History

Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Michigan's premier contemporary dance company, begins its seventeenth professional season during the 2007-08 season. Artistic director Laurie Eisenhower founded the company in the summer of 1991 in metropolitan Detroit. Since its inception, the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has been dedicated to the performance of a diverse range of contemporary dance works.

Along with Ms. Eisenhower's highly acclaimed choreography, EDE is interested in showcasing the works of young talented artists along with choreographers with established reputations. The company boasts works by internationally known choreographers such as David Parsons, Mel Wong, Pascal Rioult, Mark Dendy, Douglas Nielsen, Bill Evans, Lila York, David Dorfman, Colin Connor, Billy Siegenfeld, and Gesel Mason among others. This season, EDE commissioned new works by Michael Foley and Kiesha Lalama-White, nationally known choreographers. In addition, the company initiated its first choreographers' competition to encourage the creation of new choreographic work. The winner of that competition, Eddy O'Campo, will be creating a new work on the ensemble during the 2008-09 season.

With support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the company has also collaborated with numerous Michigan artists including choreographers Steven Iannacone, Erica Wilson-Perkins, Whitley Setrakian, Bill DeYoung, Lindsey Thomas, and Gregory Patterson; composers Ben Miller, Karl Boelter, John Reneaud, Stanley Hollingsworth, and Steve Sylvester; and designers Bruce Scott, Susan Barrett, and M.E. Cameron-Scott. Consistent with EDE's spirit of collaboration, the ensemble has performed Carmina Burana with the Rackham Symphony Choir, Amahl and the Night Visitors with both the Motor City Lyric Opera and The Toledo Opera, Aida with the Michigan Opera Theatre, in concert with the Immigrant Suns and with the Warren (MI) Symphony Orchestra.

Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has produced several full-evening length touring productions. These include Motown in Motion, a visual salute to the tunes that made Motown records famous, Laugh Tracks, an evening of comedy in dance, Igor Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale with the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings as part of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and Bright Side of the Road: Dances from the Heart of Rock and Roll, a heartfelt tribute to Folk and Rock music.

Considered by many critics to be one of the finest contemporary dance companies in the nation, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has received overwhelming critical acclaim along with enthusiastic audience support: "a hearty, no-nonsense way of moving" (Jack Anderson, New York Times), "stunning" (Gloria Shay, Holland Sentinel), "intelligently crafted repertoire" (Susan Isaacs-Nisbett, Dance Magazine), "dance that touches the soul" (Susan Hall-Balduf, Detroit Free Press), and "An eye-popping production (Carmina Burana) that seemed to be a pronouncement that the company had stepped to a new plane" (David Lyman, Detroit Free Press). The company's concert schedule has taken it to theatres throughout the United States and as far as St. Petersburg, Russia.

Educational and outreach projects are an important part of Eisenhower Dance Ensemble's mission. EDE dancers have participated in numerous school residencies with Artists-in-the-Schools funding from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. In 1992, EDE began a three-year educational program in the Troy School District. Since that time, the company completed similar projects in school districts in throughout the State of Michigan. These educational residencies provide a comprehensive program for students; the EDE dancers teach classes, direct students in performances, conduct workshops and master classes, and present performances. These programs offer students the rare opportunity for in-depth creative study and movement exploration. More recently, EDE initiated a new educational program, Healthy Kids, a collaboration with the Beaumont Weight Control Center. This new project uses dance as an intervention in addressing overweight issues in children. Its first implementation is a program involving fourth graders in the Pontiac School District.

Since 1991, EDE has also offered its Kids'n Motion lecture demonstration. This fast-paced, fun-filled, and interactive program provides many students with their first dance experience. Hundreds of Kids'n Motion shows have been presented in the Detroit Metro area, throughout Michigan, and in the Chicago area.

In September of 1995, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble opened the doors to the EDE Center for Dance. Located in Rochester Hills, the Center serves as a base for the company's community outreach and education programs. For its seventeenth season, EDE has a full schedule of rehearsals, performances, educational programs, and community outreach projects that will keep the company busier than ever, creating and sharing the art of dance!