Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer have been commissioned to create a new work for the dancers of New York Theatre Ballet. Entitled Toulouse's Dreams, the work is inspired by the life and art of Toulouse-Lautrec. With an original musical score by electric violist Martha Mooke and costumes by Anna Aliza Belous, the work will premiere in February 2022 at The Egg in Albany and be presented on NYTB’s NYC season in March 2022.
Excited to return to live performance after 16 months of the pandemic, Bridgman|Packer premiered Ghost Factory in June 2021 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale, AZ followed by a performance of the work at the historic Sheldon Theatre in Red Wing, MN in September 2021.
Throughout the pandemic, Bridgman|Packer offered virtual Artist Talks and Workshops on Partnering with the Camera, Creating Dance Films with Cell Phones.
Bridgman|Packer's short dance film Embrace in the Time of COVID 19 was inspired by those for whom touch and embrace were absent during the pandemic. In light of this, it explores the concept of virtual embrace and its relationship with the physical. "Embracing", moving, and merging with each other's film images, Bridgman and Packer delve into the relationship of intimacy and distance while exploring the uncertain, ephemeral, impermanent nature of existence. With choreography, performance, and filmmaking by Bridgman and Packer and music by composer/violist Martha Mooke, it has received Best Choreography Award at the Best Global Shorts Film Festival, Judge's Special Mention at Redwood Shorts and Scripts, and Best Dance Film at the Experimental Dance & Music Film Festival.
In addition to touring and teaching in 2020, Bridgman and Packer are creating a new work, Ghost Factory, inspired by the history of the former factory town of Johnson City in upstate NY. Collaborators include filmmaker Peter Bobrow, Composer/Sound Designer Jeff Cook, and Lighting Designer Frank DenDanto III. Facilitating Partners include Lois Welk of American Dance Asylum and Naima Kradjian of the Goodwill Theatre (Johnson City).
In October of 2019, Bridgman|Packer Dance performed at the High Fest International Arts Festival in Yerevan, Armenia. Supported by American Dance Abroad and the US Embassy-Yerevan, they presented their works Under The Skin and Remembering What Never Happened and offered a workshop in movement and video.
In front of the banners of the the festival outside the theater, High Fest International Arts Festival, Yerevan, Armenia.
In 2019, Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer were on the dance faculties of both New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Juilliard.
On October 9, 2017, Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer received a 2017 New York Dance and Performance Award (The Bessies) for Outstanding Production. The Bessies Award Ceremony was held at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYC.
creating a space where virtual and actual movement merged,
For inhabiting Edward Hopper's imagery and
taking the audience on an inventive journey of private spaces
and ever shifting viewpoints,
a 2017 NY Dance and Performance Award for Outstanding Production to
Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Bridgman|Packer Dance
for Voyeur at The Sheen Center"
Mid Atlantic Tours Roster for 2018-19
The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation selects one dance company each year for their Tours Roster. Presenters in the Mid Atlantic States can receive Foundation funds to support the presentation of Bridgman|Packer Dance from July 2018 through August 2019.
Interested presenters can contact Sandy Garcia at Pentacle Booking: sandyg@pentacle.org
Support for Mid Atlantic Tours is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support provided by the Delaware Division of Arts and Culture.
The Village Voice chose Bridgman|Packer Dance's New York City Season at The Sheen Center as one of "Best of 2016 NYC Culture":
Bridgman|Packer Dance at Sheen Center was chosen as one of "The Best Dance Performances of 2016" on Huffington Post:
The Village Voice chose Bridgman|Packer Dance at The Sheen Center as one of "The Summer's Most Spectacular Performances" in their 2016 summer dance preview:
Bridgman|Packer Dance premiered their newest work, Remembering What Never Happened, June 26-27, 2015 at The Yard on Martha's Vineyard. The intersection of memory and imagination is at the core of this work that explores the constantly shifting territories of time, form, perception, and identity. Bridgman and Packer interact with video projections of their images that morph and explode into digital re-interpretations of the human body, while scenes shot on location in the Mojave Desert transform into surreal landscapes.
Remembering What Never Happened is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund/Forth Fund Project co-commissioned by The Yard (Chilmark, MA) in partnership with Opera House Arts (Stonington, ME), and Silvermine Arts Center (New Canaan, CT) and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). The Forth Fund is supported by the Andrew W, Mellon Foundation. The creation of this work is also made possible in part by a 2015 National Endowment for the Arts Grant.
Truck by Bridgman|Packer Dance has received a New England Foundation for the Arts Expeditions grant to tour the work to seven sites in New England in 2015-16. These include Opera House Arts (Stonington, CT); Silvermine Arts Center (New Canaan, CT); Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, MCLA (North Adams, MA); Capital Center for the Arts (Concord, NH); UMass Amherst presenting at Art in the Orchard, UMass Campus, and Brattleboro Arts Walk (Amherst, MA and Brattleboro, VT); Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy (Derry, NH), and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (Beckett, MA). See Calendar page for details.