Bertrand Chamayou

In the late 1930s, the accomplished pianist Cage was experimenting with the expressive possibilities of his instrument, kitting out his piano with screws and erasers that he inserted between the strings. Cage soon after used the resulting percussion-like sound when the dancer Syvilla Fort commissioned him in 1940 to compose incidental music for her choreographies, where rhythm was to play a central role. The unusual combination of primed piano and dance was so successful that more commissions from other dancers followed as a result.