Book description
The unique career of choreographer Liz Lerman has taken her from
theater stages to shipyards, and from synagogues to science labs. In
this wide-ranging collection of essays and articles, she reflects on her
life-long exploration of dance as a vehicle for human insight and
understanding of the world around us. Lerman has been described by the
Washington Post as "the source of an epochal revolution in the
scope and purposes of dance art." Here, she combines broad outlooks
on culture and society with practical applications and accessible
stories. Her expansive scope encompasses the craft, structure, and
inspiration that bring theatrical works to life as well as the
applications of art in fields as diverse as faith, aging, particle
physics, and human rights law. Offering readers a gentle manifesto
describing methods that bring a horizontal focus to bear on a
hierarchical world, this is the perfect book for anyone curious about
the possible role for art in politics, science, community, motherhood,
and the media.
To explore Lerman's dances about science and tools for embodied learning
please visit her Science Choreography website:
http://sciencechoreography. wesleyan. edu/. The site is a valuable
resource for teachers from middle school through the university level.
"Hiking the Horizontal is a necessary addition to the libraries of
dance aficionados and artists. But it also has much to offer to the
broader dialogue on the arts. lerman is thoughtful, insightful and
gentle in her approach, and her message carries deep value."--Peter
DeVries, Dance International LIZ LERMAN is founding artistic director
of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, a dance company featuring a
multigenerational ensemble that creates, performs, teaches, and engages
people in making art. Throughout its thirty-year history, Dance Exchange
has participated in thousands of performances and community encounters
around the globe. In 2002 Lerman was recognized with a MacArthur
"Genius Grant" Fellowship.
