Who we are:

The dance company, founded in 1987, is co-directed by Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern, and tours internationally. Our long-time collaborators have included Gregg Lizenbery, Scott Kim, and Chris Jones.

Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, and the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.

Latest News:

Upcoming article: Karl and Erik's pioneering and ongoing math dance work will be featured in an upcoming article in Dance Teacher Magazine in March, 2010.

Upcoming events. Karl and Erik will be performing and presenting at two European interdisciplinary conferences in summer 2010:
July 24-28, Bridges 2010, in Pecs, Hungary. A public performance is planned also.
Aug. 16-20, Constructionism 2010, in Paris, France.

Funds needed! We are raising funds to bring a third performer, Saki, for the Pecs event. Please send donations to MoveSpeakSpin, PO Box 8055, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, earmarked for summer tour; donations are tax deductible.

Kennedy Center Partners in Education program. Karl and Erik continue as Teaching Artists presenting math dance workshops for educators and students through this national arts integration program. In December, 2009, Erik gave workshops through the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Karl is due to teach in Queens, New York through the Great Neck Arts Center this coming spring.

Puerto Rico. Both Erik and Karl taught many workshops for teachers, students and artists in Puerto Rico in April and August, 2009, as part of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. They found the children, teachers, and artists they worked with extremely excited by the math dance work in this follow-up trip to their 2005 residency. The residency was sponsored by the Instituto de Cultura Puertoriquenna.

Choreography for Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. Erik choreographed a new work that premiered in RW's September 2009 concert "Equilibrium." "Unlikely Ritual" is a short fractured look at the strange self-designations men and women are asked to give themselves when filling out dating and compatibility forms.

Recent Bay Area work. Deanna Ross and Karl Schaffer performed the duet "The Atom Bomb Game," at Counterpulse in San Francisco on Sunday, Dec. 13, and also in Monterey Peninsula College's Fall Concert, Dec. 4th and 5th.

Karl Schaffer produced a concert of mathematically playful new dance works, “Imaginary Numbers,” at the 418 Project in Santa Cruz, May 2009. The concert featured “Harmonious Equations,” a new work directed and narrated by National Public Radio’s “Math Guy” Keith Devlin, and based on music composed and performed by Santa Cruz choral group Zambra.

More on the Company

Photo by Steve Savage

MathDance.org

Math Dance with Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern, published in October, 2001, was written by Karl Schaffer, Erik Stern, and Scott Kim, of the The Dr. Schaffer & Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble.

Sternworks.org

Demolition Derby:
When a Mind Loses Its License to Drive

Just as current medical research represents the cutting edge of conception and treatment of dementia, the creators of Demolition Derby view the project as a means to engage, entertain and create awareness through artistic expression.

Photo by John Bakalis

The Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble performs under the auspices of MoveSpeakSpin, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization.