Bettmann Dances

The mission of Bettmann Dances is to make superior contemporary art. Bettmann Dances is a project of Day Eight, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. To learn more about Day Eight, click here.

As a new dance company, the mission and vision are carried forward by the dancers, the board of directors, and the Artistic Director. To learn more about supporting the company, click here.

About the Artistic Director:

Robert Bettmann began his training at Oberlin College with classes in Modern Dance, Contact Improvisation, and Dance History, graduating with his BA in Environmental Studies. He has since trained on scholarship at the Alvin Ailey School, and the School of the Washington Ballet, and performed locally and internationally with the Dance Construction Project, Alexandria Ballet, Jane Franklin Dance, and his own company, Bettmann Dances. He was twice a recipient of Young Emerging Artist grants for his choreography from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Mr. Bettmann is the author of the book Somatic Ecology: Somatics, Nature, Humanity and the Human Body (published May 2009 by VDM: Verlag), and the editor of the online arts magazine, Bourgeon.

In the company we believe that:

1. Contemporary art can be beautiful, and relevant
2. Contemporary art does not need to abandon classical technique or the rigors of classical composition to be accessible, innovative, or modern.
3. Contemporary art does not have to be a-political to be inspiring, or directly political to be a motivator for social change.
4. Contemporary art may be narrative, and it may be abstract; neither is an excuse to be boring.

Image on this page is of Robert Bettmann performing in All Good Men at the Capital Fringe Festival, July 2009; photo by Devin Mawdsley.