18/7/2000
Dancing in the Millennium
Kennedy Center, Washington
Unprecedented Gathering of Dancers, Scholars, Teachers, Critics and Presenters Meets to Celebrate Dance in Its
Many Forms, to Assess Its Role in Cultural and Individual Expression, and to Discuss Where the Future May Lead
Tap to Ballet, Square Dancing to Modern, Ballroom to Hip Hop, Korean to Native American Dance - All Are
Represented
Kennedy Center Presents Week of Dance Performances
From Wednesday, July 19 through Sunday, July 23, 2000, Dancing in the Millennium, an unprecedented gathering of dancers,
scholars, choreographers, dance medicine practitioners, teachers, critics and presenters meets in the nation's capital to celebrate and
evaluate the state of this most fundamental of human expressions. In a non-stop series of performances, presentations, exhibitions,
film screenings, workshops, seminars and discussions of all varieties - on site, in cyberspace and by satellite - the Conference
energizes its venues at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, George Washington University and the Washington Marriott
Hotel.
Dancing in the Millennium is organized by Congress on Research in Dance (CORD), Dance Critics Association (DCA),
National Dance Association (NDA), and Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) in association with 16 partner
organizations. Altogether, the organizing principals embrace dance in all its aspects and across all its constituencies. The Conference
website, provides complete details about the program, the presenters, registration, accommodation
and transportation. General information: 301-657-2883 or ndea@erols.com .
An important emphasis of the Conference is arts funding and dance education. A pre-Conference workshop on arts advocacy takes
place the morning of July 19 and Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts delivers the Keynote Address at
2:15 PM on Thursday, July 20. A segment on Thursday, the 20th examines the positive effect of dance creativity on at risk teens;
another on Saturday, the 22nd examines dance as an effective means of violence prevention.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a week of dance performances to coincide with the Conference (Kennedy
Center press contact: Paul Bilyeu/202-416-8448). In addition, a special performance takes place Friday, July 21 at Duke Ellington
School of the Arts; the Banquet on Saturday, July 22 includes a community dance called by Brad Foster of the Country Dance &
Song Society; and a post-Conference movement choir by the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies encircles the
Franklin Delano Roosevelt monument on Sunday, July 23 at 3 PM.
Well-known leaders of the dance community - including Sally Banes, Brenda Bufalino, Lynn Garafola, Sali Ann
Kriegsman,Wendy Perron and Marcia Siegel - are among the presenters. Subjects of discussion include an exhaustive list of
creative luminaries ranging from Bela Lugosi to Lincoln Kirstein, Igor Stravinsky to Agnes de Mille, Andy Warhol to Auguste Rodin,
Jean Cocteau to Twyla Tharp, and George Balanchine to Martha Graham.
A very broad overview of the intense schedule of presentations over the four days beginning at 1 PM on July 19th and concluding at
11 AM on July 23 includes:
digitizing dance
dance and ethnicity
mixing it up: crossing cultural boundaries, sampling diverse dance idioms
to choreograph or not?
dance, identity and sexuality
the world of dance from Portugal to Poland, India to Spain, pueblo to street corner, dance hall to concert stage
still figuring it out: dance preservation
the physicality of dance: questions of body type, age, and mobility
(please see http://www.artsnet.org/dance2000 for the complete schedule and descriptions)
In addition to CORD, DCA, NDA and SDHS, Dancing in the Millennium's 16 partner organizations are: American Dance Guild·
American Dance Therapy Association· Country Dance and Song Society· Dance and the Child International/USA Chapter· Dance
Films Association· Dance Heritage Coalition· Dance Librarians Committee/American Library Association· Dance Notation
Bureau· Dance Perspectives Foundation· Dance USA· International Association of Blacks in Dance· International Association for
Dance Medicine and Science· International Tap Association· Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies· National Dance
Education Organization· Preserve, Inc
Many would argue that dance is as old as history, so innately human and irresistible, it is universally recognized as a metaphor for life.
In most cultures, dance marks important rituals in almost everyone's life. And in African, Asian and Native American cultures, dance
is an essential part of religious expression. In Western societies, many artists formalize these rituals on stage in movement we applaud
as ballet, modern, jazz, tap and hip hop.
Dancing in the Millennium invites us to think about dance, its meaning, how it feels and why, and how it has evolved within the self
and society. The Conference also seeks to increase communication among dance professionals of all kinds, and to make a case for
increased funding for dance as an art form and as a vital educational tool.
PRESS CONTACT:
Cynthia Kirk
503-274-2980
- or -
Martha Ullman West
503-236-5882 - meast10516@aol.com