Leah Stein Dance Company is a well-seasoned group of movement artists that creates dance works for the stage, outdoor landscapes and unusual sites. Founded in 2001 by choreographer Leah Stein, LSDC strives to bring dance to a wide spectrum of people from diverse backgrounds, age groups and communities. With invention, humor, and surprise, and inspired by the physics of movement and the forces of nature, Stein's improvisational, spontaneous and all-inclusive approach to dance making sparks synergy between performers and audience, highlighting the interconnectedness of people, culture and the physical environment

Collaboration is central to the Company's mission. Ongoing and longterm collaborators include musician Toshi Makihara, conceptual artist Edward Dormer, and dancers and choreographers Josie Smith, Roko Kawai, Dan Karlberg.

Recent projects include a commission for eight dancers, 130-voice choir, 4 percussionists and 2 pianists with choral director Karen Schnarkarar in a performance of "Carmina Burana" at Frostburg University. There are plans to bring this collaborative work to Philadephia in the fall of 2006.

Leah Stein Dance Company (LSDC) creates dance works for the stage and outdoor sites that highlight the interaction between people, their culture and the physical environment. LSDC works with untraditional approaches to creating dances with a focus on juxtapositions and interrelationships between movement, sound, object and place. Collaboration is central to the mission and most works include musicians, visual artists, and local communities.

Leah Stein Dance Company strives to bring dance to a wide spectrum of people from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds, age groups and communities. Inspired by the physics of movement and the forces of nature, Artistic Director Leah Stein seeks to deepen and enliven a sense of place. The Company is a dynamic group of talented dancers who work collectively to realize Stein's vision.

Leah Stein Dance Company was founded in 2001. LSDC has built upon Stein's vision of creating dances for unusual sites, presenting unique works for the stage, and developing collaborative relationships with diverse artists and communities. LSDC has received numerous commissions, developed residency projects at schools and festivals and created several major dance pieces. The Company includes dancers of different backgrounds, each bringing a strong individual voice to the work. Priority is given to cultivating the strength of the collective voice in conjunction with the distinct talent of each individual performer.

Leah Stein Dance Company's On Site Philadelphia program began in 2004 with "Cornerstone" presented at the Christ Church Burial Ground by the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. This unusual site work quietly resonated in the stillness of the burial ground with bursts of color and surreal imagery now and then as if to awaken the moment from the past. Since that inaugural production, LSDC has performed in various sites around the city, including "Bardo" (2005) in an empty lot on Broad Street Philadelphia presented by the Live Arts Festival, "GATE" (2007) at the Eastern State Penitentiary, "Urban ECHO: Circle Told" (2008) at the Rotunda, "Battle Hymns" (2009) at the 23rd St Armory, "Mill Tones" (2010) at RittenhouseTown, the first paper mill in North America, and "Japan House/Philadelphia" (2010) at Shofuso, the Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park.

In addition to site work, Leah Stein has always been attuned to the sound/movement continuum. Many of her productions feature collaborations with musicians such as Toshi Makihara and David Forano. Most recently, LSDC has collaborated with the Mendelssohn Club Chorus in productions that seek to make sound 'physicalized' and movement 'audible'. LSDC and MCC's first collaboration began with the original production of "Carmina Burana" performed to a live 130 voice choir, 4 percussionists, two pianists and 3 soloists. This remarkable combination of the human voice, movement and choreographic invention left audiences leaping to their feet.

Their second collaboration, "Urban ECHO: Circle Told", presented by Live Arts Festival, featured an open, listening-based score by Pauline Oliveros. The production broke many rules in particular by asking singers to sing 'score-less' and to 'move', which resulted in a mesmerizing integration of 100 singers and eight dancers moving together within the crumbling grandeur of West Philadelphia's Rotunda.

In June 2009, LSDC and MCC premiered their third collaboration "Battle Hymns" at the 23rd Street Armory in Center City Philadelphia as part of the Hidden City Festival. "Battle Hymns" combined the historic resonance of the armory with Leah Stein's site-specific choreography for singers and dancers with a co-commissioned score by Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang. "Battle Hymns" was enthusiastically received by sold out audiences and critics alike.

In addition to performing, LSDC also conducts residencies with high school students during which students learn the skills for creating site-specific performance. In June 2009, LSDC inaugurated what has become an annual residency with 10th grade high school students at Science Leadership Academy to support the students in creating their own "site-specific performance festival". In 2010, LSDC partnered with Art in the Open, a plein-air festival along the Schuylkill River near the SLA school and the student's performances were performed to enthusiastic crowds. The residency program has expanded to include West Catholic and Germantown High Schools in 2011. The project's creative goal is to change the way audiences (including students) see, experience and interact with a site, even if the site is very familiar, to engender new ways of thinking and new kinds of choices for an audience member.