AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL
JuneDurham, North Carolina
The American Dance Festival – “The world’s greatest dance festival,” says the New York Post – has grown to more than 400 students from all over the world and a faculty of 50. A creative laboratory dedicated to nurturing and sustaining modern dance, the ADF is an international magnet for choreographers, dancers, teachers, critics, musicians, and scholars, drawing them together to experiment, explore, learn, collaborate, and create in a supportive environment.
Photo: American Dance Festival
Performances by professional dance companies, from the most experimental to the most established, remain at the heart of the Festival. As the needs of the field have changed and grown over the years, the Festival's programs have been expanded and altered to help accommodate them.
Since its founding in 1934, ADF has been the scene of 622 premieres and 44 reconstructions by artists such as Martha Graham, José Limón, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Erick Hawkins, Alwin Nikolais, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Pilobolus, Laura Dean, Meredith Monk, Martha Clarke, Mark Morris, Bill T. Jones, and Eiko and Koma, among others.
Heralded as “One of the nation’s most important institutions” (New York Times), the American Dance Festival’s sustained record of creative achievement is indivisible from the history of modern dance.
Remaining true to the goals of its founding artists, the ADF's programs are developed based on its mission: to encourage and support the creation and presentation of new modern dance work by both established and emerging choreographers; to preserve our modern dance heritage through continued presentation of classic works, as well as through archival efforts; to build wider national and international audiences for modern dance; to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the art form and its cultural and historical significance; to provide a sound scientific/aesthetic base for professional education and training of young dancers and a forum for integrating and disseminating information on dance education.
American Dance Festival performances take place at the Durham Performing Arts Center in downtown Durham as well as at Reynolds Industries Theater and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on Duke University’s campus. The 2011 season features 8 world premiers, 5 US premiers, 5 reconstructions and 5 ADF company debuts.
For more information on the American Dance Festival visit www.americandancefestival.org/
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