company

mission

To support the creation and performance of the choreography of Ellen Cornfield in traditional and non-traditional spaces worldwide, bringing the art of dance to both experienced and uninitiated dance audiences.

vision

Ellen Cornfield choreographs dances that move, entertain, and provoke. She crafts a non-verbal expression that transcends and permeates boundaries, creating a world that exists outside of the realm of the intellectual. The viewer can be intrigued and emotionally captured by the rhythms of the movement and music and the sheer kinesthetic energy of the dancing. It quickens our feeling of being alive and gives sustenance for living. 

history

New York City-based choreographer Ellen Cornfield has been honing her work for over three decades. Her work exemplifies the exhilarating combination of heart and intellect, performed by dancers who “...are among the most proficient technical and kinetically expressive dancers around” (Gus Solomons, 2014). Her dances revel in the use of space, time, and geometric relationships, and have rigorous structures that carry a pleasure all their own. Ellen’s lush, abstract, and full-throttle dance language is interspersed with surprising details that suggest stories that never become literal or obvious. Intelligence and humanity shine throughout. Her singular choreographic vision creates a dance architecture that celebrates movement driven by kinesthetic energy, and the richness of the humanity of the dancers. It is art that is accessible, and at the same moment inspires.  

Ellen began presenting her choreographic works after her tenure with the Merce Cunningham Company, where she was known for her spirited dancing. Her early works were seen in the U.S., and then at international venues beginning in 1988, which led to the official formation of Cornfield Dance. The company’s premiere performance was outdoors at Cooper Union Square, NYC in October, 1989. 

In New York City, Cornfield Dance has been presented at the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival and the Harkness Dance Festival, among many others, and outside of NYC at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Yale Center for British Art, Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, the Yard in Massachusetts, and at universities around the country. Internationally, Cornfield Dance has performed in nine countries, including France, England, Holland, Germany, Canada, Poland, Russian and Japan, and at venues such as the OPEN LOOK Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, the International Dance Festival in Bytom, Poland four times, and Theater X and Session House in Japan.  

Ellen’s interest in making her work available to a wide spectrum of audiences has been realized in the company’s intentional variance in performance venues, ranging from alternative spaces including gardens, museums, hotels, and plazas, to traditional theater spaces. 

selected company activities

2019

  • Baryshnikov Arts Center

  • New York, NY
    Portal, Close-Up

    Harkness Dance Festival at the 92Y
    New York, NY
    Portal World Premiere, Close-Up, Pas de Detour

 

2018

  • Yale Center for British Art

  • New Haven, CT
    Close-Up Event

 

2017

  • Soaking WET Series - West End Theatre
  • New York, NY
  • Close-Up - Premiere
  •  
  •  
  • The Construction Company and The Performance Project - University Settlement
  • New York, NY
  • Raw Footage & excerpts from Pas de Detour
 

2016

  • Rutgers University DancePlus Fall*
  • New Brunswick, NJ
  • Pas de Detour -performed by Mason Gross School of the Arts students
  •  
  • American Dance Abroad Dance Recon - Martha Graham Studios
  • New York, NY
  • Small Stages, Pas de Detour, & Raw Footage
  •  
  • LUNGS Harvest Art Festival - Lower East Side Garden
  • New York, NY
  • Small Stages duet
  •  
  • Repertory Workshop -New York Theatre Ballet Studio
  • New York, NY
  • Pas de Detour Workshop Version & Raw Footage
  •  
  • Emelin Theatre for the Performing Arts
    Mamaroneck, NY
    Small Stages Event

    Yale Center for British Art
    New Haven, CT
    Small Stages
 

2015

  • University Settlement
    New York, NY
    Pas de Detour - Premiere

    Battery Park
    New York, NY
    Small Stages & Pas de Detour Event

    Bryant Park
    New York, NY
    Small Stages & Pas de Detour Event
 

2014

  • University Settlement House
    New York, NY
    Furniture Suite, Pas de Detour Draft, & Small Stages

    Elizabeth Street Garden
    New York, NY
    Small Stages
 

2013

  • Dixon Place*
    New York, NY
    Small Stages

    Tompkins Square Park
    New York, NY
    Small Stages

    5th Street Police Fair
    New York, NY
    Small Stages
 

2012

  • The Gershwin Hotel
    New York, NY
    Furniture Suite
 

2011

  • Dixon Place
    New York, NY
    Furniture Suite

    The Construction Company
    New York, NY
    Valence
 

2010

  • NYU Gallatin School
    New York, NY
    Title Tabled

    Scranton Cultural Center*
    Scranton, PA
    Primer
 

2009

  • Contemporary Dance Festival at NYC Performance Space
    New York, NY
    Primer

    La Mama*
    New York, NY
    Dance of a Thousand Titles

    Chen Dance Center*
    New York, NY
    Who’s In Charge?
 

