Liz Lerman
Elizabeth Ann Lerman is a Jewish American dance choreographer, visionary artist, writer, educator, and speaker. Lerman is the recipient of numerous awards including a 2002 MacArthur "Genius Grant," 2014 Dance/USA Honor Award, 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, and a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship. She founded and led the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange from 1976 until 2011 where she cultivated the company's unique multi-generational ensemble into a leading force in contemporary dance. Lerman invented the Critical Response Process, a four step method for giving and receiving helpful feedback. She is the author of several books and her work has been commissioned by many institutions, among them Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Harvard Law School, and Portsmouth Music Hall. Lerman is an Institute Professor at Arizona State University and Fellow at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.
Early life
Liz Lerman was born in Los Angeles, California on December 25, 1947. Lerman describes being a "wild child", as she ran up giant slides, jumped through their flooded backyard, and begged for dance classes which she finally began when her family left California for Washington, D.C. in the early 1950s. At age 14 in 1962, Liz Lerman danced in Washington, D.C., for President Kennedy as part of a group from the Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan.Lerman's father, Philip Ephraim Lerman was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he became active in progressive Jewish youth groups. He was a labor organizer for the Congress of Industrial Organizations and served in World War II as a medic. Eventually, Phil worked in a tire store in Milwaukee that Lerman's grandfather had opened after a hazardous journey out of Russia in the early 1900s. Lerman's father remained a dedicated political organizer and served as the Secretary of Industry, Labor and Human Relations for the State of Wisconsin under Governor Lucey from 1971 to 1977. Lerman's mother, Anne Louise Levy, was raised in San Francisco and was one of the first women in a Ph.D. program in mathematics at University of California, Berkeley. She worked as a draftsperson during World War II and eventually supported Dane County's public mental health network as a Counselor and Administrator. Both parents nurtured Lerman's artistic growth, but in very different ways. Her father insisted on understanding the community and social context of art, while her mother pushed her toward radicalism, independent thought, and asymmetry.
Through her father's civil rights activism, Lerman was highly aware of the inequities present in Milwaukee where the Black community faced high unemployment, unequal housing, and segregated schools. An ongoing challenge was instigated for Lerman about redefining an artist's role to include questions concerning subject matter, financial sustenance, and pursuing deeper relationships with audiences.
Lerman graduated high school early and worked a clerical job before pursuing higher education. From 1965 to 1967, she attended Bennington College, where she studied under Martha Wittman, who later became a member of the Dance Exchange. From 1967 to 1968, she attended Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Lerman then transferred to University of Maryland where she earned a BA in Dance in 1970. Upon graduation, she worked at the Sandy Spring Friends Schools in Sandy Spring, Maryland as a history teacher and strengthened their dance program. After one semester, Lerman shifted to teaching dance full-time after making dance an essential part of the school's curriculum and culture until she left in 1973.
Lerman eventually earned a MFA in Dance from George Washington University in 1982. She trained in dance with Ethel Butler, Meriem Rosen, Viola Farber, Peter Saul, Jan Van Dyke, Maida Withers, Twyla Tharp, Florence West, Martha Wittman, Don Redlich; mime with Jan Kessler; and theatre with Robert Prosky. Lerman considers most of her education to have occurred in rehearsal halls, community gatherings, and interactions with her peers.
Personal life
Lerman lives in Tempe, Arizona with her husband Jon Spelman, and dogs Willie and Rosie. Their daughter Anna Clare Spelman, is a documentary filmmaker who lives in Turkey with her husband Peter Prix.Family is a big influence in Lerman's life. She grew up with two brothers. Her older brother, Richard, was an internationally renowned experimental sound and installation artist and educator who taught at Arizona State University for many years. Her younger brother, David, since deceased, was an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee where he instituted restorative justice practices within legal and educational systems.
Career
1970s
Although Lerman dabbled in choreography in high school and college, she considers her choreographic career to begin with the solo piece called New York City Winter about her nine months living in the East Village and working as a go-go dancer to fund her technique classes.When her mother died from cancer in 1975, Lerman entered an emotional period of loss and reflection. She wanted to harness her family's experience into a dance so she sought out the presence of older dancers needed to fulfill the dream imagery she had lived with while her mother was dying. Lerman's search led her to the Roosevelt Hotel for Senior Citizens where she taught a unique technique class based on how she understood dance at the time. The class met once a week and between 30 and 80 residents would attend. Inspired and necessitated by her mother's death, Lerman choreographed Women of the Clear Vision, her first piece that included older dancers. The piece honored her mother's life and death, where Lerman performed as both mother and daughter.
