American Dance Festival Celebrates 80 Years
March 28, 2013

A tour group watches an ADF summer class in action

When dance legends Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman founded the American Dance Festival in 1934, they could not have anticipated how it would shape modern dance in the 21st century. Today, ADF offers classes and intensives, year-round outreach programs, scholarships for choreographers and teachers and a dance MFA program through Hollins University.

This is all in addition to the festival’s renowned summer performance series, the details of which have just been released for the 80th anniversary season. Scheduled for June 13–July 27 at and venues in Durham, North Carolina, and NYC, the lineup features works by Paul Taylor Dance Company, Twyla Tharp, Pilobolus, Trisha Brown Dance Company, Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Camille A. Brown & Dancers and Faye Driscoll. International companies including Argentina’s Brenda Angiel Ariel Dance Company, The 605 Collective from Canada and Ireland’s ponydance will also perform. The season’s nearly 50 performances comprise 11 ADF debuts, nine world premieres, two reconstructions and a US premiere. Tickets go on sale May 13 for as little as $15.

Photo by Grant Halverson, ©ADF 2012