2008

  • MANCC at Florida State University with Jose Limon Company*
    Tallahassee, FL
    Two untitled works

    6th & B Community Garden
    New York, NY
    Dance for a Small Room

    Playhouse Theater at Abrons Arts Center*
    New York, NY
    Dance for a Small Room
 

2007

  • Merce Cunningham Studio
    New York, NY
    Fault Lines
 

2006

  • Fridays at Noon at 92nd Street Y
    New York, NY
    Radiance
 

2005

  • Howl Festival
    New York, NY
    Circles on A
 

2004

  • Peridance Studio
    New York, NY
    Fusion Response
 

2003

  • The Flea Theater
    New York, NY
    Thread

    International Contemporary Dance & Performance Festival
    Bytom, Poland; Krakow, Poland
    Velcro Road & Thread

    Open Look Festival
    St. Petersburg, Russia
    Velcro Road & Thread
 

2002

  • Charles Munch Theatre
    Paris, France
    Foreshadowed Seeing & Velcro Road

    University of Maryland
    Baltimore, MD
    Foreshadowed Seeing & Velcro Road
 

2001

  • Studio Session House
    Tokyo, Japan
    Velcro Road, Foreshadowed Seeing, Drum Roll & Falling Horizon

    Symphony Space
    New York, NY
    Rebound Blue

    Long Island University
    Brooklyn, NY
    Repertory Excerpts
 

2000

  • Studio Session House
    Tokyo, Japan
    .consciousness, Rebound Blue & Group Regroup

    Russell Sage College*
    Troy, NY
    .consciousness

    Tribeca Performing Arts Center
    New York, NY
    The Conversation
 

1999

  • Playhouse 91 by 92nd Street Y New Works in Dance*
    New York, NY
    Web & Plaid Time
 

1998

  • Mid-America Dance Conference
    Kansas City, MO
    The Conversation

    Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Philadelphia, PA
    Repertory Excerpts

    Cornell University
    Ithaca, NY
    Primal Steps, Web & Optical Fields

    Fete de la Musique*
    New York, NY
    Sidewalk Sonata

    Abizaid Arts
    New York, NY
    Web, Flasher & Event
 

1997

  • Geibun-Kan Theater
    Okayama, Japan
    Primal Steps & Optical Fields

    Theater X
    Tokyo, Japan
    Primal Steps & Optical Fields

    Jacob’s Pillow
    Becket, MA
    Primal Steps

    Danspace Project at St. Marks Church*
    New York, NY
    Primal Steps

    Sarah Lawrence College
    Bronxville, NY
    Primal Steps
 

1996

  • Buskers Fare Outdoors*
    New York, NY
    Sidewalk Sonata

    University Settlement House
    New York, NY
    Triple Track Time
 

1994

  • DIA Art Center
    New York, NY
    Innerscapes & Spirit Walk
 

1991

  • Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors*
    New York, NY
    Optical Fields
 

1990

  • Brotfabrik
    Bonn, Germany
    Moorings, Satisfaction & Emotional Gravity

    Studio 303
    Montreal, Canada
    Lush Geometry & Sidewalk Sonata
 

1989

  • Freedom Plaza
    Washington, D.C.
    Sidewalk Sonata

    Battery Park
    New York, NY
    Sidewalk Sonata

    Grand Army Plaza
    Brooklyn, NY
    Sidewalk Sonata

    Ohio University
    Athens, OH
    Emotional Gravity

    Cooper Union
    New York, NY
    Sidewalk Sonata
 

1988

  • The Place Theater
    London, England
    Solo 3

    Menagerie de Verre
    Paris, France
    Solo 3, Store Bought & Toaster City Dreams (Video Piece)

    Captain Fiddler Theater
    Amsterdam, Holland
    Solo 3, Store Bought, Toaster City Dreams (Video Piece)
 

 

  • * Commissioned performance