New York, NY
Born 1954, Lawrence, Kansas
I see myself as participating in a tradition that began in the 17th century. The primary source of my work is classical ballet, which serves as an ingrained physical impulse upon which to create new forms of movement. On the technical side, my dances are practical experiments in balance, finding numerous ways of changing the impetus of a movement phrase without losing control of the body's momentum. The foot, leg, arm and trunk of the body are refocused into a different geometry by distributing the energy in new ways. The gestures look improvisatory with a natural emphasis that keeps them from feeling stylized or formal.
In my work, dance functions as a melody, and like a melody conveys a nonverbal meaning. The fluid, ever-evolving motion makes the dancer's body analogous to thought. At times, it develops into a lyric commentary on a momentary situation. By following the human undertones of the rhythm and lines of a body in action, emotion is suggested. The unexpected combinations, off balance motions, breaks, and accelerations convey psychological or existential points of view. However, the choreography never has a fixed meaning. It asks the spectator to join their imagination to the experience for a dream-like journey.
School of American Ballet
Harkness House
North Carolina School of the Arts
Choreographer, Director of Armitage Dance!
2004 Time is the Echo of an Axe Within a Wood, Armitage Dance, New York, NY
2003 Orfeo Ed Euridice, San Carlo Opera, Naples, Italy
2000 Schrodinger's Cat, Ballet de Lorraine. Theatre de l'Opera, Nancy, France
1999 Life Story, Wendy Whelen and Albert Evans of New York City Ballet for "Stars of New York." Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
2002 Officier des Arts et des Lettres
1992 Recipient of the French government's Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
1986 Guggenheim Fellowship in Choreography
2004 Director Venice Biennale International Festival of Contemporary Dance
1999-2002 Associate Choreographer Ballet de Lorraine, Nancy, France
1995-1998 Director/Choreographer MaggioDanza, Florence, Italy
