Acclaimed wheelchairbound choreographer visits Eisenhower Dance Detroit
This week Eisenhower Dance Detroit in Bloomfield Hills welcomed acclaimed international disabled choreographer and artistic director Marc Brew, who will be setting a work on the company as guest choreographer from March 5-14.
An open rehearsal of the work-in-progress will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12, at Eisenhower Dance Detroit's Maggie Allesee Studios for Dance & Arts Innovation, 450 Enterprise Ct, Bloomfield Hills. He will also host a contemporary Master Class for dance department students at Oakland University from 9 to 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 15, at Varner Hall.
Brew, wheelchair-bound after a car accident left him paralyzed at age 20, is known for his precise choreography which draws on the unique physicality of each performer — both disabled and non-disabled — and continually challenges performers' expectations of their own limitations. He has worked with the Scottish Ballet, Australian Ballet Company, AXIS Dance Company, Ballet Cymru (Wales), San Francisco Ballet Trainees, and Dancing Wheels (USA) among others.
“Marc's visually stunning choreography blew me away when I saw his work on Axis Dance Company, a professional dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers from Los Angeles, Calif., back in 2019,” said Eisenhower Artistic Director Stephanie Pizzo, in a statement. “I knew instantly that I wanted the dancers of Eisenhower Dance Detroit and our community to experience Marc and his choreography. His openness to speak about his disability and how he continues to believe in himself and his passion for dance is inspiring. I am excited for our community to get to know Marc and to be moved by his work!”
On Saturday, Brew taught a class at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Bloomfield Township, which included other disabled dancers who are part of the studio's “Dance Mobility” ballroom dance program for wheelchair-bound individuals.
To RSVP to Sunday’s Open Rehearsal or for more information about Eisenhower Dance Detroit, visit eisenhowerdance.org/companycalendar.