Open to: Int/Adv Level professional and pre-professional dancers age 18 or older.

Intensive Includes: LehrerDance Technique, Style & Repertoire / Improvisation / Partnering [...]]]> The LehrerDance Summer Intensive is an exciting opportunity to study with Artistic Director Jon Lehrer and LehrerDance company members as you learn and perform the style and repertoire that Dance Magazine describes as, “Strikingly Original” & “Breathtaking Physical Excitement.”

Open to: Int/Adv Level professional and pre-professional dancers age 18 or older.

Intensive Includes: LehrerDance Technique, Style & Repertoire / Improvisation / Partnering / LD Fusion / Health & Wellness Workshop / Q & A with Jon Lehrer Performance & Reception*

*All intensive participants will perform in a concert with LehrerDance on Sunday June 10 at the beautiful UB Center for the Arts Drama Theatre, followed by a reception.

Performance is open to the public.

 $600 - Includes all classes, performance & reception.

Each participant will receive 2 tickets to the performance.

Additional tickets available for purchase for $12 at CFA Box Office

On Campus Housing Available

Register Now

Questions? Email Jon Lehrer - jon@lehrerdance.org

Colin Dabkowski was in attendance on Sunday and had these words to say about our homecoming performance at UB CFA –  (

In its first local performance of the current season, Lehrer-Dance, [...]]]> LehrerDance kicked off its 2011-2012 season with a bang this past weekend at the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts.

Colin Dabkowski was in attendance on Sunday and had these words to say about our homecoming performance at UB CFA –  (

In its first local performance of the current season, Lehrer-Dance, the Buffalo-based touring company founded by choreographer Jon Lehrer in 2007, got off to a stunning start.

The first piece on the program of the company’s two weekend performances in the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts, “The Alliance,” was a tour de force of creativity that bodes well for the company’s popularity and seemed to signal a refinement of Lehrer’s signature style.

The opening piece, set to pulsing electronica, seemed a far more disciplined and constrained than the company’s go-to show-stopper, “A Ritual Dynamic,” itself an accessible and exhilarating piece of choreography that showcases the company’s defining aesthetic — something Lehrer calls “organic athleticism.”

Lehrer’s approach, in my limited familiarity with it, has seemed to hinge at least partially on the idea that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. And Lehrer’s dancers, except when he occasionally hits pause on his remote to create exquisite little stage portraits, are almost always following the logic of their bodies from one exuberant movement to another.

With “The Alliance,” though, a different dynamic is at work. The company comes onto the stage in a sort of casual march, like soldiers showing up for work. The mechanized choreography continues, interrupted by little bursts of individuality. You get the feeling the dancers are reluctant pistons firing away in a numbing routine, cogs in some massive machine.

Soon, though, the dance shifts into an even stranger brand of mechanized darkness in which the dancers, outfitted in black uniforms with painted-on musculature, do a sort of dystopian danse macabre that becomes absolutely mesmerizing.

But it’s not to last. That second movement eventually resolves itself—maybe at the end of the workday, maybe when the soldiers go on leave — into something far freer, more joyful and almost spiritual in its exuberance.

You could read the piece in a variety of ways, as a chronicle of the 9-to-5 life, or as a reminder that a primal figure resides somewhere within each of us, just biding its time until it can bust out and start dancing. However you want to look at it, “The Alliance” is a stunning piece of work.

Next on the company’s robust program was the comical “SuperZeroes,” in which charmingly idiosyncratic tics and fragments of movement that most choreographers would toss onto the cutting room floor are strung together to tell an odd story about what would seem to be a dysfunctional family of superheroes.

“Morphic Slip,” a gorgeous duet set to music by Aphex Twin and featuring Rachael Humphrey and Theodore Krzykowski in white costumes that make them look vaguely like worms, entrances with its lyrical and sensual movement. In Sunday afternoon’s performance, “Cesura,” a 2000 piece featuring founding company member Immanuel Naylor and Marideth Wanat, struggled toward a sense of chemistry that remains elusive.

The evening also included “Bridge and Tunnel,” Lehrer’s charming reflection on his upbringing in Queens set to four songs by Paul Simon (which also served as the inspiration for the LehrerDance and MusicalFare collaboration “Something So Right”); the premiere of “Taken,” a moving solo piece featuring Naylor; and “Hearth,” a lyrical and beautifully danced piece featuring four female dancers.

