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.
 Photo by Steve Savage |
MATH DANCE WITH DR. SCHAFFER AND MR. STERN 132 page book now available from our BOOK SHOP Classroom activities for teaching For grades 4-12 |
Latest video:
See the October, 2012 TEDx presentation by Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern on our educational approach to combining dance and mathematics.
Other Recent Links:
(1) Video excerpts of Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble works.
(2) Madison Science Festival, review of performance by Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern, Sep., 2012.
(3) Article on Schaffer/Stern workshop at Univ. of Wisconsin Dance Dept., Sep. 28, 2012.
(4) Article on Karl Schaffer's Tri-College Mellon Creative Residency: Math and Dance, Sep. 2012.
(5) Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics Keynote performance, Oct. 18, 2012, Columbus, Ohio.
(6) Madison Area Technical College Talk Sep. 28, 2012, by Karl Schaffer.
Recent News:
"The Daughters of Hypatia: Circles of Mathematical Women," a premiere dance performance by Karl Schaffer and friends. "The Daughters of Hypatia" celebrates great female mathematicians and their struggles to create groundbreaking
mathematics. The historical sections of the show are drawn together by dances exploring circular motifs, and the concert includes live projection of video mosaics. Dancers: Kaylie Caires, Jenna Purcell, Jane Real, and Saki. Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012, 8PM at the new Motion at the Mill Ronn Reinberg Theater in Santa Cruz. Tickets on sale at Brown Paper Tickets or Motion at the Mill.
Read more...
If you would like to be notified about new shows, please email us at karl_schaffer@yahoo.com, or join our Facebook group "Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble," and we will put you on a notification list. Thank you for your support!
Recently published article: Karl and Erik's pioneering and ongoing math dance work is featured in an article in Dance Teacher Magazine in the March, 2010 issue.
Events. Karl and Erik performed and presented at two European interdisciplinary conferences in summer 2010:
July 24-28, Bridges 2010, in Pecs, Hungary. We will give a public performance in the National Theatre of Pécs.
Aug. 16-20, Constructionism 2010, in Paris, France.
Funds needed! We are raising funds to cover for a third performer, Saki, for the Pecs event. Please send donations using our Google Checkout button or by sending a check/money order to MoveSpeakSpin, PO Box 8055, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, earmarked for summer tour; donations are tax deductible. |
| Video excerpts of Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble works are now on Youtube. |
Photos of Ronn Reinberg, long-time tech director, advisor, and friend to Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern.
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 March.
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, in Monterey Peninsula College's Fall Concert, Dec. 4th and 5th, and
at SJDancCo's ChoreoProject Awards, Feb. 19 and 20.
Karl is featured in "Cool Careers in Math," a new booklet designed to interest teenagers in mathematics, just published by Sally Ride Science. He and Saki, Fabricio Olsson, and Deanna Ross are performing for the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum's Legacy for Children Award 2010, honoring Physicist/Astronaut Sally Ride on Friday, May 14.
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.