In this episode, Tyler Lapkin of the Joseph Campbell Foundation sits down with Nancy Allison.

Nancy Allison was a member of Jean Erdman’s Theater of The Open Eye from 1976 – 1985 where among other roles she danced a principle role in Op Odyssey, awarded the prize for Best Company at the 15th International Festival d’Automne in Paris.  At The Open Eye she also distinguished herself as a leading interpreter of Erdman’s solo dance repertory of the 1940s and 50s. She is the executive producer and featured dancer of the three-volume video archive Dance & Myth: The World of Jean Erdman. Since 1986 she has performed Erdman’s solo dance repertory throughout the US and abroad and has presented Erdman’s work at national conferences and institutes including the Congress on Research in Dance (CORD), the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), the American Dance Legacy Institute (ADLI) and the Carl Jung Institute. She has staged Erdman’s repertory on professional and student dancers throughout the U.S. and has curated an exhibit about Erdman for the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Her own choreography has been presented by the Athens Festival in Greece, Composers Union (Moscow, Russia), Baltimore Museum of Art, Artquake  (Portland, OR,) Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, American Museum of Natural History, P.S. 122, and the 92nd St Y Harkness Dance Center among others. In addition to extensive training in classical, world and modern dance techniques Allison is also certified in Laban Movement Analysis and ISHTA Yoga. She has taught on faculty at NYU, Laban-Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS/NY), SUNY Purchase, Lincoln Center Institute, 92nd St Y Harkness Dance Center and as a guest artist at universities and institutes throughout the US and abroad including, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Washington, University of Idaho, Oklahoma University, Ohio University, C'a Foscari (the University of Venice), Centro Teatrale di Ricerca Venezia, Laboratorio Danza Contemporanea di Laura Boato and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. She has received grants from the NEA, NYSCA, Harkness Foundations for the Dance, the Leslie R. Samuels and Fan Fox Foundation as well as the Laurance Rockefeller gift in support of her work.

Allison's award winning films have screened at film festivals throughout the world including the Venice International Film Festival (2017), International Festival of Films on Art in Montréal (2016) and Film Society of Lincoln Center and Dance Films Association Dance on Camera Festival (2015). Allison is also the editor of The Ecstasy of Being; Mythology and Dance (New World Library, 2017) and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Body Mind Disciplines (Rosen Publishing 1999) selected as one of 1999's Best Books on Alternative Health by Body & Soul Magazine, as well as, the developmental editor for several series for young people including The Library of American Choreographers (Rosen, 2006).

For more information about Nancy visit: http://www.jeanerdmandance.com/

To find all three volumes of the Dance and Myth Series visit: http://jeanerdmandance.com/events.html

For more information on the MythMaker Podcast Network and Joseph Campbell, visit JCF.org. To subscribe to our weekly MythBlasts go to jcf.org/subscribe

The Podcast With A Thousand Faces is hosted by Tyler Lapkin and is a production of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. It is produced by Tyler Lapkin. Executive producer, John Bucher. Audio mixing and editing by Charles Mallett.

All music exclusively provided by APM Music (apmmusic.com)

For more information on the MythMaker Podcast Network and Joseph Campbell, visit JCF.org. 

To subscribe to our weekly MythBlasts go to jcf.org/subscribe

The Podcast With A Thousand Faces is hosted by Tyler Lapkin and is a production of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. It is produced by Tyler Lapkin. Executive producer, John Bucher. Audio mixing and editing by Charles Mallett.

All music exclusively provided by APM Music (apmmusic.com)