Dance and Choreography

Dance Every Day

If you write poetry all the time, are you a poet?
If you paint pictures every day, does that make you an artist?
Dance every day and you are a dancer.
(George Deem, "Extre Genre, "WhiteWalls, A Magazine of Writings by Artists, 1981) 

Dancing

Like Degas, George Deem was a painter who loved painting and loved dance. George took classes with the legendary modern dance teacher Mary Anthony from 1958 to 1970, and also performed professionally with the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company in 1963. ...While many people take cosmopolitanism for granted among contemporary artists, George gave the term new force, not because he moved so easily in  a richly complex world, but because he was often close to dancing beyond it. (Charles Molesworth, "Only Reciprocate! The Generosity of George Deem," The Art of Friendship: The Collection of George Deem, exhibition catalogue, New Britain Museum of American Art, 2012)

Resume

1962
The Lamentations of Jeremiah, Kaufman Concert Hall, YM & YWHA, New York., February 21, 1962. Choreography by Claire Hirschhorn, Music by Malcolm Goldstein. 

Rite of Source, Casino East Theatre (formerly the Phoenix), New York, May 14, 1962. Choreography by Jeff Duncan.

1963
Of Human Kindness, Hunter Playhouse, Hunter College, New York, February 8, 1963. Choreography by Paul Sanasardo, Music by Edwin Finckel.

Squares and Rounds and Masquerade, Kaufman Concert Hall, YM & YWHA, New York, October 20, 1963. Choreography by Anne Wilson.

1982

Against Interpretation, P.S. 122, New York, February 12, 13, 1982. Choreography by Mary O'Connell. Performed by Mary O'Connell and George Deem.  Postcard announcement image: George Deem, Mary O'Connell, 1981.

DA - DA - DA, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 13, 1982. Choreography by George Deem. Performed by George Deem and Ellen Robbins.

To Open, DA DA DA, and Tearjerker. Martha Hill Dance Workshop, Faculty Dance Concert (Guest Choreographer, George Deem) Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, July 23, 1982.  Choreography by George Deem. To Open and DA DA DA performed by George Deem and Ellen Robbins. Tearjerker performed by George Deem.

1984
That  Ravel and Walk Around Vermeer, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 2, 3, 16, 23, 1984.That Ravel choreography by George Deem. Performed by George Deem and Ellen Robbins. Walk Around Vermeer choreography by Ellen Robbins with set by George Deem.

National Geographics, That Ravel and Moonlight Cocktails, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 28, 29, 1984. Choreography by George Deem, Performed by Ellen Robbins and George Deem.

1985
Tearjerker, Spring Dance Concert, Queens College Theatre, New York, May 8-12, 1985. Choreography by George Deem, Performed by Sonja Sekely.

Portrait, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 22, 1985. Choreography by George Deem, Performed by Brynn Edyn.

1992
June - July. With Ellen Robbins. The American Dance Festival, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

1993
Beautiful Dreamer, Ellen Robbins:Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, May 22, 1993. Choreography by George Deem.

Walkaround Vermeer, Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 5, June 13, 1993.
Choreography by Ellen Robbins in collaboration with George Deem. Set by George Deem.

1995
Extra Genre and Tearjerker (a dance in two parts), Tearjerker, choreography by George Deem, guest choreographer. Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, May 20, 1995. 

1996
Walk Around Vermeer, Choreography by Ellen Robbins in collaboration with George Deem. Set by George Deem.Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 16, 1996.

1997
Improvs "R" Us, a structured improvisation with choreographic contributions by George Deem and the performers. Extra Genre and Tearjerker (a dance in two parts), Tearjerker choreography by George Deem, guest choreographer.Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 1, 1997.

1998
Extra Genre and Tearjerker (a dance in two parts), Tearjerker, choreography by George Deem, guest choreographer. Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 6, 1998 

2000
Walkaround Vermeer, Choreography by Ellen Robbins in collaboration with George Deem. Set and lecture by George Deem. Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, May 21, 2000.

2003
Walkaround Vermeer, Choreography by Ellen Robbins in collaboration with George Deem. Set and lecture by George Deem. Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, June 1, June 8, 2003.


2004 
Walkaround Vermeer, Choreography by Ellen Robbins in collaboration with George Deem. Set and lecture by George Deem. Lecturer: George Deem. Family Matters/ Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, January 3,  2004.

Extra Genre, Originally conceived by George Deem. Ellen Robbins: Dances by Very Young Choreographers, DTW's Bessie Schönberg Theater, New York, May 23, 2004. 

 

Vermeer Variations

The University Dance Company, Power Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 20, 21, 22,23. 1986. Choreography: Jessica Fogel. Music: The Vermeer Variations, by David Borden. Slide Projections: George Deem. Set Design: Doug Miller. Costume Design: Alison Ford. Lighting Design: Ken Yunker. 

"Composer David Borden introduced me to George (Deem) in 1984 or 1985...I had the great pleasure of working with George on a dance in 1986 entitled Vermeer Variations, which was performed here in Ann Arbor on a major concert series produced by the University of Michigan Department of Dance, where I teach. The large-scale group work, with projections of paintings by George, and with music by David Borden, was subsequently performed in NY in 1987. That year I also distilled a solo from the work, which featured one of George's projections of a Vermeer stained glass window. Entitled Woman with a Pearl Drop Earring, this solo dance has been performed nationally and internationally for the past 20 years, in such places as NYC, Japan and Greece. I have made over 100 dances over the course of 35 years, and some are closer to the marrow than others. My works with George on the Vermeer dances are ones that I hold very close to my heart. I believe he was quite excited to work on the project, and to see his images within the setting of a large 1400 seat proscenium theater. He came to Ann Arbor to see the final rehearsals and to see the placement of the images on stage. He isolated a few objects from Vermeer paintings -- the little white pitcher (Vermeer's Jug, 1986), a small landscape painting that appears in a few Vermeer paintings (Vermeer Detail Landscape in Gold Frame, 1986). a chandelier (Vermeer's Chandelier, 1986), the stained glass window (
Vermeer's Window, 1986), Vermeer's signature (Signature, 1986), and these were projected at key moments within the dance, in strange places against the backdrop. I remember him getting involved in the placement of the images on the cyclorama, suggesting, for example, that one be placed uncomfortably high -- just slightly distorting our expectations in that regard -- these were masterful touches, that added to the surrealism of the settings...I wanted to let you know how much (George) meant to me in my creative life, and how beautifully his work translated to the stage. Perhaps this is an aspect of his work that his following knows little about. " (Jessica Fogel, letter to Ronald Vance, December 30, 2008).

Artistic Adviser

1980, Artistic adviser to choreographers Annabelle Gamson and Meg Harper.

Dance Teachers

George Deem began studying dance with Mary Anthony in 1959. He studied ballet with James Waring and with Rudolfo Corvino of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company.

George Deem, Dancer

(George Deem) returned to Indiana this past week from New York to give a request program for the seminarians at St. Meinrad Archabbey. St. Bede Hall was filled almost to capacity when he gave his personally illustrated lecture on the "Art of Movement" at the invitation of Father Gavin Barnes, OSB. Dressed in black tights, a loose fitting black shirt and barefooted, young Deem illustrated with various body movements the way in which a speaking voice may be enhanced by motion. ...(Deem) enrolled in the Mary Anthony School of Modern Dance in late 1959 and found tremendous enjoyment in the work. ... During 1961 he auditioned for a part in a program being planned by the Hebrew Arts School for Music and the Dance and to be given at Kaufmann Concert Hall (YMHA) in New York in February 1962. ...he was immediately cast for the lead role of Jeremiah in the Lamentations of Jeremiah by Malcolm Goldstein, for the world premiere of this production. The program met with such success that it was included in the eighth World Dance Festival, sponsored by Columbia University...in March 1962. Deem had invited his teacher, Mary Anthony, to the program and the day after she called to ask him to take part in a presentation of the "Story of Esther" to be given by CBS on Sunday, March 18, in the program "Lamp Unto My Feet. In this number Deem plays a minor role in a dance which features Jilana, a member of the New York City Ballet Co., and Paul Sanasardo, who has his own dance studio in New York. ...During the first three months of 1961, Deem was a member of the Children's Dance Theater of Washington, D.C. The group, composed of four girls and two men, gave programs of three numbers for Children's theaters. In March they appeared in Evansville under the auspices of the Children's Theater in a program at Bosse High School. ... The  group travelled in a station wagon loaded to the "gills" with equipment and costumes, and Deem doubled on the driving. He said it was great fun and that the tour taught them a great deal about actual performances in the theater. (Unsigned article, Evansville (Indiana) Courier, March 18, 1962).


Arts Seminar at St. Meinrad  

 (The schedule for the two-day Arts Seminar Program) February 16 and 17, is as follows: ... Architecture, Painting, Dance, Sculpture, Drama, Music, Ceramics, and Weaving. ... The Dance program will be conducted by Mr. George Deem, professional dancer from New York City. Mr. Deem, a former student at St. Meinrad, has been the guest of St. Meinrad several times before, and has lectured on dance and its forms...11:30 am - 12:15 pm: A Presentation of the Spanish "Bolero" by George Deem, assisted by twelve collegians. (Unsigned article, Perspective. Saint Meinrad Seminary / College of Liberal Arts, Saint Meinrad, Indiana, February 1966).

Dance, Painting

"Masquerade"  Members of the Anne Wilson Dance Company in a new work to be given at Kaufmann Hall today. (Caption, photo of 5 unidentified dancers, George Deem the dancer on the far left, The New York Times, Sunday, October 20, 1963. Photo on same page with "Gallery Shows, Museum Exhibits" listing. In the second column to the right of the photo of the Anne Wilson dancers in "Masquerade" is the listing: George Deem -  Allan Stone Gallery, 48 East 86thStreet. Paintings. To Nov. 9).

Anne Wilson and George Deem

Guide to the Walter Terry Papers, 1808 - 1982, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, New York 10023-7498. Series V: Photographs, 1893 -1981, undated: Wilson, Anne, undated (Photographed with George Deem).  lib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/dance