How To Lose a Mountain

Meat, milk, produce, grain; heat for our houses; power to run cars and computers: Behind every product we use is a story that has been lived and a distance that has been traveled. Behind every resource we consume are communities, lands, and processes that often exist beyond the scope of our awareness. What happens when the source of a resource is examined? Could knowing the story behind our stuff change our relationship to process and use of product? Who gets to tell the story? As the source of art, what can the body reveal through the telling and retelling of stories? Led by choreographer Cassie Meador, How To Lose a Mountain will probe these questions in a project that is rooted in a family story and realized through a physical journey. More...

MetLife Foundation Healthy Living Initiative

As the healthcare industry expands, so does research-based evidence that arts integration improves the quality of the healthcare experience for patients, their families, and the health professionals who serve them. At Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, we have been integrating art in healthcare settings for over thirty years. Drawing on this rich history, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, we are pleased to launch the MetLife Foundation Healthy Living Initiative at Dance Exchange. More...

The Matter of Origins

Currently in development under the artistic leadership of choreographer Liz Lerman, The Matter of Origins will explore the theme of beginnings, drawing ideas from the worlds of history, science and religion. Presented in a distinctive combination of formats, including stage performance, public encounters and educational programming, The Matter of Origins is a performance, a conversation, a floor show, a quiz show and a chance to meet big minds. It’s a dance to watch and a dance to learn. More...

Drift

Commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Local Dance Commissioning Project in 2008, Drift is an original work by company member Cassie Meador.  The initial concept for the piece was inspired by Meador’s visits to her hometown of Augusta, Georgia.  Over time, a nearby plot of land was transformed from rich farmland to a strip mall, to the site of a Piggly Wiggly supermarket, and finally to what now is a place of worship – complete with the leftover electronic swinging doors from the Piggly Wiggly. More...

Ferocious Beauty: Genome
Ferocious Beauty: Genome investigates the startling realities of how knowledge of the genome will change the way we think about aging, perfection, ancestry, and evolution.  The company developed the piece through collaborations with thirty-four genetic scientists and researchers from leading universities and government agencies across the country. More...

Small Dances About Big Ideas
The result of an unprecedented partnership with Harvard Law School and commissioned by the Seevak Fund for The Harvard Law School/Facing History and Ourselves Program, Small Dances About Big Ideas premiered in November 2005, at "Pursuing Human Dignity: The Legacies of Nuremberg for International Law, Human Rights and Education," an international conference that commemorated the 60th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials. More...

Imprints on a Landscape: The Mining Project

Imprints on a Landscape: The Mining Project uses a combination of movement, video, spoken word, audio of interviews and original music to explore the connections between life, work and landscape in coal mining communities. The piece also touches on the role of new and renewable energy technologies in protecting the landscape such as wind and solar power. More...

613 Radical Acts of Prayer

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has a long history of making dances that address questions of faith. In a new suite of dances tentatively titled 613 Radical Acts of Prayer, Liz and collaborators – such as Japan’s Kyoto Contemporary Dance Center – utilize both ancient and contemporary concepts of prayer. More..

The Farthest Earth From Thee
Commissioned by VSA arts, The Farthest Earth From Thee is an original work inspired by William Shakespeare’s sonnets.  The production features company and guest dancers with and without disabilities. Shakespeare revealed intense, intimate, and moving relationships through his sonnets. This collection of contemporary dances transforms his words into explosive movement and vibrant video images. More...

Pas de Dirt

Pas de Dirt is an illustration of the way the Dance Exchange answers its own question, "Who gets to dance?"  Borrowing elements of music and a few pirouettes from Swan Lake, even heavy machinery gets a chance to dance.  In fact, the cast includes propane-powered backhoes, their licensed operators, professional dance artists from the Dance Exchange, and ballet student guest artists. More...

Man/Chair Dances

Man/Chair Dances provides a new slant on the partnership between music and dance. As an orchestra performs The Chairman Dances by the renowned contemporary composer John Adams, dancers move on chairs and platforms placed amongst the cellos, trombones, timpini and oboes. More...

Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process

Liz Lerman’s Critiical Response Process is a widely-recognized method that nurtures the development of artistic works-in-progress through a four-step, facilitated dialogue between artists, peers, and audiences. More...

DC XIII Improv Festival lives on!

Watch Web-Only Performance Video: "Off Site and In Sight" -- Choreography by Cassie Meador