboration[link]

Still frame from Loops, a digital art collaboration with Cunningham and The OpenEnded Group that interprets Cunningham's motion-captured dance for the hands.

Since its founding, Merce Cunningham Dance Company has frequently collaborated with visual artists, architects, designers, and musicians.

From the company's beginnings, Cunningham collaborated with John Cage, its Musical Advisor and Cunningham's life partner from the 1940s until Cage’s death in 1992. Cage had the greatest influence on his practice. Together, Cunningham and Cage proposed a number of radical innovations. The most famous and controversial of these concerned the relationship between dance and music, which they concluded may occur in the same time and space, but should be created independently of one another. They also made extensive use of chance procedures, abandoning not only musical forms, but narrative and other conventional elements of dance composition—such as cause and effect, and climax and anticlimax. For Cunningham the subject of his dances was always dance itself.

After his death, John Cage was succeeded in the role of music director by David Tudor. Since 1995, MCDC has been under the music direction of Takehisa Kosugi. MCDC has commissioned more work from contemporary composers than any other dance company. Its repertory includes works by musicians ranging from John Cage and Gordon Mumma to Gavin Bryars and even contemporary bands like Radiohead, Sigur Rós and Sonic Youth^[8].

The Company has also collaborated with an array of visual artists and designers. Robert Rauschenberg, whose famous “Combines” reflect the approach he used to create décor for a number of MCDC’s early works, served as the Company’s resident designer from 1954 through 1964. Jasper Johns followed as Artistic Advisor from 1967 until 1980, and Mark Lancaster from 1980 through 1984. The last Advisors to be appointed were William Anastasi and Dove Bradshaw in 1984. Other artists who have collaborated with MCDC include Daniel Arsham, Tacita Dean, Liz Phillips, Rei Kawakubo, Roy Lichtenstein, Bruce Nauman, Ernesto Neto, Frank Stella, Benedetta Tagliabue, and Andy Warhol.

Chance operations[link]

John Cage and I became interested in the use of chance in the 50's. I think one of the very primary things that happened then was the publication of the "I Ching," the Chinese book of changes, from which you can cast your fortune: the hexagrams.

Cage took it to work in his way of making compositions then; and he used the idea of 64—the number of the hexagrams —to say that you had 64, for example, sounds; then you could cast, by chance, to find which sound first appeared, cast again, to say which sound came second, cast again, so that it's done by, in that sense, chance operations. Instead of finding out what you think should follow—say a particular sound—what did the I Ching suggest? Well, I took this also for dance.

I was working on a title called, “Untitled Solo,” and I had made—using the chance operations—a series of movements written on scraps of paper for the legs and the arms, the head, all different. And it was done not to the music but with the music of Christian Wolff. —Merce Cunningham, Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance, 2000

Although the use of chance operations was considered an abrogation of artistic responsibility,^{[citation needed]} Cunningham was thrilled by a process that arrives at works that could never have been created through traditional collaboration. This does not mean, however, that Cunningham holds every piece created in this fashion is a masterpiece. Those dances that do not "work" are quickly dropped from repertory, while those that do are celebrated as serendipitous discoveries.

Another of Cunningham's innovations was the development of what might be called "non-representative" dance which simply emphasizes movement: in Cunningham's choreography, dancers do not necessarily represent any historical figure, emotional situation, or idea.

Use of technology[link]

Cunningham’s lifelong passion for exploration and innovation has made him a leader in applying new technologies to the arts. He began investigating dance on film in the 1970s, and since 1991 has choreographed using the computer program DanceForms. Cunningham explored motion capture technology with digital artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar to create Hand-drawn Spaces, a three-screen animation that was commissioned by and premiered at SIGGRAPH in 1998. This led to a live dance for the stage, BIPED, for which Kaiser and Eshkar provided the projected decor. In 2008, Cunningham released his Loops choreography for the hands as motion-capture data under a Creative Commons license; this was the basis for the open source collaboration of the same name with The OpenEnded Group.

In 2009, Cunningham’s interest in new media led to the creation of Mondays with Merce. This webcast series provides a never-before-seen look at the Company and Cunningham’s teaching technique with video of advanced technique class, Company rehearsal, archival footage, and interviews with current and former Company members, choreographers, and collaborators.

Legacy Plan[link]

The Cunningham Dance Foundation announced the Legacy Plan (LLP) in June 2009. The Plan provided a roadmap for the future of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, as envisioned by Cunningham. The first of its kind in the dance world, the plan represents Merce Cunningham’s vision for continuing his work in the upcoming years, transitioning his Company once he was no longer able to lead it, and preserving his oeuvre.

