KU News Release

LAWRENCE — The Lied Center of Kansas will present “Ferocious Beauty: Genome,” a multimedia dance performance by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange that examines the science of genetic research, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.

Through groundbreaking movement and theater, the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange investigates the possibilities that genetic research is creating. Under the artistic direction of award-winning choreographer Liz Lerman, the performance integrates dance, recorded and live-feed video and a multichannel soundscape.

Through collaboration with 34 genetic scientists and researchers from across the country, “Ferocious Beauty: Genome” creates a series of questions regarding the startling realities of how understanding the human genome might change the way we think about, and are able to live, our lives.

Contributors include artists, scientists and educators from institutions including John Hopkins University, Stanford University, Howard University, the Genetics and Public Policy Center and the U.S. Department of Energy.

As a continuation of last season’s Creative Campus project, Lerman will attend a creativity summit in which she will lead invited KU faculty through a critical response process seminar — showing the group an innovative method for generating feedback and evaluation.

Lerman is an American Choreographer Award winner whose work has been commissioned by the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, BalletMet and Harvard University. In 2002, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant. She is the author of “Teaching Dance to Senior Adults” and “Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process.” Lerman founded Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976. It is a multigenerational ensemble featuring dancers whose ages span five decades.

While in Lawrence, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange will conduct a week-long residency including activities with University of Kansas dance students, physics and astronomy students, the 940 Dance Company and more. The ensemble will also participate in the Lied Center’s Performing Arts 3to5 program.

“Ferocious Beauty: Genome” is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.