Ballet Cunningham

Despite his interest and comittment to take regular class in ballet Cunningham never had an intention to become ''a Prince in tights'' (Mackrell, 1997, 82). But he was fascinated with feeling of ballet movements, especially by how'' lively ballet was on its feet, how fast it could move and how many rhythms it could play with'' (Mackrell, 1997, 82). Seems like Cunningham was very interested in ''what is possible'', and exploration of that in the body. In the 1960's dance world start shifting, and the new dance era start arising, called post-modernism. Merce

Cunningham was one of this era innovators. When he started to experiment with movements by himself he wanted to find a way to put some of the components from modern dance, and some from

By keep combining different dance elements Merce Cunningham was seeking for intelegence in the dancer. Since the dancing for him was not about anything but the movement itself it was easy to focus on perfecting ''absolute clarity'' (Solomons, 2007, 96). The choreographer once declared about his clasroom work:

''There are so many movements that are common to any style, because we all have two legs, two arms, and a head, and they move the way they move, but the variety within that is endless''

(Solomons, 2007, 96).

Having done Cunningham technique it is posible to notice obvious similarities between ballet.

Both class works on developing the desired aesthetics within body, movement grandeur and prevention of injury, for long lasting career. They share the same exercise like plies, foot

Which happens when the dancer lift one foot of the ground in order to produce a changing of weight from one foot to the other, simplyfied it is like little hop. Coupés are inceptive learning point when development is leading to the big leaps, gracefull transitions and difficult balancing steps. It is easy to get mistaken by how easy these exercise sounds, however it demands hard work, engagement of the entire body, knowledge of how to properly coordinate your arms and legs while moving and performing complicated routines. All of this is just a small begining point, to start and make stable base for yourself as a dancer specifically for these techniques. Without a doubt it is just a small amount of exercise examples used in the ballet and Merce Cunningham technique, there is much more advanced stuff to work with. The only way to improve in any of these technique is to practice frequently and consider the process with a critical eye.

In the next chapter will go deeper about juxtaposition of arms, torso and legs in the ballet and

Cunningham technique. Discuss more precise about body in action and enhancing similarities between these two techniques. As well as present just a simple considerations about