Liz Lerman | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Bennington College University of Maryland, College Park (BA) George Washington University (MA) |
Known for | Choreographer |
Spouse | Jon Spelman (storyteller) |
Liz Lerman (born December 25, 1947) is an American dance choreographer. She founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and created the Critical Response Process. [1] [2]
Liz Lerman was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 25, 1947. At age 14, she danced in Washington, DC, for President Kennedy as part of a group from the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. [3] She attended Bennington College, where she studied under Martha Wittman, who later became a member of Dance Exchange. Lerman earned a BA in Dance from the University of Maryland and an MA in Dance from George Washington University. [3]
Lerman founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and led its multi-generational ensemble until July 2011, when Cassie Meador became artistic director. [4] The company is now known as Dance Exchange. [5] [6]
Dance Exchange has performed at venues including the National Cathedral, Kennedy Center Opera House, [7] Millennium Stage, [8] Lansburgh Theatre, [9] Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, [9] [10] Harvard University, [11] and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. [12] [13]
Lerman's early work included older dancers alongside young performers [14] and used personal narrative. [15] Her later work explored scientific themes, including genomics, [16] high-energy physics, [17] and the effects of war. [18] She and her dancers collaborated with professionals in various fields, including shipbuilders, physicists, construction workers, and cancer researchers. [3]
In January 2016, Lerman joined the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University as Institute Professor. [19]
Lerman was named a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow. [20]
Lerman uses the word "tools" to refer to concepts from her artistic process that can be applied to many situations. [3] These include “Rattle around in someone else’s universe,” [3] “Turn discomfort into inquiry,” [3] and “Nothing is too small to notice.” [21]
Lerman created the Critical Response Process (CRP), a method for giving and receiving feedback, in 1990. [3] She co-authored the book Critical Response Process: A Method for Getting Useful Feedback on Anything You Make, from Dance to Dessert with John Borstel. [22]
CRP is used by organizations including the Innovative Conservatoire, [23] the Federation of Scottish Theatres, [24] the London Sinfonietta, [25] the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Yorkshire Dance, [26] the Yale School of Drama and the Tisch School for the Arts. [27] CRP facilitator-cohorts are in development in Scotland [28] and Baltimore, Maryland. [29] In 2014, Yorkshire Dance developed a beta-version of an online adaptation of CRP called "respond." [30]
Lerman and Borstel's book Critique is Creative was published in 2022 by Wesleyan University Press. [31]
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