As Lerman continued her work at the Roosevelt Hotel for Senior Citizens and teaching at George Washington University, she learned that her potential to apply for resources to support her work would be greater if she led an organization. In 1976, Lerman founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange where she embraced cross-generational, cross-racial, and cross-class work.
1980s
While leading the Dance Exchange, Lerman pursued making dances that explored critical social topics such as Docudance: Reaganomics and Docudance: Nine Short Dances About the Defense Budget and Other Military Matters which quickly gained media recognition. She began to weave together personal narratives, historical facts, and data-driven information into her choreographic storytelling.Her decade-long work with the elders at Roosevelt Hotel was curated into her first book, Teaching Dance to Senior Citizens, as a practical, step-by-step guide. In 1986, Lerman was commissioned by Dancing in the Streets to commemorate the Statue of Liberty centennial celebration, which became the iconic piece Still Crossing. Lerman continued to choreograph timely pieces such as Pavane for Two Older Women, E.Hopper, Russia: Footnotes to a History, and Atomic Priests. The Dance Exchange emerged as a model company that could balance touring concert and community-based work, and maintain an environment at home for workshops and special classes.
1990s
Well into her choreographic career with the Dance Exchange in the early 1990s, Lerman decided to channel her frustration with the careless habits surrounding criticism into a new feedback ritual. Lerman experimented with systems of peer response grounded in inquiry, honesty, supportive critique, and addressing the problems of hierarchy. After testing in various settings such as the American Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival, and Alternate ROOTS, Lerman articulated the now renowned formal system of The Critical Response Process.Notable dance pieces from Lerman's career in the 90s included The Good Jew? where Lerman put herself on trial to question whether she was Jewish enough. Safe House: Still Looking was made in response to requests from the city residents of Wilmington, Delaware to recognize their history in the underground railroad. The piece also made it possible for the community to extend questions of race and culture into the present day. Shehechianu: Faith and Science on the Midway, Shehechianu: Bench Marks, and Shehechianu: Skin Soliloquies were inspired by the question of how histories affect the present and used the Jewish prayer Shehecheyanu as a balm. Lerman loosely translates the prayer as "Isn't it amazing that, given all our different histories, we're gathered together in this moment?" The three pieces drew from the company members' personal experiences to illustrate the joys and challenges of coexisting and questioned how to move forward with respect for the past.
The Music Hall's Shipyard Project culminated an eighteen month residency with the community to process the downsizing and efforts to close the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Lerman and the company collaborated with shipyard workers, civilian and military personnel, youth, and retired shipyard professionals to develop pieces that interpreted their experiences with the shipyard. The project culminated in a one week festival where the company and residents performed twice a day, once on the shipyard ground and once somewhere in the community.
Lerman premiered Fifty Modest Reflections on Turning Fifty in 1998 which crossed her personal milestone with the 50th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. Lerman interviewed her father, just before his death in 1999, and his voice and stories are interspersed throughout the piece. White Gloves/Hard Hats and Pas de Dirt premiered the iconic duet between bulldozers and ballerinas. Lerman finished off her career in the 90s with early explorations of what would become The Hallelujah Project.
2000s
From 1998 until 2002 for The Hallelujah Project, Liz Lerman and the Dance Exchange traveled across fifteen cities and worked with over 1000 community members in search of the daily moments of praise and celebration. Fifteen unique projects were created ranging from In Praise of Ordinary Prophets in Arizona to In Praise of Paradise Lost and Found in Michigan.In 2002, Lerman was awarded the MacArthur Foundation's "Genius" Grant showcasing the power of dance to harness lived experience as a means of connection across generations and communities. With the support of her long-time collaborator, John Borstel, Lerman published Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process: A Method for Getting Useful Feedback on Anything You Make, from Dance to Dessert. The step-by-step guide formally introduced the Critical Response Process as a method for giving and getting feedback on creative work in progress, designed to leave the maker eager and motivated to get back to work.
Lerman was commissioned by the Harvard Law School to develop a performance for a conference marking the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials. Small Dances About Big Ideas boldly tackled topics of genocide and international law. Martha Minow, the dean of the Harvard Law School at the time, was pivotal to the research and encouraged a portion of the performance to be interactive with the audience. Audience's stories and movement were incorporated in the memorable final scene where performers petitioned the judge using current events from that day in the International Criminal Court.
Dedicated to using dance for public understanding of complex topics, Lerman developed Ferocious Beauty: Genome in collaboration with scientists from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, Howard University, and Wesleyan University, where the piece premiered. Lerman artistically showcased the awe and rigor of genetic research and provided audiences with fundamental knowledge around developmental biology. A popular work which toured for more than five years, Ferocious Beauty, was the first of a trilogy of science/art work where video projections were intrinsic to performance.