David Dorfman
2020 Grand Marshal
2020 Grand Marshal
Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes
Choreographer and Dance Activist David Dorfman has been making movement-based dance theater since 1981. In 1987 he founded David Dorfman Dance (DDD) with the intention of creating politically and socially relevant work. Whether he is celebrating the prophetic possibilities of music and dance in his Sly & the Family Stone-inspired “Prophets of Funk,” exploring the principles of political activism in “underground” or sharing the stage with local athletes in “The Athlete's Project,” David and his dancers radiate a genuine belief that we can achieve a more just and loving society through movement. DDD has performed at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Bates Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and toured throughout the South through South Arts Dance Touring Initiative. In 2014, DDD was invited to tour Turkey, Tajikistan, and Armenia with DanceMotion USA. In May 2018, DDD traveled to El Salvador to lead a series of Violence Prevention Workshops sponsored by the US Agency for International Development. For thirty-three years, DDD has inspired, mentored and served as a springboard for a new generation of culturally and aesthetically diverse dancemakers including DDD alumni Kyle Abraham, Raja Feather Kelly and Jennifer Nugent, among others. A master educator, David is a tenured professor at Connecticut College, choreographed Broadway's “Indecent,” and has received multiple awards incl. a 2019 USA Fellowship in Dance, a Guggenheim fellowship, 4 NEA fellowships, a Bessie, and a Lucille Lortel.
For more information, please visit www.daviddorfmandance.org