Since forming Nancy Karp + Dancers in 1980, director Nancy Karp has choreographed more than 75 outstanding works for her company. She and company members have performed together in many distinguished venues, at home and abroad. These include ODC Theater and Z-Space in San Francisco, The Kitchen in New York, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Fur Augen und Ohren and Sprachen der Kunste Festivals at the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin, Kyoto College of Art in Japan, and the Zagreb Experimental Theater Festival. Interdisciplinary collaboration is one of the company’s key focuses, and since its inception Ms. Karp has commissioned numerous composers, visual artists, and designers to work with her in the creation of new dances each season. Among these accomplished associates are Charles Amirkhanian, Kui Dong, Alvin Curran, Paul Dresher, Lydia Tanji, Sandra Woodall, Bill Fontana, Lutz Bacher, Carol Law, and Wolfram Erber.

Site-specific performance work has been an important part of Nancy Karp + Dancers’ programming. Performances have included site pieces commissioned for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Oakland Museum, and a commission for the Choreographers’ Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens for the work, “La Processione” with the Green Street Mortuary Band.

Nancy Karp + Dancers’ “Dancing in the Schools”outreach program has been applauded by teachers, school administrators, students, and their families in helping fill the gap in public school art education for over three decades. As part of our annual programming, it has taken a variety of forms to include teaching dance, music and dance video classes at elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools level throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Students are given the opportunity to study with dance company members, and create and perform their own dances in public performances and special events at the schools.