Man/Chair Dances

About Man/Chair Dances

Partnerships with Orchestras

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.

Commissioned by the Omaha Performing Arts Society, Man/Chair Dances premiered at Omaha’s Holland Center for the Arts in February, 2006.

"Man/Chair Dances embodied what is best about Lerman's groundbreaking work," wrote Washington Post dance critic Sarah Kaufman, reviewing the piece as part of the Dance Exchange 30th Anniversary Concert at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in November, 2006. "The piece was full of wit and surprises, as six dancers darted through the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, progressing from small, restrained solos on chairs to well-behaved duets to far wilder group formations. Somehow, they managed to avoid mishaps with the musicians. In this context, the good-natured conductor, James Ross, could be considered one of the dancers as well, performing his own energetic solo."

Partnerships With Orchestras

Man/Chair Dances is just one way in which the Dance Exchange partners with the world of orchestral music.  Dance Exchange trainers have also worked with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Juilliard School of Music, and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland School of Music to explore how principles of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process can address communication needs of sectional rehearsals. 

In addition, Liz Lerman serves as an advisor and provocateur at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Orchestra Forum, a series of national gatherings designed to examine the complexity of challenges facing American orchestras.