Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

ISSUE AREA: PEOPLE

City: Tacoma Park, MD
Arts - Education - Urban

Contact:
Kimberly Quick
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
7117 Maple Avenue
Takoma Park, Maryland 20912
(301) 270-6700
kquick@danceexchange.org

Date Published: September 2006

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange is a professional dance company that seeks to perform, teach, and engage individuals in making all types of performance art. The Dance Exchange was created in 1975 by Liz Lerman who wanted to build a company around both of her desires to teach and perform art at a professional level. Through the 1980s the Exchange built its national recognition by touring the country and engaging hosting communities through residencies. As the company’s recognition became more widespread, the Exchange closed its dance school and began international touring. In 1993, the Exchange felt the call for greater involvement in its home community of Washington, D.C. With funding from a major grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the company began to build its involvement in the community by fostering local partnerships with community groups and by self- producing their own shows. Though the Dance Exchange became more involved in the Washington, D.C. area, they still operate residency programs throughout the country and abroad.

Many of the educational programs offered in the D.C. area by the Dance Exchange are geared toward specific age groups; in fact, the Exchange operates a program specifically tailored to teaching elderly individuals how to dance and providing a space elderly social interaction. Currently, the Dance Exchange is involved with community residencies, workshops, institutes, schools, and technical assistance. The Exchange holds these residencies in both the national and international communities. Designed with the intentions to bring local community groups together to innovatively explore the expressive power of movement and dance with important issues, residencies involve public performances, and community performances. These Residencies have been able to create relationships between groups who would not commonly associate with one another, such as dance troupes and prison associations. The Exchange provides a ‘toolbox’ of the knowledge they have gained from their community building experiences through the years.

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange is classified as a charitable non-profit organization. They have eighteen major funders including, The Washington Post, and The National Endowment for the Arts; however, they do receive private donations as well. Residency programs receive funding from regional dance and arts organizations along with national organizations such as the Ford Foundation.

Resources:

www.danceexchange.org/index.asp
www.americansforthearts.org/