New York City-based soloist Karen Bernard began studying dance at age three with her father, Steven Bernard, a company member with the 20th century pioneer Charles Weidman. Bernard grew up in a household that incorporated her father’s dance school on a day-to-day level, with students crossing through the family space. Her sense of performance and performance art stems from this familiar blend of living and presenting. Bernard is Founder and Director of New Dance Alliance (NDA), a non-profit arts service organization that produces an annual performance festival, now in its 25th year. She also teaches, lectures and serves on advisory panels across the U.S., Canada and Europe. She is committed to nurturing an ongoing social dialogue among U.S. and international artists, one that exemplifies her lifelong commitment to performance.

Between 1986 and 1998, Bernard presented a series of solos in collaboration with Dia Center for Arts. These solos mark the passages of her life experiences as daughter, wife, mother and artist. She has been described as a “spellbinding performer with unusual themes” by Jennifer Dunning in New York Times.

In 2004, Bernard received critical acclaim for Removed Exposure, a work which incorporated old video footage, conversational text, and popular music. The work premiered at Dixon Place in New York and went on to the Festival of New Dance in St. John’s, Newfoundland; Women in Transition, a festival in Vienna; and was then remounted at Here Arts Center in New York. A handmade book of the same name was co-created with Canadian bookmaker Gray Fraser.

In 2006, Totally In Love premiered at The Kitchen - “lusty,” said Deborah Jowitt in the Village Voice. In 2008, Surfing The Shadow premiered at Joyce SoHo – “wit and creativy,” said April Greene in the Brooklyn Rail.

Bernard has received support as a Movement Research Resident Artist and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Meet The Composer, The Field’s Independent Artist Challenge Program Grant, and the Experimental Television Center with support from New York State Arts Council. Her work has been developed through The Field and via residencies at Earthdance, Silo, White Oak and Wassard Elea. In 2009, she received a Bogliasco Fellowship to create work at the Liguria Study Center in Italy. For her “invaluable service to artists” in the founding and development of the Performance Mix Festival, she received the honor of a BAX 10 Award. Bernard has served on numerous panels, most recently for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

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Removed Exposure - photo by Sheilagh O’Leary