Overview
Dancing Legacy shares the transformative power of dance through impactful experiences that reach across boundaries. Our programming is built upon the philosophy of our “founding mothers” Carolyn Adams and Julie Adams Strandberg, both of whom have played instrumental roles in the field of American dance since the 1960s.
Dancing Legacy shares the transformative power of dance through impactful experiences that reach across boundaries. Our programming is built upon the philosophy of our “founding mothers” Carolyn Adams and Julie Adams Strandberg, both of whom have played instrumental roles in the field of American dance since the 1960s.
One of the Adams sisters' guiding principles is honoring the importance of legacy, viewing dance as a living heritage that should be readily available for anyone to connect and engage with over time. We pass on great dance to new generations of audiences and performers, an approach that is less common in dance than in other art forms such as music and theater. Can you imagine a musician or music lover never having access to Duke Ellington, Bach, Aretha Franklin, or Johnny Cash? An actor or theater fan being denied Shakespeare, Lorraine Hansberry, or Rodgers and Hammerstein? This lack is often the case in dance, which is why Dancing Legacy’s approach is so crucial and unique. We use dance to make active connections to the past while exploring how it relates to and informs our present and future.
Another of the Adams sisters’ core beliefs is that the culture of the United States of America is largely unrecognized for its richness and depth. American dance holds compelling stories of the country's complexity. Dancing Legacy's activities, centered around Repertory Etudes, offer opportunities for ongoing discovery and insight into the American experience for those inside and outside of the nation.
Photo credits: Erin X. Smithers (header), Lucia Lopez (body)