“This is engagingly here-and-now dancing; and that kinesthetic effect is something rare, even intoxicating.” 

—New York Times 

The New York-based Liz Gerring Dance Company debuts Harbor, a world premiere evening-length performance artfully combining movement, live music, and poetic illumination. Featuring a newly commissioned string quartet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams, Gerring’s dancers are joined live onstage by the intrepid JACK Quartet.  

In Harbor, Gerring’s choreographic style–muscular athleticism combined with elegant formalism–mirrors the possibilities of the string quartet: ensemble, solos, duets, trios, with the performers’ personalities as individual as the instrumental voices. The choreography embodies the tensions and harmonies of John Luther Adam’s galvanic music. Legendary designer Jennifer Tipton’s lighting adds dramatic tension and shadow, offering light as décor, architecture, and guide. The three layered narratives—sonic, luminous, and choreographic—create a singular new work not to be missed.

Access the performance program

Harbor was developed at Summer Stages Dance @ The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston at two residencies in 2020 and 2022. Harbor’s score, Waves & Particles, by John Luther Adams for JACK Quartet, was commissioned by Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston, Liz Gerring Dance, and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. The work of lighting designer Jennifer Tipton is supported by Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston. 

Summer Stages Dance @ the ICA is made possible, in part, with the support of Jane Karol and Howard Cooper, George and Ann Colony, David Parker, The Aliad Fund, and Stephanie and Leander McCormick-Goodhart.