+----------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
| **For Immediate Release**                    | **Contact: Sarah      |
|                                              | Priestman**           |
| ### March 15, 2007                           |                       |
|                                              | 301.270.6700 ext. 11  |
|                                              |                       |
|                                              | sar                   |
|                                              | ahp@danceexchange.org |
+----------------------------------------------+-----------------------+

> **Liz Lerman Dance Exchange**
>
> **Announces Washington DC Area**
>
> **Spring 2007 Performances**
>
> ***Choreographers Partner with Scientists, Backhoes***
>
> ***Immigration Issues Take the Stage in Reston***
>
> ***A New Take on Sonnets Premieres at***
>
> ***"Shakespeare in Washington" Festival***
>
> **Takoma Park, MD, March 12, 2007**: Liz Lerman Dance Exchange will
> present four productions in the Washington, DC area this spring with
> content that ranges from genetics to immigration to Shakespeare,
> casting that involves both core company and community participants and
> venues that include the new Atlas Performing Arts Center and the
> National Building Museum.
>
> The first, *Ferocious Beauty: Genome*, developed with the expertise of
> scientists from DC area institutions such as the National Institutes
> of Health, The Genetics and Public Policy Center and Howard University
> -- as well institutes and educational organizations across the country
> -- will be presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society at the
> Atlas Performing Arts Center April 26-29. The next event, *We Are
> Still Crossing,* investigates contemporary issues of immigration, and
> will be developed and performed with residents of Reston, VA on May
> 12. The company then partners with Street Scenes: Project for DC for a
> free, outdoor performance at the National Building Museum in which
> heavy machinery, community members and guest ballet dancers will
> gather May 20 to create *Pas de Dirt*. In June, the Dance Exchange --
> commissioned by *VSAarts* -- will present *The Farthest Earth From
> Thee,* an original work based on Shakespeare's sonnets. The piece
> premieres at the Greenberg Theater as part of the John F. Kennedy
> Center for Performing Arts "Shakespeare in Washington" Festival.
> Details of all performances follow:

**Thursday -- Sunday**

**April 26-29**

***Ferocious Beauty: Genome***

**Washington, DC premiere**

**Atlas Performing Arts Center**

**Washington, DC**

**Ticket Information: [www.wpas.org](http://www.wpas.org/)**

**202-785 WPAS (9727)**

> *Ferocious Beauty: Genome* investigates the startling realities of how
> knowledge of the genome is changing the ways we think about aging,
> perfection, ancestry, and evolution**.  ** *The Chicago Sun Times*
> described the piece as "\...beautiful, richly imaginative, hugely
> ambitious... a seamless blend of dance, music, ingenious storytelling,
> video and special effects... captivating, surprisingly funny,
> intensely moving, thought-provoking," after a run at the Museum of
> Contemporary Art in September, 2006.
>
> The DC performance is accompanied by programs highlighting the
> collaboration between science and dance that is at the heart of the
> piece. On Saturday, April 28, the National Human Genome Research
> Institute (NHGRI) will invite 60 science educators and their students
> to attend the performance. NHGRI Director Francis S. Collins, M.D.,
> PhD, who led the Human Genome Project, will guide a post-performance
> discussion with audience members. The evening is part of a larger
> collaboration between the NHGRI and Dance Exchange that celebrates
> National DNA Day (April 25), an annual education outreach effort
> organized by the NHGRI. On Sunday, April 29, Dance Exchange will host
> a "Slam Science" party with guests Neo Griots, a poetry collective
> whose members participated in *Ferocious Beauty: Genome* residencies
> in Flint, Michigan, and others who have created slam poetry about
> science, DNA and genetics.

"The NHGRI is extremely excited to be working with the Liz Lerman Dance
Exchange for this year's National DNA Day," states Vence Bonham, J.D.,
Chief, Education and Community Involvement Branch, NHGRI. "We hope this
will be an opportunity for D.C. area teachers and students to learn
about cutting edge topics in genetics through creative and innovative
ways."

**Saturday, May 12**

***We Are Still Crossing***

**CenterStage at the Reston Community Center**

**Reston, VA**

**Ticket Information: Restoncommunitycenter.org**

**703-476-4500**

*We Are Still Crossing* is a sequel to Liz Lerman's signature
work, *Still Crossing*, which was commissioned for the 1986 centennial
of the Statue of Liberty and inspired by the journeys of individuals and
family histories. The current piece examines contemporary questions of
immigration, transition, and home. Community members from the Reston
area are working with the Dance Exchange over a four month period to
contribute movement and theatrical ideas based on their own experiences.

**Sunday, May 20, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00**

**Washington, DC premiere**

***Pas de Dirt***

**The National Building Museum**

**Washington, DC**

*Pas de Dirt* is the 2006 winner of the coveted Prism Award from the
Zambelli Internationale fireworks company for "capturing the First Night
spirit" during its participation in a New Year's celebration in Del Ray
Beach, Florida. This piece is an illustration of the way the Dance
Exchange answers its own question, "Who gets to dance?"  Borrowing
elements of music and a few pirouettes from *Swan Lake,* even heavy
machinery gets a chance to dance as Producing Artistic Director Peter
DiMuro and community members develop choreography for (and with) the
equipment. *Pas de Dirt* is presented in cooperation with Street Scenes:
Projects for DC.

**Saturday and Sunday**

**June 2&3**

**World Premiere**

***The Farthest Earth From Thee***

**Greenberg Theater**

**Washington, DC**

**Ticket Information:**

[**www.vsarts.org**](http://www.vsarts.org/)

**202-885-2587**

*VSA arts* has commissioned the Dance Exchange to create *The Farthest
Earth From Thee: A Suite of Sonnets* for the John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts "Shakespeare in Washington" Festival. An original
work inspired by selected sonnets by Shakespeare, the production will
feature company and guest dancers with and without disabilities. *VSA
arts* is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts.

"The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange sets the *VSA arts* message of inclusion
and accessibility in motion," says Soula Antoniou, President, V*SA arts.
"*It's a perfect partnership. Shakespeare has never moved so
beautifully."

"While people usually think of choreographers employing music as the
inspiration for movement, we at the Dance Exchange often begin with
words, their multiple meanings, their sounds, and the metaphors they
suggest," explains Producing Artistic Director Peter DiMuro. "That is
where we find the true possibility for movement, partnering, imagery,
and staging."

The production is family-friendly and accessible to all. This includes
sign interpretation, audio description, captioning, assistive listening,
and the availability of programs in Braille and large print. Seating is
available throughout the theater for patrons who use wheelchairs.  

# About Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

Liz Lerman founded Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976. The company's
brand of dance/theatre breaks boundaries between stage and audience,
theater and community, movement and language, tradition and the
unexplored. Through explosive dancing, personal stories, humor, and a
company of performers whose ages currently range from 25 to 72. Liz
Lerman Dance Exchange stretches the expressive range of contemporary
dance. Its work consists of formal concerts, interactive performances,
specialized community residencies, and professional training in the art
of community-based dance. An artist-driven organization, Liz Lerman
Dance Exchange employs a collaborative approach to dancemaking,
administration, and implementation. Over the past few years the company
and its founder have won numerous honors, including a designation by
*Worth* magazine as one of the nation's top 100 non-profits and a
MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" Fellowship for Liz Lerman.
Representing the multiple artistic voices of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange,
current choreographic projects include explorations of coal mining,
genetic research, radical prayer and alternatively defined families.

For more information about Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, please visit
www.danceexchange.org.