LehrerDance does concert dance for people who think they don’t like concert dance. In its four years of existence, the company has built its fan base through the sheer creativity of its work, the incredible athleticism of the dancers and irresistible vibe of a company that has figured out how to strike that elusive balance between art and entertainment.

The weekend’s nearly sold-out run was proof of its success.

(via Buffalo News)

The first piece on the program of the company’s two weekend performances in the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts, “The Alliance,” was a tour de force [...]]]>

In its first local performance of the current season, Lehrer-Dance, the Buffalo-based touring company founded by choreographer Jon Lehrer in 2007, got off to a stunning start.

The first piece on the program of the company’s two weekend performances in the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts, “The Alliance,” was a tour de force of creativity that bodes well for the company’s popularity and seemed to signal a refinement of Lehrer’s signature style.

The opening piece, set to pulsing electronica, seemed a far more disciplined and constrained than the company’s go-to show-stopper, “A Ritual Dynamic,” itself an accessible and exhilarating piece of choreography that showcases the company’s defining aesthetic — something Lehrer calls “organic athleticism.”

Lehrer’s approach, in my limited familiarity with it, has seemed to hinge at least partially on the idea that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. And Lehrer’s dancers, except when he occasionally hits pause on his remote to create exquisite little stage portraits, are almost always following the logic of their bodies from one exuberant movement to another.

With “The Alliance,” though, a different dynamic is at work. The company comes onto the stage in a sort of casual march, like soldiers showing up for work. The mechanized choreography continues, interrupted by little bursts of individuality. You get the feeling the dancers are reluctant pistons firing away in a numbing routine, cogs in some massive machine.

Soon, though, the dance shifts into an even stranger brand of mechanized darkness in which the dancers, outfitted in black uniforms with painted-on musculature, do a sort of dystopian danse macabre that becomes absolutely mesmerizing.

But it’s not to last. That second movement eventually resolves itself—maybe at the end of the workday, maybe when the soldiers go on leave — into something far freer, more joyful and almost spiritual in its exuberance.

You could read the piece in a variety of ways, as a chronicle of the 9-to-5 life, or as a reminder that a primal figure resides somewhere within each of us, just biding its time until it can bust out and start dancing. However you want to look at it, “The Alliance” is a stunning piece of work.

Next on the company’s robust program was the comical “SuperZeroes,” in which charmingly idiosyncratic tics and fragments of movement that most choreographers would toss onto the cutting room floor are strung together to tell an odd story about what would seem to be a dysfunctional family of superheroes.

“Morphic Slip,” a gorgeous duet set to music by Aphex Twin and featuring Rachael Humphrey and Theodore Krzykowski in white costumes that make them look vaguely like worms, entrances with its lyrical and sensual movement. In Sunday afternoon’s performance, “Cesura,” a 2000 piece featuring founding company member Immanuel Naylor and Marideth Wanat, struggled toward a sense of chemistry that remains elusive.

The evening also included “Bridge and Tunnel,” Lehrer’s charming reflection on his upbringing in Queens set to four songs by Paul Simon (which also served as the inspiration for the LehrerDance and MusicalFare collaboration “Something So Right”); the premiere of “Taken,” a moving solo piece featuring Naylor; and “Hearth,” a lyrical and beautifully danced piece featuring four female dancers.

LehrerDance does concert dance for people who think they don’t like concert dance. In its four years of existence, the company has built its fan base through the sheer creativity of its work, the incredible athleticism of the dancers and irresistible vibe of a company that has figured out how to strike that elusive balance between art and entertainment.

The weekend’s nearly sold-out run was proof of its success.

Details: Saturday, October 1st -  8pm / Sunday October 2nd [...]]]> 2 World Premiers, 2 Revivals, and 4 Fan Favorites!

After another exciting year touring around the country proudly carrying the Buffalo name, LehrerDance returns to the Center for the Arts on October 1st & 2nd, 2011 for their annual Home Season.   The performance will feature:

Details: Saturday, October 1st -  8pm / Sunday October 2nd – 3pm

University at Buffalo Center for the Arts – Drama Theatre

Tickets – $21.50 / $16.50 (students)

Available at www.ubcfa.org or call the CFA Box Office – (716) 645 – 2787

World Premieres

“The Alliance” - a full-throttle work for the entire company set to music from Australia and Russia. Showing off the company’s trademark athletic ingenuity, “The Alliance” intertwines dynamic ensemble movement with intricate partnering and breathtaking imagery.

