Liz Lerman dance exchange: still questioning after 30 years.Liz Lerman's influence on file dance world has been quiet, yet far-reaching. One of her earliest works Woman of the Clear Vision (1975) united professional dancers with residents of a home for senior citizens. Casting untrained seniors with young dancers was then revolutionary. Her work with seniors developed into the group Dancers of the Third Age, which toured for 13 years. And many choreographers, including Pina Bausch, have incorporated older people into their work. Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, the Takoma Park, Maryland-based intergenerational troupe Lerman also founded, celebrates 30 years this season with a fall tour. The company then returns home for a year-long series of interactive artistic gatherings in the Dance Exchange's newly renovated 12,000-square-foot studio. And Lerman, 58, continues the ongoing investigations that place the Dance Exchange at the center of public discourse on hot-button political, social, religious, and scientific issues. The seven-member company, whose ages span 26-79, will be busy. Lerman's past choreography includes politically outspoken pieces like 1983's Docudance: Nine Short Dances About the Defense Budget and Other Military Matters; site-specific works like 1986's Still Crossing, a study in immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. performed in view of the Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : America Statue of Liberty perhaps the most famous monument to independence. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : Freedom ; and community-based residencies, most prominently the 1999-2002 15-city Hallelujah Hallelujah (hăl'əl  `yə) or Alleluia (ăl–) [Heb.,=praise the Lord], joyful expression used in Hebrew worship; cf. Pss. project. The 30th anniversary season continues with Ferocious Beauty: Genome, an evening that examines the scientific and ethical complexities of life's biological building blocks. Developed with a cadre of scientists from Wesleyan and a dozen other universities, the multimedia work engages artistic, scientific, ethical, and public policy voices. A chamber version of Small Dances About Big Ideas, commissioned by Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (colloquially, Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard Law is considered one of the most prestigious law schools in the United States. , came to Dance New Amsterdam in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of last month. Lerman's rumination rumination /ru·mi·na·tion/ (roo?mi-na´shun) 1. the casting up of the food to be chewed thoroughly a second time, as in cattle. 2. on justice and reconciliation, Small Dances began with research on the Nuremberg trials and expanded to include recent genocides and atrocities in Rwanda, Bosnia, South Africa, and Abu Chraib. Lerman says the work "carries on one of the issues I've been exploring throughout my life as a choreographer: What is our relationship to history?" This month the company returns to College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 24,657 at the 2000 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S. , with, among other works, Man/Chair Dances, in which the company performs amid a full orchestra. Lerman's visionary ideas have extended beyond dance circles as well: to faith communities, particularly the organized Jewish world; in civic engagement, especially her work at the Saguarro Seminar at Harvard, 2001-03; in the classical orchestra world, where she's been advising music directors; and in academia, where her critical response methods and keynote addresses have gained currency. And Lerman is studying and teaching at New York's Hebrew Union College The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (also known as HUC, HUC-JIR, and The College-Institute) is the oldest Jewish seminary in the New World and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism. as she develops her latest work, Prayer as a Radical Act/Radical Action as Prayer. She's ceding more artistic responsibility to her dancers while she explores new paths. Dance Exchange will continue to cross borders and integrate communities with what Lerman now calls "nonfiction choreography." "There's never been a more crucial time for artists to be involved in cross-cultural dialogue," she insists. "The arts are such a powerful tool and I feel we need to turn outward to the world. My wish for the Dance Exchange is that we continue to grow and extend our internal knowledge to take it where it matters." Ferocious Beauty: Genome, residencies and performances Nov. 5-10, Mayo Civic Center The Mayo Civic Center (named for William Worrall Mayo) is a 7,200-seat multi-purpose arena in Rochester, Minnesota. It was built in 1984. It was home to the Rochester Mustangs ice hockey team and was also utilized for American Wrestling Association weekly television broadcasts for , Presentation Hall, Rochester, MN April 23-29, 2007, Atlas Performing Arts Center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. , Washington, D.C. Man/Chair Dances, Small Dances ..., and Still Crossing Nov. 2-3, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD www.danceexchange.org |
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