CUNNINGHAM TECHNIQUE®

WHAT IT IS

Cunningham Technique® was developed by Merce Cunningham to train dancers for his company.  The technique emphasizes clarity of form, coordination of torso and legwork, rhythmic accuracy, spatial awareness and virtuosity.  A Cunningham Technique class is a rigorous 90-minute class that includes a thorough 45-minute warm-up followed by a series of diverse movement phrases.  Phrases from Merce Cunningham’s choreography are often included in the class.

PATRICIA LENT

Danced for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1984-1993), and White Oak Dance Project (1994-1996).  She then earned a master’s degree from Bank Street College of Education, and taught second and third grade at P.S. 234 in Lower Manhattan (1998-2007).  In 2009, Lent was named a trustee of the Merce Cunningham Trust, and currently serves as the Trust’s Director of Licensing.  Since joining the Trust, she has initiated and supervised more than one hundred staging projects for professional companies, museums, conservatories, and schools.

Lent began teaching technique and repertory workshops at the Merce Cunningham Studio in the late 1980s.  In recent years, she has staged Cunningham’s work for numerous schools and companies, including Fabricationsfor Ballet de Lorraine, Scramblefor Repertory Dance Theater, Duetsfor American Ballet Theatre and ABT Studio Company, Channels/Inserts andExchange for Lyon Opera Ballet, Beach Birds and Change of Addressfor North Carolina School of the Arts, and Roaratoriofor MCDC’s Legacy Tour.  She continues to teach, stage, and conduct workshops in her capacity at the Trust.