Liz Lerman's Background
Liz Lerman was born in 1947 in Los Angeles but was brought up in Milwaukee. She attended college at Bennington and later at Brandeis University. She proceeded to earn a B.A in dance from Maryland University and a Masters from the George Washington University. She made most of her artistic works in Takoma Park in Maryland where the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange is based (Litsey 25).
Early Career and Influences
Her professional career spans over six decades starting in 1964. In 1976 she founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange which teaches dance and choreography based on the genre of improvisation. The genre of dance in the seventies was purist and narrow based on ballet and the Graham technique (Marshall). This influenced her decision to explore dance outside of these confines and to expand the category of people who could dance. She has collaborated with physicists, construction workers, and diverse communities in her dance. Her later works were community-based with the development of the Critical Response Process. Her artistic work was different from other artists who focused on studio and stage performances while she used new platforms such as naval shipyards.
Artistic Statement
Her artistic statement is based on the question 'who gets to dance?' in which she seeks to include as many people and communities as possible. Her performances have the overarching theme of exchanging information and ideas. The artistic process is open to different publics which produce outcomes that are relevant, participatory and can be used by others. For example, she explores the relationship between war and medicine in Healing Wars. Her artistic expression is intended to invite participation rather than passive engagement. It encompasses the spoken word, movement, music, and imagery. The elderly and those who may never have participated in dance performances get the chance through her dance initiatives (Marshall). Dance to Lerman becomes a means to effect change in the lives of the individuals who participate. Her choreography is evocative and provocative at the same time. In The Matters of Origins, she questions the metrics that are used to measure the metric. By including 'tea, food and conversation' in her choreographed dances, the audiences are in effect part of the production. Her artistic work gets feedback through the Critical Response Process that involves the facilitator, responders, and the artist (Litsey 28). The most important aspect of Lerman's dance approach which makes her unique is the paradigm shift from a dance which is hierarchical to horizontal.
Dance Analysis
Matter of Origins, URL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3PPY0z2a24
The Matter of Origins dance video premiered in 2010 in Maryland at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (Lerman 8). It was as the result of a conversation she had with physics Professors at the University of Michigan. The talk was focused on particle physics, cosmology and the work being done at CERN in Geneva. The dance was conceived after Lerman visited CERN and was founded on discovering beginnings from the scientific point of view. Her artistic expression and vision of the beginnings of life is a juxtaposition of specificity and abstract choreographed dance moves (Litsey 28). It seeks to answer the questions as to why the most important things in life are immeasurable. The question as to how we measure what we measure is also explored in this dance. In one scene, the dancers say aloud the scientific formula which is displayed on the screen and then proceeds to dance the formula (Dance Exchange Videos). As the first part comes to an end, Lerman is heard asserting that true measurement is impossible despite the range of tools we possess. In the second act of the dance, the problem of measurement is quantified in terms of scale: the uncertainty, speed and time (Lerman 15). There are a large number of audiences that are taking tea within the second act. The dance is slower, takes less time, and is uncertain as to what is happening.
Ferocious Beauty: Genome
URL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHSHzMdWKMk
This dance premiered at the Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 2006. It was the result of the collaboration between Lerman and collaborating scientist from institutions such as the Genetics and Public Policy Center and various American Universities. The dance probes the importance of genetics with regard to the mapping of the human genome. It is a mosaic of the current and historical questions that surround the topic of genetic research. The scientists are involved in the production through video segments that form a part of the dance. The artistic vision of Lerman employs movement, multimedia elements, sound, and the narrative of the collaborating Professors. In the first act, vignettes are used to show the vigor associated with discoveries in the field of genetics. It closes with a symbolic solo performance of a female dancer who moves backward within a circle of light on the stage (Dance Exchange Videos). Afterward, she makes movements which take her forward and to the center of the ring. It perhaps symbolizes the journey that the field of genetics has made in history to where it is currently.
Works Cited
“Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Ferocious Beauty: Genome-Multimedia.” YouTube,
posted by Dance Exchange Videos, 5 March 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHSHzMdWKMk
“The Matter of Origins by Liz Lerman.” YouTube, posted by Dance Exchange Videos, 7 February 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3PPY0z2a24
Lerman, Liz. Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes from a Choreographer, Wesleyan University Press, 2011.
Litsey, Diane. "Liz Lerman Encourages Artists to .." Southern Theatre, vol. 51, no. 3, Summer2010, pp. 24-31.
Marshall, Lea. “Why Celebrated Choreographer Liz Lerman Makes Dances for Nondancers.” DanceTeacher,
12 December 2017, http://www.dance-teacher.com/why-celebrated-choreographer-liz-lerman-makes-dances-for-nondancers-2513841752.html Accessed 7 March 2018
