Institute of Contemporary Art Miami ICA Miami

Michael Clark Company embarked on a month-long artist residency with ICA Miami that culminated in five public performances.

Michael Clark Company’s residency, performances and programming took place within the unique architecture of the YoungArts Jewel Box, a prime example of modern cantilever construction located on the campus of the National YoungArts Foundation’s headquarters in Miami, Florida. The Company’s new work responded to the unique architectural spirit and cultural context of the South Florida region and drew from Clark’s own personal musical inspirations encompassing classical, rock, punk and post-punk.

A dynamic component of Michael Clark Company’s residency included open studio hours, and a master class led by the company’s current dancers, for students and alumni from both organizations’ experiential education programs. An intimate conversation between Michael Clark, Alex Gartenfeld (ICA Miami’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator), and and YoungArts alumna Brittany Bailey (2008 YoungArts Winner in Dance) took place inside Ted’s at YoungArts on November 9, 2016.

Hailed as “British dance’s true iconoclast,” Michael Clark is a defining cultural figure. Since emerging in the 1980s as a prodigy at London’s Royal Ballet School, he has remained at the forefront of innovation in dance, collaborating with such compelling artists as Sarah Lucas, Leigh Bowery, Peter Doig, and Charles Atlas – among many others – winning rave reviews and countless awards. Clark and his distinctive choreography combine technical rigor and experimentation through interpretations of ballet, punk, Dada, pop, and rock.