Since 1976, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has challenged and invigorated the world of dance, pioneering work in collaborative techniques in communities across the country.
A recent winner of the MacArthur Foundation "genius" award, Lerman is developing a major new dance suite she calls Ferocious Beauty: Genome, which will premiere at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in 2006. It is a groundbreaking effort to use the dance medium to explore the meaning and potential of new genetic science research on the human condition. Genome is a serious attempt to investigate a plurality of viewpoints on the science, aesthetics, ethics, human choices, and potential of a brave new world that is hurtling toward us.
Lerman will report on the work in progress, discuss the challenges of crossing the boundaries between art and science, and share her growing understanding creativity and inquiry in both fields. She will be joined by Dr. Kathy Hudson, director and founder of the Genetics and Public Policy Center, an organization dedicated to the analysis of public policy issues raised by advances in human genetics.
Co-sponsored by the Dance Center, the Office of Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.