Stephen Petronio

“The most appealing thing about Stephen Petronio’s choreography has always been its raw New

York energy. Almost more than any other US choreographer whose work we regularly see over

here, Petronio taps into the mania of the downtown New York scene.”

The Times, London

STEPHEN PETRONIO (Artistic Director/Choreographer) was born in Newark, New Jersey,

and received a BA from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, where he began dancing in

1974. Initially inspired by the dancing of Rudolf Nureyev and Steve Paxton, Petronio was

the first male dancer of the Trisha Brown Company (1979 to 1986). He has gone on to

build a unique and powerful language of movement in a career than spans over 25 years.

He has received numerous accolades, including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship,

as well as awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, New York

Foundation for the Arts, an American Choreographer Award, and a New York Dance and

Performance “Bessie” Award.

He has created over 35 works for his company, and has been commissioned by some of

the world’s most prestigious modern and ballet companies, including William Forsythe’s

Frankfurt Ballet (1987), Deutsche Oper Berlin (1992), Lyon Opera Ballet (1994), Maggio

Danza Florence (1996), Sydney Dance Company (2003, full evening), Norrdans (2006), the

Washington Ballet (2007), and The Scottish Ballet (2007).

His company repertory works have been set on The Scottish Ballet, Norrdans in Sweden,

Dance Works Rotterdam, National Dance Company of Wales, X Factor Dance Company in

Edinburgh, Ballet National de Marseille, Ballet-de-Lorraine, and London Contemporary

Dance Theater.

In Spring 2009 Stephen completed an evening-length work, Tragic Love for 30 dancers in

collaboration with composer Ryan Lott (aka SON LUX) for Ballet-de-Lorraine. The dance

premiered in Montpellier, France June 27, 2009. He completed another new work with

Ryan Lott titled By Singing Light, for the National Dance Company of Wales that

premiered in Cardiff in October 2010. New projects include The Social Band, a

commission for Other Shore Dance Company in New York that premiered on February 10,

2011 at the Historic Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida and Prometheus Bound, a

musical for the American Repertory Theater, in collaboration with director Diane Paulus

(HAIR), writer and lyricist Steven Sater (Tony award, Spring Awakening) and composer

Serj Tankian (Grammy award, lead vocalist “System of a Down”), which had its premiere

on March 4, 2011. Stephen is currently working on a memoir with a working title, “Notes

from A Life in Motion.”

Class Description

Classes are focused on building a rigorous and intelligent movement practice. Beginning with a warm-up that guides the participants to make a muscular and skeletal connection to their unique physicality, emphasis is placed on the articulation of the spine, the opening of the joints and the direction and flow of energy throughout the body and into space. This preparation is followed by phrases and variations of movement derived from Company Repertory, addressing its unique focus on dynamic sequencing, poly-rhythmic initiations, and a sense of fearlessness within a complex architectural form.