LIZ LERMAN DANCE EXCHANGE RESIDENCY
January 21 - February 3, 2008
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About the Residency
Washington, D.C.-based choreographer, social activist and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Liz Lerman and her performance company, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, will be in residence at Brown University and in the city of Providence from January 21 to February 3, 2008.
The residency, primarily funded by the Brown-RISD Hillel and the Brown University Creative Arts Council Lawton Wehle Fitt Endowment, is part of Dance Exchange new project entitled 613 Radical Acts of Prayer. In the Dance Exchange tradition of making dances that address cultural, social, and civic issues, 613 Acts of Radical Prayer is a dance-making project which focuses on the transformative nature of prayer and the relationship between spirituality and social action.
613 Radical Acts of Prayer is a global project that began in collaboration with Japan's Kyoto Contemporary Dance Center and is being further developed through multiple collaborations, including the Brown/Providence residency and at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, CT in June of 2008.
In Providence, residency participants will explore the creative process as a vehicle for radical social action and spirituality while expanding notions of prayer and dance. Lerman will ask us to reinterpret the concept of "prayer" by considering essential questions such as How can we engage in contemplative time? How can we pursue hope beyond ourselves? How can we come to understand each other? Participants will also explore Dance Exchange's core questions Who gets to dance? Where is the dance happening? What is it about? Why does it matter? in relation to the nature and practice of prayer.
The core of the residency is the creation of a new work for the concert stage. The performance will utilize both ancient and contemporary concepts of prayer to examine the intersection of ritual and social action, of faith and restless questioning. Dance Exchange performers will develop the piece in collaboration with a multigenerational group of community leaders, artists, educators, students, and other participants. The work will be performed in Brown University's Ashamu Dance Theatre on February 3, 2008, and in Stuart Theatre, also on the Brown University campus, May 1-4, 2008. The residency also will feature community workshops, a gallery show, a keynote speech by Liz Lerman and members of Dance Exchange, interfaith worship and discussion opportunities, and other events.
Participants and audience members will include Providence and Providence-area community members interested in art as a means of social action, spirituality, contemplation, education, and community service.
Listen to Liz Lerman on NPR (4.8MB mp3 download)
Read more about 613 Acts of Radical Prayer:
- Dance Exchange website
- Dance of the Lord, New Jersey Jewish News
- Moving Prayers, Jewish Reporter
- Art in Community: Written in Stone, Danced on the Body
Please contact lizlermanresidency [at] cox.net for more information.
The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Residency is generously supported by Brown RISD Hillel, Brown University Creative Arts Council, Brown University Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance, Brown University Office of the President, Brown University Office of Campus Life and Student Services, Brown University Office of the Chaplains and of Religious Life, Brown Office of Institutional Diversity/Provost, RISD Office of Student Life, RISD Office of Public Engagement, RISD Office of the Provost, the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.