Christine Dakin
Encyclopedia
Christine Dakin, dancer - teacher - director, a foremost exponent of the Martha Graham
repertory and technique, is known for her performances of Ms. Graham's roles and for those created for her by Martha Graham and artists such as Robert Wilson
, Twyla Tharp
and Martha Clarke
. Performing in the principal theaters of the world, partnered by renowned artists such Rudolf Nureyev
and filmed in the repertory, she was chosen by Graham for the company in 1976. Dakin became an Associate Artistic Director in 1997 and was named Artistic Director with Terese Capucilli
in 2002. Leading the company to its rebirth, they are credited with bringing the artistic excellence and repertory of the Company to a level not seen since Martha Graham’s death and were named Artistic Directors Laureate.
Dakin was honored by the dance community with a “Bessie
” Performance Award (2003) and the Dance Magazine Award (1994), was a Fulbright Senior Scholar (1999) and recipient of two Rockefeller-US-Mexico Fund for Culture grants (1998, 2001) for choreography, research and teaching. At Harvard University she was the Evelyn Green Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2007/08), Visiting Lecturer for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (2006, 2009), offering the University’s first credit course in dance, and was the “Learning from Performers” guest artist (2001). Educated at the University of Michigan, Ms. Dakin is the recipient of the University of Michigan Alumni Award (2001), an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Shenandoah University (2001), and an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad de Colima, Mexico (2007).
On the faculty of The Juilliard School
since 1993, she is currently faculty at The Neighborhood Playhouse
School of the Theater and the Ailey
School in New York, and is known internationally as a teacher and guest artist; since 1981 maintaining a special relationship with the Mexican dance community as teacher, choreographer with the Ballet Nacional de México, Universidad de Colima’s Ballet Folklórico and contemporary company Univerdanza, and companies in Yucatán and Oaxaca. Her choreography in collaboration with Mexican composers and scenic designers has premiered in Mexico City and the International Festival St. Luis Potosí.
Dakin is currently creating a film and interactive DVD, La Voz del Cuerpo/The Body Speaks, her personal poetic of Martha Graham's dance; with an international collaboration of dancers and musicians exploring the revolutionary dance technique at the core of Graham's art and the creative life of the dancer. She is dancer and founding member of Buglisi Dance Theatre (1993), of danz.fest (Italy 2008) and Invernadero Danza (Mexico 2009), and with Radcliffe Institute colleague, physicist Jane Wang, is investigating with artists and scientists: “Locomotion/Emotion; perception of complex movement and the dynamics of beauty”.
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
repertory and technique, is known for her performances of Ms. Graham's roles and for those created for her by Martha Graham and artists such as Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson is an American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called "[America]'s — or even the world's — foremost vanguard 'theater artist'". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video...
, Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp is an American dancer and choreographer, who lives and works in New York City.-Early years:Tharp was born in 1941 on a farm in Portland, Indiana, and was named after Twila Thornburg, the "Pig Princess" of the 89th Annual Muncie Fair in Indiana.she spend hours working on it to help her...
and Martha Clarke
Martha Clarke
Martha Clarke is an American theater director and choreographer noted for her multidisciplinary approach to theatre, dance, and opera productions. She is the creator of plotless, dreamlike works that are perhaps described by the term "moving paintings. Her work frequently emphasizes striking...
. Performing in the principal theaters of the world, partnered by renowned artists such Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
and filmed in the repertory, she was chosen by Graham for the company in 1976. Dakin became an Associate Artistic Director in 1997 and was named Artistic Director with Terese Capucilli
Terese Capucilli
TERESE CAPUCILLITerese Capucilli came into her own as the most powerful dramatic dancer of the decade.Anna Kisselgoff, New York Times 1984She is a performer of prodigious physical prowess and generous personality, of burning passion,...
in 2002. Leading the company to its rebirth, they are credited with bringing the artistic excellence and repertory of the Company to a level not seen since Martha Graham’s death and were named Artistic Directors Laureate.
Dakin was honored by the dance community with a “Bessie
Bessie Awards
The New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards in honor of Bessie Schonberg, are awarded annually for innovative achievement in dance and related performances, particularly so-called "downtown" performances...
” Performance Award (2003) and the Dance Magazine Award (1994), was a Fulbright Senior Scholar (1999) and recipient of two Rockefeller-US-Mexico Fund for Culture grants (1998, 2001) for choreography, research and teaching. At Harvard University she was the Evelyn Green Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2007/08), Visiting Lecturer for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (2006, 2009), offering the University’s first credit course in dance, and was the “Learning from Performers” guest artist (2001). Educated at the University of Michigan, Ms. Dakin is the recipient of the University of Michigan Alumni Award (2001), an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Shenandoah University (2001), and an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad de Colima, Mexico (2007).
On the faculty of The Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
since 1993, she is currently faculty at The Neighborhood Playhouse
Neighborhood Playhouse
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is an actor training school at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner.-History:...
School of the Theater and the Ailey
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
School in New York, and is known internationally as a teacher and guest artist; since 1981 maintaining a special relationship with the Mexican dance community as teacher, choreographer with the Ballet Nacional de México, Universidad de Colima’s Ballet Folklórico and contemporary company Univerdanza, and companies in Yucatán and Oaxaca. Her choreography in collaboration with Mexican composers and scenic designers has premiered in Mexico City and the International Festival St. Luis Potosí.
Dakin is currently creating a film and interactive DVD, La Voz del Cuerpo/The Body Speaks, her personal poetic of Martha Graham's dance; with an international collaboration of dancers and musicians exploring the revolutionary dance technique at the core of Graham's art and the creative life of the dancer. She is dancer and founding member of Buglisi Dance Theatre (1993), of danz.fest (Italy 2008) and Invernadero Danza (Mexico 2009), and with Radcliffe Institute colleague, physicist Jane Wang, is investigating with artists and scientists: “Locomotion/Emotion; perception of complex movement and the dynamics of beauty”.