The Matter of Origins

"One of the things we're interested in is what are the questions scientists are asking, and which of those questions have real, enormous resonance for the public? For example, they think they're going to understand more about the big bang, and I think the public is just incredibly interested in that. I think how we see our beginnings really affects us emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, in all kinds of ways."

– Liz Lerman on some of the inspiration behind her new work in development, The Matter of Origins

Introduction

About The Matter of Origins

The Matter of Origins in the News

Bibliography

Partners

What was the beginning of the universe? What was the beginning of the paper clip, the pencil, the handshake, the kiss, the Pledge of Allegiance? Some questions are huge. Some are small. Sometimes we discover truth through science, imagine it through art, or discern it by faith. But what do we mean when we say truth? Who gets to decide?

Currently in development under the artistic leadership of choreographer Liz Lerman, The Matter of Origins will explore the theme of beginnings, drawing ideas from the worlds of history, science and religion. Presented in a distinctive combination of formats, including stage performance, public encounters and educational programming, The Matter of Origins is a performance, a conversation, a floor show, a quiz show and a chance to meet big minds. It’s a dance to watch and a dance to learn.

About The Matter of Origins

The Matter of Origins is partly inspired by Liz Lerman's visits to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland, where physicists are currently probing the origins of matter. Encounters with these experts are sparking a few of the key conceptual and artistic ideas for the piece. Lerman comments:

“The physicists say that if you could throw yourself against a wall an infinite number of times, you would ultimately find yourself passing through. As I understand it, since both you and the wall are composed of more emptiness than matter, eventually the empty spaces would align for you to pass to the other side. That is both an exciting idea as material for choreography, and as a concept that calls on more than science – maybe art, faith, shamanism, indigenous wisdom – to be truly grasped.”

One unique feature of The Matter of Origins will be an interactive experience built around tea and dialogue. Audience members will sit at tables enjoying tea as they experience a combination of live performance, expert commentary, conversation and computer-manipulated media. The concept, still in the forming, comes from the tea house run by Edith Warner for the physicists at Los Alamos during the early 1940s. Edith Warner kept her little establishment open as other businesses were forced to close in the wake of the secretive Manhattan Project. She served suppers and poured tea for the engineers and physicists who had come to split the atom. But what do you say to someone with a huge, explosive secret? What subjects come to mind after a day spent probing the essence of matter and contemplating an unspeakable act? What do you listen for in a room like that?

The Matter of Origins will premiere at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at University of Maryland in September 2010.

Future performance sites in 2011 tentatively include:

Montclair State University, Peak Performances

University of Kansas, Lied Center

Arizona State University, Gammage Auditorium

Wesleyan University, Center for the Arts

The Matter of Origins in the News

Dancing with physicists

Interview with Liz Lerman from symmetry

Tea with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange

Review from Dance Source Houston

Bibliography

A selection of in-print references used by Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in developing The Matter of Origins:

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin; Vintage Books, 2006.

Partners

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

The Matter of Origins’ lead commissioner is the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland.

The Matter of Origins is made possible by the Doris Duke Fund for Dance of the National Dance Project, a program administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and MetLife Foundation.