Lyon Biennale de la Danse

In the fall of 1990, the streets of Lyon were alive with American dancing. The 1990 Biennale was devoted to American dance of all kinds: tap, dance on cinema, dance on Broadway, ballet, modern dance, dancing in the streets—and it was all from our shores.  One of my greatest memories is of walking down the winding, narrow streets of Lyon, where groups of American dancers packed the restaurants: Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Bill T. Jones, David Parsons. The dancers were intermingling, talking, eating, laughing and drinking together.  Such communal gatherings of different companies don’t happen in New York City.  Newsweek did a story on the Biennale.  CBS Sunday Morning sent a crew to do a piece.  The New York Times wrote about it almost daily, as did the Wall Street Journal, and The Village Voice.  The coverage was incredible.

http://www.biennaledeladanse.com/

Country: France

Years: 1990

Art form: Festival