How Judith Marcuse Transformed a Life in Dance into a Movement for Social Change

Art is Change Podcast Episode Introduction:

"I think unless we embody sensibilities, we connect the head, the heart and the body. We don't have a complete range of experience and expression are limited in what we think, feel and see, and so I have integrated the body into everything I've done."

Judith Marcuse is one of Canada’s senior artist/producers with a career that spans over 40 years of professional work as a dancer, choreographer, director, producer, teacher, writer and lecturer in Canada and abroad. She has created over 100 original works for live performance by dance, theatre and opera companies; many projects for film and television; and has produced seven large-scale arts festivals. Her repertory contemporary dance company toured nationally and internationally for more than 15 years, while also creating innovative community and youth programs.

A pioneer in the field of arts for social change, her work is internationally-recognized. The youth-centred, issue-based ICE, FIRE and EARTH projects, each five years long, included workshops, live touring and film productions, and extensive community outreach work. In 2006, Judith Marcuse produced EARTH: The World Urban Festival during the U.N.’s World Urban Forum, hosting performances and exhibitions of socially-engaged artists from around the world and audiences of some 20,000 people.