Liz Lerman

Women & Their Work was proud to present Washington, D.C. dancer Liz Lerman and The Dance Exchange in addition to her company of senior citizens, Dancers of the Third Age, for two performances and a one-week residency.

Lerman and her company worked in collaboration with local senior adults who, at the end of the residency, performed. Residencies took place at senior centers throughout Austin. By expanding the boundaries of dance to include older performers, Lerman exploded two stereotypes: the image of what a typical dancer looks like and the image of what a senior adult is and can do.

Liz Lerman and the Dance Exchange is an intergenerational dance company composed of professional dancers from the Washington, D.C. area. Combining dance with realistic imagery, works performed by the company are defined by the spoken word: drawing upon literature, personal experience, philosophy and political commentary.

Nationally known for her experimental modern dance work, Liz Lerman is an Artist-in-Residence at Jacob’ s Pillow Dance Festival. In 1988, she received her 7th Choreography Fellowship from the NEA. Notable engagements for her company of dancers, whose ages range from 60 to 88, included performances at the Smithsonian Institution, Wolf Trap, and the Spoleto Festival. Dancers of the Third Age were the subject of the Metromedia TV Special “I Don’t Feel Old When I’m Dancing.”

Liz Lerman‘s choreographed works have been seen throughout the United States and abroad. In the 15 years preceding this performance, she received recognition for her work with the Dance Exchange and as a solo artist. In 1989, she received an American Choreographer Award as well as her eighth Choreography Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.