Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham (born April 16, 1919, Centralia, United States; died 2009), was an American dancer and choreographer. Cunningham's honours include Kennedy Center Honors, Praemium Imperiale and The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.
Merce Cunningham’s zodiac sign was Aries, Chinese zodiac was Earth Goat, with Life Path 4 in numerology.
Aries, Chinese zodiac was 
Earth Goat, with 
Life Path 4 in numerology.Your match with Merce
Merce Cunningham’s AsterNym identity
The Steadfast Pioneer
Earth represents stability. Earth-led charts are associated with patience, responsibility and the ability to make people or projects feel supported. Life Path 4 represents structure: foundations, systems and the patience to continue after the first enthusiasm fades.
Earth Day Master (BaZi) × cardinal Sun × Life Path 4, on the physical plane.
What Merce’s name adds up to
Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.
4
Expression · building what holds
5
Soul Urge · freedom
8
Personality · capable, in charge
The name opens on M (4) and closes on E (5). The value it repeats most is 5, which numerology reads as movement.
Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again
Merce’s lucky numbers, colours and stones
Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.
Lucky numbers
4 · 2 · 7
Lucky colours
Yellow & Ochre
Lucky day
Tuesday
Direction
• Center
Season
the turning of seasons
Stones
Diamond, Red Coral, Citrine
Flower constellation
🌼 Daisy · 🌺 Red Dahlia · 🌼 Chrysanthemum
White · Crimson · Gold
Eight Mansions · Kua number
Kua 8, trigram Gen 艮, West group. Best direction Southwest, worst South.
A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1919, which turns at Li Chun rather than at New Year, and from sex, which Wikidata records as male. Work out your own →
The record
What sets Merce apart
The Guggenheim Fellowship came in 1954, when Merce Cunningham was 35.
Study took Merce Cunningham to Centralia High School and George Washington University.
Merce Cunningham was 19 when the work began in 1938.
On Wikipedia the categories read Ballets by Merce Cunningham, The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize winners and National Dance Award winners.
Selena (1971) and Akon (1973) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.
- Educated at
- Centralia High School, George Washington University and Cornish College of the Arts
- Awards
- MacArthur Fellows Program (1985), Guggenheim Fellowship (1954) and The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2000)
- Working from
- 1938
- Citizenship
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Wikipedia editions
- 31
What the chart says
Merce, according to the stars
Core essence
Merce leads with the body. First in, first to speak, first to say the thing everyone was thinking, and honestly a little surprised when the room needed a second to catch up. The core of Merce is courage that does not look like courage from the inside, it just looks like Tuesday. They would rather be wrong fast than right slowly, and it is why people follow them.
The vibe
Underneath, Merce feels more than they will ever show, and shows it to about three people. The Moon in Scorpio is deep water: loyal, private, slow to trust and impossible to fool. What Merce needs to feel safe is total honesty and the sense that a secret told stays told. Betray that once and it is a long way back.
How Merce wants to be loved
Merce wants to be loved slowly and for real. Venus in Taurus is touch, food, the good blanket, the plan that does not change. They are sensual and steady and they want to be shown, not told: the small physical kindnesses count double. Once Merce is yours, they stay, and they expect the same.
How Merce creates
How Merce makes things happen: they are the ground everyone else stands on. A Yang Earth day master is the mountain, reliable, slow to move, immovable once it has. Merce creates by holding: the plan, the people, the standard. They are trusted before they have said a word, and the work is remembering that mountains are allowed to want things too.
Instinct
Instinct: Merce is creative and kind, a Goat year, and their gut reaction is to make it beautiful. Artistic, gentle, easily moved, and the friend everyone confides in. The Earth year grounds it: practical, patient, someone people lean on.
Purpose
Purpose: Life Path 4 is the builder. Merce is here to make things that last, to put structure under other people's dreams, to be trusted with the real work. Loyal, practical, honest, and learning that the plan can bend without breaking.
Triggers
Triggers: being rushed, and being pushed. Mars in Taurus means Merce is slow to anger and very hard to move once they are. Patience is the superpower, stubbornness its shadow. Let them set the pace and they are unstoppable in their own time.
Computed from Merce's birth date. Working below.
Where Merce sits
Six lines
Merce’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.
You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.
You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.
You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.
You may want to resolve tension the moment it appears, rather than let it sit.
You likely balance practical steps with room to imagine further.
You may feel connection fast. Chemistry can arrive before the details do.
