Jean Freebury
Lecturer of Dance
Jean Freebury danced for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1992 to 2003 and has taught Cunningham’s technique and repertory since 1996.
A fellow of the Merce Cunningham Trust, she set his Windows in the summer of 2014. She has also staged Cunningham’s work for the American Dance Festival (Inlets 2), the University of Michigan (Minevent), the 92nd Street Y (August Pace, excerpt), and the University of Texas (Beach Birds).
Freebury has worked with numerous independent choreographers, including Douglas Dunn, Ashley Chen, Glen Rumsey, Ellen Cornfield, Kenneth King, Katy Orthwein, Pam Tanowitz, and Kota Yamazaki, and has created work in collaboration with visual artist Marisela La Grave.
Originally from Alberta, Canada, she began her training at the Alberta Ballet School and later at the London Contemporary Dance School, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Merce Cunningham Studio. She began teaching at the Merce Cunningham Studio in 1996 and has been on faculty of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College since 2008, teaching both technique and repertory. She has also taught master classes and workshops at the Mark Morris Dance Center, Rotterdam Dans Academy, and London Contemporary Dance School, among others.