About the Artists Artistic Director Heather Harrington graduated from Boston University with a degree in psychology. She then moved to New York City and danced with the Doris Humphrey Repertory Company, the Martha Graham Ensemble, the Pearl Lang Dance Theater, and the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company. Her choreography has been presented by various venues including Danspace Project's City/Dans series, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Sitelines series, The Architectural Center's Design Week, the Toronto Fringe Festival, Fresh Tracks at Dance Theater Workshop, New Stuff at P.S. 122, Dancing in the Streets at Wave Hill, The Yard, Joyce SoHo, Danspace Project's DraftWork series, Austria's Hotel Pupik performing series, Downtown Dance Festival at Battery Park, Newsteps at Mulberry Street Theater, the American Dance Guild Presents at Hunter College, Goose Route Arts Festival in West Virginia, and the dance series Sweat at DeBaun Auditorium in New Jersey. As a figure skater, Harrington has performed, taught, and choreographed for The Ice Theater of New York. In 2001, she received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts through The Ice Theater of New York to choreograph a new piece. This piece, Once Again, was performed in The Ice Theater's home season at Sky Rink and in the afternoon series at Rockefeller Center. She is currently a coach for Sky Rink and for Figure Skating in Harlem.	Awards and Grants August 2006 Selected as one of the choreographers for The Yard's Bessie Schonberg Choreographers and Dancers Residency 2006 Feb. 2006 Invited to be a lecturer/performer at the American College Dance Festival June 2005 Danspace Project 2005-2006 Commissioning Intiative with the support from the Jerome Foundation in celebration of the Jerome Hill Centennial and in recognition of the valuable cultural contributions of artists to society. Sept. 2004 Invited to perform Imitations of Drowning in the Bangkok International Festival of Music and Dance April 2004 Finalist in 18th International Choreographic Competition in Hanover, Germany March 2004 Commission from The Ice Theatre of New York to create a new skating piece Feb. 2004 Commission from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council to create an onsite piece at the Federal Hall Memorial on Wall Street for the Sitelines program series July 2003 Danspace Project's 2003-2004 Commissioning Initiative with support from the Jerome Foundation July 2003 Meet The Composer Fund Award June 2003 Harkness Space Grant from the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center Oct. 2002 Union Street Dance Rehearsal Space Grant Aug. 2002 Residency at the Hotel Pupik in Sheifling, Austria June 2002 Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation grant Nov. 2001 L.J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation grant Oct. 2001 Commission from The Ice Theater of New York through the New York Council on the Arts to choreograph a new skating piece June 2001 Commission from Dancing in the Streets to choreograph a site specific piece for Wave Hill July 2001 Harkness Space Grant from the 92nd Street Y Harkness
Press "There were chilling moments throughout the evening... brilliantly executed" Darrah Carr, Dance Insider "The work is a weirdly sad and wonderfully dramatic tour de force." Lisa Jo Sagolla, Back Stage "The dangerous passion between them is evident in every muscle because their focus is so physical. The dance itself propels the tension...physically wrenching" Emily Harney, Gay City News "Three witches slither toward her along the floor, their pointed feet slicing like daggers, their hands contorting in ominous gestures...Harrington produces an elegant, spine-tingling chill" The New Yorker "Twisted and manipulative, they anxiously pull strings attached to their costumes. They are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, whom Harrington renders convincingly neurotic." Robert Johnson, Star-Ledger "a fresh sense of story and character told by the body and energy alone." Catey Ott, Dance Insider "surprising rhythmic and spatial relationships with eloquent gesture". Rebecca Todd, Toronto Eye Weekly "It is the skillful placement of rough movement, of gestures, and of physical contact between the performers that creates a strong reaction." Julia Holland, Show Buisness "exhibiting a wonderful weight and tension" Gia Kourlas, Time Out "Convergence is a dichotomy of sparseness and richness and I am drawn like a fly to that ambivalence and complexity." Perry Garfinkel, The Martha's Vineyard Times "She brings an intensity to her dancing that is gripping." Tony Silva, Dance Insider "Harrington performed a final lyrical dance that was a stunning piece of emotional theater. Her last back bend was impossibly arched, her hands and feet reaching toward heaven." Laura Bleiburg, Orange County Register "Movie-like drama" Julia Holland, Show Buisness
Statement Heather Harrington is a choreographer who explores the inner world of the individual. She searches her body for movement that will reveal an emotional state, finding that when she discovers unhinged, disjointed shapes, it is almost like she has opened her body so much that information is revealed. She weaves movement into psychological stories that speak on a primal, intuitive level working to lead the viewer into a world of memories and dreamlike associations. Harrington's choreography comes from a personal place, her body. Her movement history has been informed by years as a competitive ice skater, her college studies as a psychology and philosophy major, and her experience with repertory from the legends of modern dance: Pearl Lang, Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, and Bella Lewitzky. Harrington's combination of competitive skating and classical modern training is unique. She explores shape and design in a different way because of the visceral sensations that she receives on the ice by being able to cut through space with ease and constant momentum. Harrington does not use music or stylized phrases of movement to guide her through the development of a piece. She relies on her own exploration of her body around particular themes and emotions. Thus each piece becomes its own unique statement with its own movement language. The audience is drawn into a physical world that leads them into images that trigger particular emotions and thoughts. Harrington approaches her dances with a vulnerability and abandon that she wants the audience to experience. She feels that the intimate situation of seeing the human body at such close view with no special effects, is something that the modern society needs in order to connect with their humanity and spirituality.