The Legacy Plan includes a comprehensive documentation and preservation program, which will ensure that pieces from his repertory can be studied, performed and enjoyed by future generations with knowledge of how they originally came to life. In addition, to ensure the authenticity of the presentation of his oeuvre once Cunningham was no longer able to lead his Company, the plan outlined a final international tour for the Company, and, ultimately, the closure of the Cunningham Dance Foundation and Merce Cunningham Dance Company and the transfer of all assets to the Merce Cunningham Trust, established by Cunningham to serve as the custodian for his works. From Merce's death at age 90 through the Board's last meeting in 2012, the Legacy Plan implemented his wish that the Company complete a worldwide legacy tour and then close. December 31, 2011 was the final performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

The final meeting of the Board of Directors for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company was held March 15, 2012, in Merce's beautiful studio at the top of the Westbeth building in the West Village.^[9]

Exhibitions[link]

There have been numerous exhibitions dedicated to Cunningham’s work. In addition, he is a visual artist represented by Margarete Roeder Gallery.

The major exhibition Invention: Merce Cunningham & Collaborators at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts closed on October 13, 2007.

Merce Cunningham: Dancing on the Cutting Edge, an exhibition of recent design for MCDC, opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, in January 2007.

A trio of exhibitions devoted to John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and Merce Cunningham, curated by Ron Bishop, were shown in the spring of 2002 at the Gallery of Fine Art, Edison College, Fort Myers, Florida.

A major exhibition about Cunningham and his collaborations, curated by Germano Celant, was first seen at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona in 1999, and subsequently at the Fundação de Serralves, Porto, Portugal, 1999; the Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, 2000; and the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, 2000.

Works[link]

Cunningham choreographed almost two hundred works for his company.^[10]

Suite for Five (1956–1958)
Music: John Cage, Music for Piano
Costumes: Robert Rauschenberg
Lighting: Beverly Emmons

Crises (1960)
Music: Conlon Nancarrow (from Rhythm Studies for Player Piano)
Costumes, Lighting: Robert Rauschenberg

Rainforest (1968)
Music: David Tudor
Décor: Andy Warhol (Silver Clouds)
Costumes: Jasper Johns (uncredited)
Lighting: Richard Nelson

Second Hand (1970)
Music: John Cage, (Cheap Imitation)
Décor & Costumes: Jasper Johns
Lighting: Richard Nelson (1970) Christine Shallenberg (2008)

Sounddance (1975)
Music: David Tudor, Toneburst & Untitled (1975/1994)
Décor, Lighting, Costumes: Mark Lancaster

Fabrications (1987)
Music: Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta, Short Waves & SBbr
Décor, Costumes: Dove Bradshaw
Lighting: Josh Johnson

CRWDSPCR (1993)
Music: John King, blues 99
Décor, Lighting, Costumes: Mark Lancaster

Ocean (1994)
Music: David Tudor,Soundings: Ocean Diary and Andrew Culver, Ocean 1–95
Décor, Lighting, Costumes: Marsha Skinner

BIPED (1999)
Music: Gavin Bryars, Biped
Décor: Paul Kaiser, Shelley Eshkar
Costumes: Suzanne Gallo
Lighting: Aaron Copp

Split Sides (2003)
Music: Radiohead, Sigur Rós
Décor: Robert Heishman, Catherine Yass
Costumes: James Hall
Lighting: James F. Ingalls

Views on Stage (2004)
Music: John Cage, ASLSP and Music for Two
Décor: Ernesto Neto, Other Animal
Costumes: James Hall
Lighting: Josh Johnson

eyeSpace (2006)
Music: Mikel Rouse, International Cloud Atlas
Décor: Henry Samelson, Blues Arrive Not Anticipating What Transpires Even Between Themselves
Costumes: Henry Samelson
Lighting: Josh Johnson

eyeSpace (2007)
Music: David Behrman, Long Throw and/or Annea Lockwood, Jitterbug
Décor: Daniel Arsham, ODE/EON
Costumes: Daniel Arsham
Lighting: Josh Johnson

XOVER (2007)
Music: John Cage, Aria (1958) and Fontana Mix (1958)
Décor & Costumes: Robert Rauschenberg, Plank
Lighting: Josh Johnson

