“Ferocious Beauty: Genome”  Premiers at Wesleyan

“Ferocious Beauty: Genome” premiered Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 in the Center for the Arts Theater.

How we heal, age, procreate and eat may soon change because of genetic research happening right now. The world premiere of renowned choreographer Liz Lerman’s “Ferocious Beauty: Genome” explores this moment of revelation and questioning in an arresting theatrical work that combines movement, music, text and film.

The world premier of “Ferocious Beauty: Genome” took place Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, in the Center for the Arts Theater.

The piece is the result of an unprecedented partnership with scientists and ethicists to confront the promise and threat of a new biological age.

For the past three years, the CFA and Wesleyan faculty have partnered with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, led by Liz Lerman, to explore the ethical and social repercussions of genetic research. The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange is a professional company of dance artists that creates, performs, teaches, and engages people in making art.

Through relationships with Wesleyan’s science faculty and students, Wesleyan served as a “laboratory” for Lerman’s development of the piece. This collaboration reflects both the Dance Exchange’s and Wesleyan’s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, as the project has initiated an unprecedented dialogue between scientists and artists. The outcome will be represented through a plurality of viewpoints, mirroring a dialogue among multiple voices—artistic, scientific and scholarly—in their varied perspectives.

Wesleyan provided extensive information, assistance and feedback in helping Lerman to create the piece.

“The piece took a conceptual turn several times because of the contributions from the scientists at Wesleyan,” Lerman says. “And, the fact that one of the scientists is a dancer made the leap between the two disciplines easier.”

The partnership with Wesleyan has also resulted in the most comprehensive residency ever undertaken by a dance company at Wesleyan. Lerman joined Wesleyan’s dance faculty as a visiting assistant professor for fall 2005. Students in her class had the opportunity to explore scientific, ethical and social issues related to genetic research.

Liz Lerman, who received a MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellowship in 2002 for her visionary work, exposed Wesleyan students and faculty to the Dance Exchange’s methods and interdisciplinary approach. The ultimate goal was to refine ways to teach science to non-scientists and to gain knowledge through embodied movement.

Wesleyan and the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Mich. are the lead commissioners of “Ferocious Beauty: Genome.”

The show will soon tour major performing arts centers including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and the Krannert Center for Performing Arts at the University of Illinois.

For more information on the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange visit http://www.danceexchange.org/.