NMH Magazine : Fall 2007

Dance of Life

Mark DeGarmo ’73
Dancer, choreographer, arts educator
New York City

What he does
Executive director of Mark DeGarmo & Dancers/Dynamic Forms Inc., a combination dance company and nonprofit organization devoted to teaching dance and creativity to underserved and at-risk public school students in New York City. Mark DeGarmo & Dancers, founded in 1982, has performed more than 100 of its namesake’s dances in 12 countries on 25 international tours.

Education
BFA, Juilliard, 1982; PhD, Union Institute & University, 2007

Current projects
Choreographing and dancing as soloist in an opera by composer Judith Sainte Croix; performing in educational philosopher Maxine Greene’s salon series in New York; creating large-group works based on relationships with performing artists in Mexico and a Quiché Mayan music and dance troupe in Guatemala

Most meaningful holiday
Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday in which people commune with dead relatives and celebrate the living. DeGarmo was born on the Day of the Dead, November 2, 1955; his father, stepfather, and godfather all died during his boyhood.

Honors
Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship in Peru, US Department of State American Cultural Specialist Award in Ecuador, numerous National Endowment for the Arts grants

Odd, interesting
One New York Times review of his work began, “Mark DeGarmo made oddly interesting things happen.”

"Artists often use the grains,
and sometimes the beaches,
of sand in their lives to create
the pearls that are their
artistic work."

Home away from home
Mexico, where he and his partner frequently spend time with a family that has “adopted” them. Has also lived in Peru, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

Greatest artistic influence
Latin American dance and culture

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