“Taken” -  a solo for Immanuel (Manny) Naylor examining the fragile nature of life, inspired by Manny’s own experience with a near death experience in 2008. Set to the operatic sounds of ”Textile Audio”,  this searing  work requires Manny to dig deeper than ever before both physically and mentally.

Revivals

“Bridge & Tunnel” - the critically acclaimed work featuring the music of Paul Simon that inspired “Something So Right” (SSR) – the hit music, dance and theatre collaboration with UB Center for the Arts and MusicalFare Theatre . Originally choreographed in 2002, “Bridge and Tunnel” is one of the company’s most beloved and well reviewed works-  a genuine crowd pleaser!

“Cesura” - created in 2000 and performed by Jon Lehrer  all over the world, “Cesura”, Latin for a brief pause or interruption, is being performed by LehrerDance for the first time. This provocative duet examines a ‘can’t live with, can’t live without’ relationship as the 2 dancers struggle for dominance. Since 2000, Jon has been the only male dancer to perform “Cesura”.

…as well as fan favorites - ”A Ritual Dynamic” , “SuperZeroes”. “Morphic Slip” & “Hearth”

Don’t panic! The LehrerDance website is back up again.

The group has revamped its site, making more content available more easily [...]]]> Buffalo.com‘s Emily Stoll  reached out to LehrerDance Media Director Nate Benson and discussed the recent LehrerDance website revamp, our marketing strategy and our upcoming performances. Here’s what they talked about -

Don’t panic! The LehrerDance website is back up again.

The group has revamped its site, making more content available more easily and changing the look. Check it out when you get a chance, and watch some of the cool videos they’ve uploaded.

LehrerDance is a top-notch group, performing at events like Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts, Erie Festival of Dance, Motion Dance Convention, Buffalo Dance Festival, Jazz Dance World Congress, and Impulse Dance Festival. It was founded by Jon Lehrer, who originally took up dance at age 19 – on a dare. He didn’t expect to fall in love with dance and make a career out of it.

Lehrer has choreographed for high-ranking groups like:
• Thodos Dance Chicago
• Instruments of Movement
• Momenta Dance Theatre
• Louisiana Dance Theatre
• Le Jazz Groupe from Monterrey, Mexico
• Kannon Dance of St. Petersburg, Russia

Now founder and artistic director of his own group, he’s made it LehrerDance’s mission “to foster the creation of new works by Jon Lehrer in order to present a style of movement that is organic, artistic and comprehensible, and to bring an understanding of life and the human condition to audiences around the world though innovative choreography.”

But why the sudden web overhaul? According to Nate Benson, the marketing and media expert for the group, he and Lehrer had already been discussing it for a brief time before the decision was made.

“We knew that it was going to be a down time,” Benson said, noting there would be a large gap between the May 23 LehrerDance Summer Intensive Performance and the July 21 M&T Bank Summer Series. So why not fix the site up a bit before it’s time to promote their home season?

They took the site down, Benson admits, “to create a little bit of hype for it…. We threw our video promo up and the link to email Jon,” and that was that. Less than a week later, the new site made its debut.

Don’t go looking for the webmaster, though – everything is done by LehrerDance. “We’ve been doing [the web design] since we started in 2007,” Benson said. “We want to be very clear about the look” and give LehrerDance a distinct, unique feel, something extra to set it apart from the others.

Make sure to see one of LehrerDance’s upcoming performances. The next two are right here in Buffalo, and their home season in October will be at the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts.

Keep an eye on the website for more content – Benson expects more media to come up as the summer progresses, and “everyone is more than welcome to provide some more feedback.”

Thanks again to email from Buffalo.com for reaching out to us and check back for more updates!

Dance Source Houston

2/6/2010

LehrerDance, on loan from Buffalo, New York last weekend for JCC of Houston’s 30th annual Dance Month celebration, didn’t have me at “hello.” But it only took until the “how are ya?” for choreographer Jon Lehrer’s musical and intuitive repertory and his plucky cast [...]]]>

Dance Source Houston