Choreographer Liz Lerman to receive SFU’s Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue

SFU’s 2009 Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue is going to celebrated choreographer Liz Lerman.

The founder of the world-acclaimed Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, based out in Maryland, will receive the award at an invitation-only event at the Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street) on October 19 at 7 pm.

Named after SFU president emeritus Jack P. Blaney and supported by the Jack P. Blaney Endowment Fund, the award is “presented to an individual who exemplifies, internationally, the spirit and programs of SFU’s Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue”, according to the university’s Web site.

“Recipients of the award will have demonstrated excellence and accomplishments in using dialogue to further understanding complex issues of public importance,” the site also explains.

SFU has this to say about Lerman:

Liz Lerman embodies the spirit of dialogue through her cross-disciplinary, community-based focus. She brings together dancers of all ages and backgrounds and has turned her Maryland-based company into an international force in contemporary dance. Through a plurality of viewpoints, she mirrors dialogue among artistic, scientific and scholarly perspectives. She has been the recipient of numerous honours, including the American Choreographer Award, the American Jewish Congress “Golda” Award, and an honorary doctorate from Williams College. In 2002, her work was recognized with a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, and she was recently inducted into the University of Maryland’s Alumni Hall of Fame.