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LOVE SUITE LOVE (1992) 20-minute work
“Dorfman smartly explores her theme of unrequited love in wry,
on-the-mark variations.”
(The Baltimore Sun)
“...the great interwoven threads of love, hope, and youth, and, of course, the unbounded joy of dance well done” (The Martha’s Vineyard Times)
Choreography Carolyn Dorfman
Music Patsy Cline
Costume Design Russell Aubrey and Laura Drawbaugh
Lighting Design John Evans
"LOVE SUITE LOVE explores the passionate themes and music of country and western singer, Patsy Cline. Using pillows and chairs as props that are very much a part of the action, Dorfman “gives new meaning to the phrase ‘pillow talk’.” (Echoes-Sentinel).
"This hilarious dance was a gem of understatement . . . This was dancemaking of great sophistication." The Star-Ledger
(Love Suite Love was created with major sponsorship from the AT&T and Geraldine R. Dodge Foundations, and in part by a 1992 Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/ Department of State.
SEXTET (1994) 16-minute work (3 men and 3 women)
“Kinetic angels, innocent of gravity’s mortal tug... They
fly deft and agile, through fast shifting shapes riding the current of
movement.” (Dance Magazine)
“Sextet is a beautifully structured work for three men and three women ... Sextet uses many combinations of dancers to explore such variables as strength, weight and balance in energetic and sometimes surprising ways.” (The Star Gazette)
Choreography Carolyn Dorfman
Music Horacee Arnold
Costume Design Russell Aubrey and Traci DiGesu
Lighting Design Don Firestone, recreated by Susan Summers
With commissioned music by jazz composer, Horacee Arnold, this sextet is an exploration of the energy, rhythm and power of six dancers. With images of quick darting actions and suspended moments at its core, this dance challenges the dynamic and technical range of the dancers. Following an accumulation form, the dance progresses from duet to trio, quartet, quintet and finally the full ensemble.
(This work was made possible, in part, by a choreography grant from The AT&T Foundation and a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.)
A FORK IN THE ROAD (1996) 15-minute work
Choreography Carolyn Dorfman
Music Horacee Arnold with Buster Williams and Vic Juric
Capitalizing on the unique and versatile talents of CDDC, this work includes the audience as never before. The musicians and dancers present the audience with a menu of music and movement choices, allowing the audience to create the dance at each performance. A Fork in the Road breaks the “4th wall” in the theatre for audience, dancers, and musicians, affording audiences a look at, and involvement in, the creative process. Ms. Dorfman explains, “I want to change the way the audience looks at every dance they see after this one. Participating in the creation of dance may be the only way to truly do that.” This type of audience outreach and involvement is a hallmark of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company.
(This work was made possible, in part, by AT&T, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and a 1995 Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/ Department of State.)
DANCE/STORIES (1996) a 75-minute work (full-evening work)
An Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Conceived, Directed, and Choreographed by Carolyn Dorfman
Storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston
Composer, Drummer Horacee Arnold
Composer, Violinist John Blake
Visual Artist, Set Designer Christine Martens
Costume Design Russell Aubrey
Soft Sculpture Costumes Karen Small
Costume Construction Russell Aubrey and Cathy Hazeltine
DANCE/STORIES is an interdisciplinary collaboration which features a selection of folk tales and stories from around the world and artistically explores the integration of narrative, music and movement. Performing with the ensemble, Charlotte Blake Alston brings her dynamic and enchanting storytelling-style. John Blake creates eloquent and moving “dialogue” with his violin. Horacee Arnold, with John Blake, create the driving rhythms and musical landscape that encompass the work. Carolyn Dorfman and Company, through image and metaphor, magically weave the threads that create a multi-cultural tapestry. Together, music, dance, and stories focus on the commonality of the human experience across generations, geographic differences and socio-political environments.
(CDDC gratefully acknowledges the major sponsors of this work including AT&T, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Eleanor B. Reiner Foundation, The Prudential Foundation, Wordsmith Communications Group, Inc. and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State via General Operating Support and a 1995 Choreography Fellowship Award to Carolyn Dorfman. CDDC also acknowledges the following producers: Clara and William Gallick, Michael and Joel Lerner, Kathi R. Levin, Eileen and Alex Macaione, Irwin Math, Patricia N. Nanon, James and Janis Quinn, John and Michele Scioscia, Clifford J. Schob M.D., Professor Marguerite Briston Tiffany, and Gayle S. Weiss.)
PORTRAIT (1996) 17-minute work
“displayed a luscious, lyric femininity that could have been seen as a paean to women everywhere.” --Backstage
Choreographer Carolyn Dorfman
Music Jennifer Giering
And Vocal Performance
PORTRAIT is Carolyn Dorfman’s first collaboration with vocalist/composer, Jennifer Giering, who has created a haunting, yet affirming, original score. Performed by five women, PORTRAIT moves with poised grace and elegant strength. Five woman dance the inner life of one woman. With its haunting, yet affirming score, performed by Ms. Giering, the journey of creating this work revealed for Ms. Dorfman an astounding reality: “Balance in life is not a static repose or rest, but rather a shifting equilibrium within acceptable parameters.” Such is the life of a woman. As in all of my work, the relationship of the individual to the ensemble is of paramount importance. No where is it more critical than when five dancers must come together to dance one life.
