(Artistic Director/Choreographer)

 
Known as a creator of evocative dances that reflect her concerns about the human condition, Dorfman is interested in creating “worlds” into which the audience can enter. CDDC’s high energy and technically demanding repertory uses movement as metaphor to take audiences on what one reviewer described as “intellectual and emotional journeys.” She has created stunning pieces that reflect a spirit and passion for life, people and truth, survival and renewal. Hailed as the consummate storyteller, Dorfman, a child of Holocaust survivors, has also created a celebrated body of work that honors her Jewish legacy; its trials and triumphs, its treasured uniqueness and, most importantly, its universal connections.

Since founding her Company, she has created more than 60 works for her 10 member ensemble, which appears at major theaters, dance festivals, universities and schools regionally, nationally and internationally and is lauded for its artistry and exceptional arts education and community programming. The Company, described by critics as “ingenious” (The Star-Ledger) and “emotionally resonant” (The New York Times), presents new and repertory works by Ms. Dorfman and regularly commissions original scores and artistic collaborations.

A Michigan native, Dorfman received her BFA in Dance with certification to teach grades K-12 from the University of Michigan and her MFA from New York University Tisch School for the Arts. Dorfman has been designated a Distinguished Artist by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA), which has granted her six Choreography Fellowships, (most recently in 2011).  She received the Prudential Prize for Non-Profit Leadership and Jewish Women in the Arts Award for Dance from the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit and the Janice Charach Epstein Gallery (2004). A master teacher, she is a guest artist/choreographer/teacher at major universities across the U.S. and has served on the guest faculty at the Limón Institute and Peridance in New York. She is a Principal Affiliate in Arts Education for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, is on the Artist Committee of the AllStars Project NY/NJ and serves on the Board of Trustees of The Yard, in Chilmark, MA. Ms. Dorfman, a former Assistant Professor of Dance at Centenary College of NJ, also serves as a mentor/advisor and CDDC is the Company in Residence at the Performing Arts Academy of the Union County Vocational Technical School in Scotch Plains, NJ.