Nearly Ninety (2009)
Music: John Paul Jones, Takehisa Kosugi, Sonic Youth
Décor: Benedetta Tagliabue
Costumes: Romeo Gigli for io ipse idem
Lighting: Brian MacDevitt
Video Design: Franc Aleu

Honors & awards[link]

2009
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award
Skowhegan Medal for Performance

2008
Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

2007
Nelson A. Rockefeller Award, Purchase College School of the Arts, State University of New York
Montgomery Fellow (Arts and Literature), Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

2006
Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA

2005
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN
Praemium Imperiale, Tokyo

2004
Officier of the Légion d'Honneur, France

2003
Edward MacDowell Medal in interdisciplinary art, the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough NH

2002
Kitty Carlisle Hart Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts (Arts & Business Council), New York NY
MATA (Music at the Anthology) Award, New York NY
Medal of the City of Dijon, France

2001
Coat of Arms of the City of Mulhouse, France
La Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris (echelon vermeil) from the Mayor of Paris
Career Transition for Dancers Award, New York NY
Herald Archangel Award, Glasgow, Scotland
Honorary degree from Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia

2000
Nijinsky Special Prize, Monaco
The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, New York NY
Named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, Washington DC

1999
Premio Internazionale “Gino Tani,” Rome
Handel Medallion from the Mayor of New York City NY
Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Lifetime Achievement, San Francisco CA
Fellow of the Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong
The key to the City of Montpellier, France

1998
Bagley Wright Fund Established Artists Award, Seattle WA

1997
Barnard College Medal of Distinction, New York NY
Grand Prix of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, France

1996
Nellie Cornish Arts Achievement Award from his alma mater, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle WA

1995
Honorary degree from Wesleyan University, Middletown CT
Carina Ari Award (Grand Prix Video Danse with Elliot Caplan), Stockholm, Sweden
Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale, Italy

1993
Inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY
Dance and Performance Award for Best Performance by a Visiting Artist, London, England
Medal of Honor from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain
(With John Cage, posthumously) the Wexner Prize of the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University, Columbus OH
New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”), New York NY
Tiffany Award from the International Society of Performing Arts Administrators, New York NY

1990
National Medal of Arts, Washington DC
Porselli Prize, Italy
Digital Dance Premier Award, London, England
Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, New York NY

1989
Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, France

1988
Dance/USA National Honor, New York NY

1987
Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX

1985
Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production (Pictures), London, England
Kennedy Center Honors, Washington DC
MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago IL

1984
Inducted as an Honorary Member into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York NY

1983
The Mayor of New York’s Award of Honor for Arts and Culture, New York NY

1982
The Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award, Durham NC
Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France

1977
Capezio Award, New York NY

1975
New York State Award, Albany NY

1972
BITEF Award, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Honorary degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana IL

1966
Gold Medal for Choreographic Invention at the Fourth International Festival of Dance, Paris

1964
Medal of the Society for the Advancement of Dancing in Sweden, Stockholm

1960
Dance Magazine Award, New York NY

1959 & 1954
Fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New York NY

Footnotes[link]

Sources[link]

• Bremser, M. (Ed) (1999) Fifty Contemporary Choreographers. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10364-9
• Cunningham, Merce (1968) Changes/Notes on Choreography. Something Else Press.
• Cunningham, M. and Lesschaeve, J. (1992) The Dancer and the Dance. Marion Boyars Publishers. ISBN 0-7145-2931-1
• Vaughan, David (1999) Merce Cunningham: Fifty Years. Aperture. ISBN 0-89381-863-1
• Vaughan, D. and Cunningham, M. (2002) Other Animals. Aperture. ISBN 978-0-89381-946-0
• Kostelanetz, R. (1998) Merce Cunningham: Dancing in Space and Time. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80877-3
• Brown, Carolyn (2007) Chance and Circumstance Twenty Years with Cage and Cunningham. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-40191-1 Biography 53750

External links[link]

• Merce Cunningham Dance Company
• Archival footage of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company performing in Sounddance in 2009 at Jacob's Pillow.
• DLAR Artists bio
• PBS:American Masters biography
• Kennedy Center biography
• Archive footage of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company performing Cunningham's piece Banjo in 1955 at Jacob's Pillow
• American Ballet Theater biography
• Merce Cunningham ìn the Mediateca Media Art Space
• Merce Cunningham at the Internet Movie Database
• Merce Cunningham — Daily Telegraph obituary
• Guardian Obituary
• Online memorial
• Obituary in the Star-Gazette
• New York Times Obituary 28 July 2009