Modern Repertory – Bridgman & Packer

photo by Julie Lemberger

Bridgman and Packer will set a group piece that will challenge the technical, partnering, and performance skills of the dancers. The work will be highly physical and theatrical. Partnering will include athletic and exhilarating lifts, falls, and weight supports in duet, trio, and group forms that use release and sensuality as well as strength. Some movement material will be developed through the creative input and improvisational skills of the cast. Bridgman and Packer emphasize the individual expression of each dancer and allow the cast’s unique qualities as performers to influence the work. Fun will definitely happen. The work will be performed in the Festival Finale. All participants must be enrolled in a Modern IV or V class. 

Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Artistic Directors of Bridgman|Packer Dance, collaborate as performers and choreographers. Their work developing "Video Partnering" — the integration of live performance and video technology — has been acclaimed for its highly visual and visceral alchemy of the live and the virtual. Based in NYC, they have been presented by City Center, Lincoln Center, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Dance Theater Workshop (now NYLA) among others. They have toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Central America, performing in festivals and arts centers. These include Spoleto Festival USA, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Munich International Dance Festival, The Institute for Contemporary Art/Boston, The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (St. Paul), Festival Internacional de Artes Escenicas (Panama), Kintetsu Theater (Osaka, Japan), Festival Internacional Chihuahua (Mexico), and Tancforum (Budapest). Bridgman and Packer are recipients of a Guggenheim Fellowship, consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for 2007 through 2012, and fellowships and grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, USArtists International, Performing Americas Project, and National Performance Network. Bridgman and Packer have been guest artists at over one hundred universities throughout the U.S.