Announced prior to Merce Cunningham’s passing on July 26, 2009, the Legacy Plan was conceived to delineate the future of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) and the Cunningham Dance Foundation (CDF), and to ensure the ongoing celebration and preservation of his lifetime of creative achievement, according to his wishes. The Legacy Plan includes:

Launched in February 2010, the two-year the two-year Legacy Tour celebrated Merce Cunningham's lifetime of creativity, and gave audiences around the world a final opportunity to see Cunningham's work performed by the company he personally trained. Showcasing 18 seminal works from throughout his career, the Tour encompassed nearly 50 cities, and culminates in New York City - MCDC's home since it was founded in 1953 - on December 31, 2011.

The Foundation is pioneering digital “Dance Capsules” to preserve key works from the Cunningham repertory, so that future generations can study and perform these dances with knowledge of how they originally came to life.  Each Dance Capsule is a digital package containing complete documentation of a Cunningham work, including performance videos, sound recordings, lighting plots, décor images, costume design, production notes, and interviews with dancers and artistic staff.

Company Transition

and Closure:

Upon the completion of MCDC’s world tour at the end of 2011, the Company closed. The dancers, musicians, and staff who have invested their time and creative efforts into the realization of Cunningham’s work will be honored and provided with compensation and resources for career transition.

Transfer to the Merce

Cunningham Trust:

Following the closure of MCDC, the Cunningham Dance Foundation will also close in June 2012, and its assets will be transferred to the Merce Cunningham Trust, a separate nonprofit organization established by Cunningham in 2000 to hold the rights to his work and manage his artistic legacy in perpetuity. The activities and the work of the Trust is overseen by its trustees—Trevor Carlson, Laura Kuhn, Patricia Lent, Allan Sperling, and Robert Swinston—and Executive Director Lynn Wichern.

In fall 2011, the Trust announced plans to establish headquarters at New York City Center in 2012, where it will offer daily classes in Cunningham Technique™. The Trust will also launch the Cunningham Fellowship, through which a stipend will be awarded to former MCDC dancers to restage a Cunningham work. The New York Public Library will maintain and provide public access to the Merce Cunningham Archives. In addition, the Trust will continue to license Cunningham works to leading dance companies and educational institutions worldwide, and will partner with cultural institutions to mount special projects, performances, and exhibitions that celebrate Cunningham’s artistic achievements.