Deborah Riley Dance Projects

Dance Place Director Deborah Riley leads this all female dance company that is known for "exceptional crafting" (The Washington Post). Riley is recognized by numerous awards, including the Pola Nirenska award for leadership in dance, and is known for creating powerfully seductive works with uplifting elegance. "Not every dancemaker is lucky enough to improve with age. But this 20-year Dance Place veteran has gotten better and better….At this point in her career, Riley looks to be comfortable in her own artistic skin, and it's a skin that her dancers also enjoy inhabiting" (The Washington Post).

Human Landscape Dance examines the relationship of body with environment."The company…seeks to find beauty and surprise in life's most ordinary settings" (The Washington Post). They explore ways in which movement may be influenced by the texture of grass, the indifferent support of walls, the loneliness of empty space, or the warmth of other bodies. They will perform work from their _Closet Dances_ series. These short duets for confined spaces explore the themes of secrecy, addiction, and crowding. The performers of Human Landscape Dance expand their dancing surfaces to include each other's bodies.