Tap each line where you sit.
All twelve of yours, from your birth date →✦ A real star from their birth night
Dedicate a star to Merce Cunningham
Three stars chosen from the real sky above Centralia on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.
A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.
The sky over Centralia that night
Computed for 46.72°N, 9 p.m. local sky.
Overhead at Centralia at 9 p.m. that evening: Alkaphrah of Ursa Major, within 4.7° of the exact zenith.
The brightest star above the horizon was Sirius in Canis Major, and 105 catalog stars were up in all.
Centralia sits at 46.7°N, high enough that Capella and Deneb never set there — they circle the pole all night, every night of the year.
Nothing below −43.3° declination clears the horizon at this latitude, so Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman were never visible from Centralia on any night.
Sun 10° below the horizon, Moon down and 97% lit at full moon.
The name and the places
- Born in
- Centralia, United States
The death is recorded at New York City, New York in 2009.
No birth time is on record, so no astrocartography map can be drawn for Merce Cunningham: the lines move about fifteen degrees of longitude an hour. Shared Places can still draw yours.
How unusual Merce's chart is
Chart pattern score
45 / 100 · Quietly distinctive
A bowl chart · 2 planets at a critical degree · No Air planets
An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.
Score your own chart →The quick version
Aries Sun
Aries SunStarts the thing. Then plans it.
Merce Cunningham's Sun was in Aries for the whole of April 16, 1919, so no birth time is needed to settle it.
What Aries means →Earth Goat
Earth GoatGentle hands, strong opinions.
Merce Cunningham was born on April 16, 1919, which falls in a Earth Goat year of the Chinese calendar.
What the Goat means →Life Path 4
Life Path 4Plans, then plans the plan.
Merce Cunningham's birth date, April 16, 1919, reduces to Life Path 4 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.
What Life Path 4 means →What stands out in Merce’s chart
- The tightest major aspect in Merce Cunningham's date-only chart is Mars sextile Uranus, with an orb of under 1°.
- Five of the ten planets fall in Fixed signs, making Fixed the strongest modality in this chart.
- This chart has an even Fire/Water emphasis, with four planets in each, and none in Air.
- Merce Cunningham combines an Earth Day Master in BaZi with a cardinal Sun and a Life Path on the physical plane, the combination AsterNym calls The Steadfast Pioneer.
Merce’s birth chart
Reference chart · birth time unknown
Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 5° to 17° Scorpio depending on the hour.
No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.
Placements
Tap one to light it on the wheel.
The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow
Aspects across every possible birth time
stableMarssextileUranus0.2° to 0.9° orb
Merce’s drive opens doors for their need for freedom. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.
stableVenussquareUranus0.7° to 1.9° orb
Merce’s affections grind against their need for freedom.
stableMercurysquareJupiter2.6° to 3.2° orb
Merce’s mind grinds against their growth. The angle that irritates, and the one that teaches.
stableMarssextilePluto3.2° to 3.9° orb
stableSuntrineSaturn3.8° to 4.8° orb
stableUranustrinePluto4.0° orb
stableJupiterconjunctionPluto4.1° to 4.2° orb
stableMercurytrineNeptune5.0° to 5.4° orb
stableMarssquareNeptune5.0° to 5.7° orb
stableSunconjunctionMars5.3° to 5.6° orb
possibleMoontrineJupiterorb from 0.1° to 8.4° depending on birth time
possibleMoonsquareNeptuneorb from 0.1° to 10.7° depending on birth time
Chart signature
Elements
- Fire4 of 10
- Earth2 of 10
- Air0 of 10
- Water4 of 10
Modalities
- Cardinal4 of 10
- Fixed5 of 10
- Mutable1 of 10
Counted across the ten planets by sign, with no planets in Air signs.
Merce’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith
What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.
⚷ ChironAries 4°15′ (moves 0.06° over the day)
centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it
⚳ CeresPisces 12°05′ (moves 0.35° over the day)
dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured
♡ ErosCapricorn 26°36′ (moves 0.38° over the day)
near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire
⚕ HygieaTaurus 10°28′ (moves 0.32° over the day)
main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well
⚸ Black Moon LilithScorpio 9°12′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed
Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith
- Black Moon Lilith trine Jupiter 0.4°
- Chiron square Pluto 0.5°
- Eros square Sun 0.9°
- Hygiea sextile Jupiter 1.6°
- Chiron trine Neptune 2.3°
- Black Moon Lilith square Neptune 2.7°
- Eros trine Venus 2.8°
Merce’s dominant planets
1. ♂ Mars9 pts
rules the Sun sign, Aries; disposes Sun, Mercury; 4 major aspects
2. ☉ Sun4 pts
disposes Saturn, Neptune; 2 major aspects
3. ♀ Venus4 pts
in its own sign, Taurus; disposes Mars; 1 major aspect
Configurations in Merce’s chart
No stellium, grand trine, T-square, grand cross, yod or kite — the common case.
