Merce Cunningham (1919-2009)

A scene from Cunningham's Xover at the Barbican last year. A statement released today by the Cunningham Dance Foundation and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company says the choreographer 'revolutionised the visual and performing arts – not for the sake of iconoclasm, but for the beauty and wonder that lay in exploring new possibilities' Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Cunningham's collaborations with John Cage date back to 1944. They shared a long partnership on stage and off. Here, the choreographer appears in Cage's An Alphabet at the Edinburgh international festival in 2001 Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Merce Cunningham in a 1957 pas de deux Photograph: Charles E Rotkin

Cunningham in 1967. His original company comprised John Cage, David Tudor, Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber, Remy Charlip and Paul Taylor Photograph: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

In 2000, Cunningham's Biped was staged at the Barbican. The venue presented many of his works over the following years Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Fluid Canvas (2002) at the Barbican Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Split Sides (2004) at the Barbican Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Event (2005) at the Barbican Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Cunningham salutes the crowd after a show in Paris in 2005 Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

Event (2005) at the Barbican Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Ocean (2006) at the Roundhouse in London Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Last year, the Guardian asked Cunningham what advice he would give to a young choreographer. He replied: 'Watch people in the street - you can learn so much from the way they move. A person stepping off a kerb, for example, usually ends up using their right foot ...' Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Dancers from Merce Cunningham's company rehearse in New York Photograph: Mark Seliger/AFP/Getty Images

Earlier this year, Cunningham announced that, upon his death, his company will present a farewell tour for two years and then shut down Photograph: Rob Gilhooly/EPA