**US choreographer Merce Cunningham, widely recognised for revolutionising modern dance, has died aged 90.**A statement from the Cunningham Dance Foundation said the New York-based dancer “died peacefully in his home of natural causes” on Sunday.
He formed the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1953 and choreographed nearly 200 works for it.
Although he used a wheelchair by the end of his career, Cunningham danced on stage right into his 80s.
The statement said he “revolutionised the visual and performing arts, not for the sake of iconoclasm, but for the beauty and wonder that lay in exploring new possibilities”.
Judith Fishman, chairman of the Cunningham Dance Foundation, said: "Merce was an artistic maverick and the gentlest of geniuses.
“We have lost a great man and a great artist, but we celebrate his extraordinary life, his art, and the dancers and the artists with whom he worked.”
Just last month, Cunningham had set up a legacy plan for the continuation of his work in the coming years.