Minor aspects
semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.
- Sun quintile Jupiter 1.1°
- Saturn semi-square Pluto 1.7°
- Venus semi-sextile Mars 1.8°
- Neptune semi-sextile Pluto 1.8°
More people like Merce
Other conductors
- Eugene Ormandy1899
- Leon Fleisher1928
- Seiji Ozawa1935
- Zubin Mehta1936
- James Levine1943
Born in United States
- Jerome RobbinsAmerican choreographer and director
- James H. Patton Jr.American Kentucky poet laureate
- Nat King ColeAmerican singer and jazz pianist
- William LipscombNobel Prize-winning American inorganic and organic chemist
- Teresa WrightAmerican actress
- Margaret CoitAmerican historian
More charts like Merce’s
Fellow Aries suns
- Gustavo Petro42rd President of Colombia 2022–2026
- Michael FassbenderGerman-Irish actor
- Claire DanesAmerican actor
Born in Goat years
- Alexandre Grimaldi1st son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
- Laysla De OliveiraCanadian actress
- Gary SiniseAmerican actor
Also born on April 16
- Selena1971
- Akon1973
- Anya Taylor-Joy1996
- Sadie Sink2002
- Luol Deng1985
- Alek Wek1977
Fellow Yang Earth day masters
- Ashley OlsenAmerican businesswoman, fashion designer and actress (born 1986)
- Tara ReidAmerican actress (born 1975)
- Liberty RossBritish model and actor
Other Aries Goat charts
- Ant AnsteadEnglish television presenter, motor specialist and designer
- Lake BellAmerican actress, director and screenwriter (born 1979)
- Robyn DixonAmerican reality television personality
- Margaret JosephsAmerican businesswoman and television personality
Other Steadfast Pioneers
- Nathan GambleAmerican actor (born 1998)
- Karen AllenAmerican actress
- Connie NielsenDanish actress (born 1965)
- Paul WinfieldAmerican actor
Famous people with Life Path 4
- Lynn HeinzerlingAmerican correspondent
- Anton TroianovskiSoviet-born American journalist
- Howard Mumford JonesU.S. writer, literary critic, and professor of English
From the journal: Is astrology real or fake? · Sect: day charts vs night charts
Merce’s cards
Computed from April 16, 1919. Tap to flip.
Birth tarot card
The FoolAsterNym identity card
The Steadfast PioneerWestern zodiac
AriesChinese zodiac
Goat 未Life Path
4 · Architect♂ Ruled by Mars
Iron Fe
The working: BaZi pillarsshow
BaZi pillars
Day Master: yang Earth.
Year
己
yin Earth
未
Goat
Earth
roots & early life
Month
戊
yang Earth
辰
Dragon
Earth
work & drive
Day
day master
戊
yang Earth
戌
Dog
Earth
you & partnership
Where this comes from, and how it is worked out
Merce’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q318364 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.
Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.
Portrait by Floor, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The same Merce Cunningham at Wikipedia, IMDb and MusicBrainz.
Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by Merce Cunningham.
Quick answers about Merce Cunningham’s chart
- What zodiac sign was Merce Cunningham?
- Merce Cunningham was an Aries: born April 16, 1919, which puts the Sun in Aries for the whole of that day.
- What was Merce Cunningham's Chinese zodiac animal?
- The Goat, with the Earth element, from the Chinese lunar year of the April 16, 1919 birth.
- What was Merce Cunningham's Life Path number?
- Life Path 4, calculated in numerology.
- What was Merce Cunningham's Chiron sign?
- Chiron in Aries at 4°. Position from JPL Horizons.
- Where was Merce Cunningham's Black Moon Lilith?
- Mean Black Moon Lilith in Scorpio at 9°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
- What was Merce Cunningham's dominant planet?
- Mars, on AsterNym's dominance score (9 points: rules the Sun sign, Aries; disposes Sun, Mercury; 4 major aspects). Sun is second and Venus third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.
