As these two photos demonstrate,
a multidisciplinary approach yields
unexpected results for Liz Lerman
Dance Exchange.
Boston’s Prometheus
Dance group’s best-known production is
Apokalypsis, which tells
the plight of refugees
through movement.
Boston, Washington, D.C., and New
York, and at Tanglewood every summer.
But even with a full dance card, financial resources remain an issue. Citing
the greatest challenges dance companies
face today, Morris says, “Money. Talent,
skill, luck and money. To pay dancers,
designers, musicians. To go on tour. To
spend time creating new dances.”
Finding the financial means for proper
research and development is especially
key to a company such as the Washington,
D.C.-area’s Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.
Building connections between art and a
seemingly unrelated discipline such as
science, the company treats dance as “an
investigation” and creates performances
through exhaustive research and inquiry.
Best known for its multimedia production on human genetics, Ferocious Beauty:
Genome, this spring the company will
combine dance, music and spoken word
to help audiences visualize cell processes
and better understand issues in medical
research, at the Maryland Science Center.
To ensure the approachability of these
complex pieces, the company often uses
text to advance the narrative and dance
movements that mimic those made in
everyday life, as opposed to abstractions.
Another significant way the company
enhances its approachability is in its
selection of dancers.
EXPERIENCE MODERN DANCE
JACOB’S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL
Becket, Mass., June 20–Aug.
30. jacobspillow.org
DEBORAH RILE Y DANCE PROJEC TS
Washington, D.C., April 18–19.
danceplace.org
Liz Lerman
Dance Exchange
ALVIN AILE Y AMERICAN
DANCE THEATER
New York City through Jan. 4;
Washington, D.C., Feb. 3–8.
alvinailey.org
LIZ LERMAN DANCE EXCHANGE
Germantown, Md., Jan.
4; Baltimore, March 7.
danceexchange.org
MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP
Washington, D.C., Jan.
29–31; Princeton, N.J., Feb.
24; Boston, March 19-22.
markmorrisdancegroup.org
MERCE CUNNINGHAM
DANCE COMPANY
Easton, Pa., Feb. 11; Beacon,
NY., Feb. 21 & 22; Brooklyn,
NY, April 16-19. merce.org
PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY
New York City, Feb. 25–March
15; Washington, D.C., March
27-28. ptdc.org
PHILADANCO
Wilmington, Del., Jan. 23;
Fairfax, Va., Jan. 31; Blue Bell,
Pa., Feb. 6; South Orange,
N.J., Feb. 6; Johnstown, Pa.,
April 2; Philadelphia, April
30–May 3. philadanco.com
PROMETHEUS DANCE
Boston, May 15–16.
prometheusdance.org
