Liz Lerman

Liz Lerman (born December 25, 1947) is an American dance choreographer. She founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and created the Critical Response Process.^{[1] [2]}

Liz Lerman was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 25, 1947. At age 14, she danced in Washington, DC, for President Kennedy as part of a group from the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan.^[3] She attended Bennington College, where she studied under Martha Wittman, who later became a member of Dance Exchange. Lerman earned a BA in Dance from the University of Maryland and an MA in Dance from George Washington University.^[3]

Lerman founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and led its multi-generational ensemble until July 2011, when Cassie Meador became artistic director.^[4] The company is now known as Dance Exchange.^{[5] [6]}

Dance Exchange has performed at venues including the National Cathedral, Kennedy Center Opera House,^[7] Millennium Stage,^[8] Lansburgh Theatre,^[9] Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,^{[9] [10]} Harvard University,^[11] and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.^{[12] [13]}

Lerman's early work included older dancers alongside young performers^[14] and used personal narrative.^[15] Her later work explored scientific themes, including genomics,^[16] high-energy physics,^[17] and the effects of war.^[18] She and her dancers collaborated with professionals in various fields, including shipbuilders, physicists, construction workers, and cancer researchers.^[3]

In January 2016, Lerman joined the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University as Institute Professor.^[19]

Lerman was named a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow.^[20]

Lerman uses the word "tools" to refer to concepts from her artistic process that can be applied to many situations.^[3] These include "Rattle around in someone else’s universe,"^[3] "Turn discomfort into inquiry,"^[3] and "Nothing is too small to notice."^[21]

Lerman created the Critical Response Process (CRP), a method for giving and receiving feedback, in 1990.^[3] She co-authored the book Critical Response Process: A Method for Getting Useful Feedback on Anything You Make, from Dance to Dessert with John Borstel.^[22]

CRP is used by organizations including the Innovative Conservatoire,^[23] the Federation of Scottish Theatres,^[24] the London Sinfonietta,^[25] the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Yorkshire Dance,^[26] the Yale School of Drama and the Tisch School for the Arts.^[27] CRP facilitator-cohorts are in development in Scotland^[28] and Baltimore, Maryland.^[29] In 2014, Yorkshire Dance developed a beta-version of an online adaptation of CRP called "respond."^[30]

Lerman and Borstel's book Critique is Creative was published in 2022 by Wesleyan University Press.^[31]

• 2002 MacArthur Fellowship^[32]
• 2009 Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue^[33]
• 2015 American Dance Guild Lifetime Achievement Award ^[34]
• 2014 Dance/USA Honor Award ^[35]
• 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award^{[36] [37]}
• 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship^[38]

• Teaching Dance to Senior Adults, 1984^[39]
• Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process: A Method for Getting Useful Feedback on Anything You Make, from Dance to Dessert (co-author with John Borstel), 2003^[40]
• Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes from a Choreographer, Wesleyan Press, 2011^[41]

• Complete list of choreographed works

• 1947 births
• Living people
• American choreographers
• MacArthur Fellows

• CS1 maint: location missing publisher
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards