Contact Information
Biography
When I came here [to New York], in the early 1980s, I was wild and I was angry and I was going to destroy the closet of gay choreographers who pretended their dances were about men and women. I was going to have men dancing with men, and everybody in dresses. Dance Magazine 2003
Born Weaverville, North Carolina, May 29, 1961.
Mark Dendy began his professional performing career with Pooh Kaye, Ruby Shang, Pearl Lang and the Martha Graham Ensemble under the direction of Yuriko. Mark Dendy Dance, founded in 1984 to explore ritual, movement invention and kinetics, evolved into Mark Dendy Dance and Theater reflecting Dendy’s interest in the use of text and scripted “dance plays” as well as theater pieces. His work is frequently kindled by societal issues and examines such diverse themes as fame, gender, religion, heritage, violence and politics. His trademark however, is his quick, often sacrilegious wit that elucidates both the strengths and frailties of the human spirit. He has received four National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, support from the Jerome Foundation, Harkness Foundation, Joyce Mertz Gilmore Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts, and an award for Sustained Achievement in the Arts from the National Society of Arts and Letters.
Mark Dendy's Works:
-
Afternoon of the Fauns
Premiere Date: 1996
-
Beat
Premiere Date: 1985