UNDER MY SKIN (1999)
Choreography: Carolyn Dorfman
Commissioned Score: Jennifer Giering
Lighting by John Evans
Costumes by Russell Aubrey
With original music by composer/vocalist Jennifer Giering, this set of
three songs chronicles the growth and depth of a relationship. It is a
duet about concealment and revelation . . . isolation and trust.
"Under My Skin is filled with dynamic variety and the accents that Dorfman loves, [it] communicated a strong sense of creative freedom." The Star Ledger
(Under My Skin was created with sponsorship from The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Summit Physical Therapy, Henry and Mala Dorfman, and Thomas Gayeski.)
MAYNE MENTSHN (My People) 2001 (70 minute work)
“The messages were universal…communicated by strong dancers who could act. [The] fine cast…danced eloquently…[with] intense emotion.” J. Dunning- The New York Times
“A remarkable evening of theater.” P. Goldman, Backstage (2001)
“A masterpiece in the making”. Asbury Park Press
“Mayne Mentshn (My People) marks its creator, Carolyn Dorfman,
as an epic storyteller”.
Daily Record
Mayne Mentshn is a full evening work that is comprised of two parts: The Klezmer Sketch and The American Dream. Combined, they celebrate Ms. Dorfman’s Eastern European Jewish heritage and the increasingly common story of immigrant families in America. It is a joyous and soulful work that illuminates the power of art to speak about history and legacy and to celebrate, both our uniqueness and commonalties, our diversity and our humanity.
“With mind, body, spirit, both past and present, the creation of Mayne Mentshn was an inevitability for me. As a child of Holocaust survivors, I spent the last 18 years creating work that explored the pain of that experience for my parents, family and me. As I have grown, I have come to realize that to fully understand the profoundness of pain and loss, one must experience and celebrate the life that was interrupted. Sifting carefully through the rubble, I discovered a rich legacy and a story that had to be told. If not, the pain would remain and the lives and memories lost forever. In Mayne Mentshn, including The Klezmer Sketch and The American Dream, I finally acknowledge all of the strengths, trials, and more importantly, humor and joy that have sustained ‘my people’. In The Klezmer Sketch I wanted to mine the exuberant, joyful, yet soulful quality of Klezmer music that inspired me to explore Jewish gesture, expression, ritual, character and values. In The American Dream, I wanted to address the struggle of all immigrant cultures as they struggle to maintain the identity of their cultural roots while becoming a part of another, larger whole.” Carolyn Dorfman
Choreography/ Carolyn Dorfman; Music/ Greg Wall; Lighting Design/John Evans; Costumes/ Russell Aubrey
ECHAD (One) 2002 (33 minute work)
"Her exploration in dance of the human experience both reflects
and engenders a profound humanity. Because her dances are about people
and life experience, often moving from the autobiographical to the universal,
they hold immediate appeal"
—The New York Times
Echad, the Hebrew word for “One” refers to the power of one
community; the uniqueness or oneness of each individual and the delicate
balance between the two, that is the essence of our humanity.
“The creation of this work was inspired by writings and description of pre-biblical life, the Jewish liturgy and the ultimate evolution of human theology and philosophy. At the center of the work is The Wheel. Both abstract and metaphorical, The Wheel represents many things. First and foremost it signifies the circle of life and community. This circle can embrace, imprison, give birth, cause death, create conflict or support, separate or join, burden or free. Through group and individual discovery it transforms into an umbrella under which the members of the community can feel supported, can support, leave freely and return; a shifting, changing image of human/community equilibrium. The need to create this work now was fueled by my recent visit to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland last summer and the horrific events of September 11th. All have led me to the conclusion that our humanity lies in the recognition of the uniqueness and value of each individual.” Carolyn Dorfman
Choreography/Carolyn Dorfman; Music/Greg Wall; Lighting Design/Chuck
S. Reece
Costumes/ Russell Aubrey; Set Construction/Acadia Scenic
LOVELINES (2003)
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. - Robert
Frost
Choreography by Carolyn Dorfman
Music featured songs by Lonestar
with original music by Greg Wall
Costume Design by Russell Aubrey
Lighting design by Charles S. Reece
Set Construction by Acadia Scenic**
Recorded Voices Amanda Duffy, David Foubert, Roderick Lapid, Molly McCann,
and Heather Murdock (Members of The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey’s
Shakespeare Live Theater Company)**
"…. new work that maps the exploration of one of the most
fertile minds in modern dance. LoveLines is a joyous ramble through an
all-too-human maze of longings, self doubt and frustrations that, eventually,
ends in fulfillment – if we’re lucky! Dorfman has a great
gift for using dance to explore the human condition."
-Sheila Abrams, Observer Tribune
"LoveLines, a rollicking, good-natured satire of the human condition."
Robert Johnson, The Star Ledger
