18 Facts About Ralph Lemon

1.

Early in his career, Lemon used painting as a source of expression, and as he discovered dance, utilized movement as a physical means of expression.

2.

Ralph Lemon began his educational career in literature and theater arts at the University of Minnesota.

3.

Ralph Lemon eventually moved to New York where he met and danced with Meredith Monk and her company.

4.

Ralph Lemon performed in a video documentary with choreographer Bebe Miller.

5.

Ralph Lemon is known for his collaborations in different media and with musicians.

6.

Ralph Lemon's work has been acknowledged with awards such as the National Endowment for the Arts choreographic fellowship; American Choreographers Award, 1987; Gold Medal, New York Dance and Performance Award, 1987.

7.

Ralph Lemon received a 2000 Creative Capital Performing Arts Award and 2012 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.

8.

Ralph Lemon was one of the twelve recipients of the 2015 National Medal of Arts.

9.

Ralph Lemon has lived and worked in New York City's East Village since 1991.

10.

Over a ten-year span, Ralph Lemon created a trilogy that uses choreography to present social and political issues in numerous collaborative projects.

11.

Ralph Lemon recently finished the ten year art project, Geography Trilogy, which investigated an apparent collision of cultures and searched for personal and artistic identity within a broader spectrum.

12.

Ralph Lemon ended up creating these two books as a result of physicality, emotional conflicts, spiritual connections and specifically cultural contradictions that lead to the numerous collaborations and experiences he gained.

13.

Ralph Lemon then ventured to Asia for his next piece in the trilogy Tree.

14.

Ralph Lemon finished the trilogy in the US with Come Home Charley Patton, a piece that revisits a segregated time in history.

15.

Much of Ralph Lemon's success is attributed to his unique ability to express dramatic and emotional content through movement using new art forms.

16.

Ralph Lemon is currently the artistic director of Cross Performance Inc in New York.

17.

Ralph Lemon strives to invent and be innovative with each performance he creates by conveying different concepts and using different media.

18.

Ralph Lemon uses both his art and anthropology backgrounds to influence his choreography, but he refrains from distorting the cultural importance of dance within traditions.