Previews: ICONIC WORKS at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

From its founding in 2000 in New York City to its relocation to Washington, D.C. in 2014, and up until now, a few things have remained constant with the contemporary ballet company, Chamber Dance Project (CDP): Its bringing together of soloist-level professional ballet dancers during their lay-off periods from major professional companies and partnering them with equally talented musicians and boundary pushing choreographers to create onstage magic, and the company’s founder and visionary leader, Diane Coburn Bruning an award-winning choreographer. 

That will change following CDP’s annual June season production, Iconic Works, running the 24th through the 27th at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, as Coburn Bruning will retire from the company after twenty years at the helm.

A graduate with honors from Butler University’s Jordan College of Arts, Coburn Bruning earned a master’s in choreography from New York University and, in her career, has worked with dance, theater, and opera companies across the United States and abroad, including  Atlanta Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Memphis, and Daghdha Dance (Ireland). She has received numerous fellowships including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, the McKnight National Fellowship, and fellowships from the Sundance Film Institute and the Yale University School of Drama. She was also recognized with inclusion in Dance Magazine’s prestigious “25 to Watch” list for 2003.

Until a successor is named to replace Coburn Bruning, she will serve as artistic advisor to interim artistic director Patric Palkens, CDP’s principal rehearsal director and a former dancer with CDP, Boston Ballet, and Atlanta Ballet.

For CDP’s upcoming Iconic Works, Coburn Bruning has programmed reprises of three favorites from her career: 2003’s “Ramblin’ Suite,” a work for a dozen dancers, performed to music played live by Tony Award®-winning Americana band The Red Clay Ramblers; 2018’s “Chant,” co-choreographed with Andile Ndlovu, a ballet for seven dancers set to Gregorian Chant and early polyphony; and Coburn Bruning’s signature pas de deux, 1994’s “Berceuse,” danced to composer Benjamin Godard’s music of the same name from the opera Jocelyn. Also on the program will be a reprise of choreographer Christian Denice’s “Book of Stones” (2024), a work for six dancers set to original music played live by The Red Clay Ramblers, and “Murmurs,” choreographed by former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre soloist William Moore, the program’s lone new commission.

The energetic, 15-minute, three-part ballet for four dancers is set to music by Mario Galeano Toro, Garth Knox, and Philip Glass and is loosely inspired by bird movements including the phenomenon of murmuration.  

Iconic Works will be performed by fourteen dancers, including freelance artists and dancers from The Washington Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, BalletMet, Ballet Memphis, and the National Ballet of Canada, along with CDP’s string quartet led by violinist Sally McLain, and The Red Clay Ramblers.

In advance of her retirement from the company, I spoke with Coburn Bruning about her career, her time at Chamber Dance Project, and what’s next for her.

What prompted you to retire from Chamber Dance Project?
I decided two years ago to retire after this season. The decision was a confluence of many factors, including my wanting to involve myself in other choreographic projects. Much to my surprise, the biggest contributor was that I found I was less passionate about creating new works and more interested in seeing my established works redone. It has never been either/or for me, but my drive to create new work over the past 40 years has begun to wane. I also want the freedom to learn and travel, which I haven’t had time for because of my career and running the company. I never set out to be an artistic director; I set out to be a choreographer. So if that is going away, then someone else who really wants to be an artistic director should be given the chance. 

You are on the search committee for your successor; what type of candidate are you looking for?
I am hoping for a choreographer, but we have yet to find that perfect combination of choreographer and artistic director. 

What were your biggest challenges in running CDP?
Money. It gets easier as you build a community, but then you want to do more, which costs more. D.C.’s Arts Commission has been very generous with us over the years, although of late they have had to trim their funding for everyone because the city isn’t doing quite as well financially. Also, corporate funding has gone down of late. Money aside, the initial challenge was getting a repertoire together. Now, with everything that has happened at the Kennedy Center and people going elsewhere, it’s theater insecurity, as there are fewer theaters available.

Were there goals for the company that you wanted to accomplish that you weren’t able to?
My goal was to leave the company incredibly strong artistically, organizationally, financially, and in its board of directors. I feel successful in doing all four. Maybe the only thing I wasn’t able to do was extend the summer season with touring. The pandemic and other situations interrupted the opportunities we had for that.

What made you happiest in your job as CDP choreographer and artistic director?
Creating work and opportunities for others as well as bringing people together to collaborate. Sharing the creative process through open rehearsals with audiences also made me happy, as well as taking risks with the repertoire. My favorite Agnes De Mille quote is ‘Don’t bore.’ I have tried not to bore by pushing unique artistic collaborations. I think we have attracted an audience that expects that. If I can make people laugh, cry, and everything in between in the course of an evening, that is what makes me really happy.

What will you miss?
The people. I will miss those on the board, the artists, and the camaraderie we had. I will also miss the beauty of the work. Fortunately, I will be back at times to stage my works.  

What won’t you miss?
Problems and a big email inbox. Also, the feeling of never having enough time to get things done, and my waking up in the middle of the night worrying about what I didn’t get done. 

What qualities did you look for in hiring dancers?
Knockout technique and a willingness you can see and feel for trying new things and making new work. I always say I run from bunheads; those dancers who come into the studio and want to do steps with names. That approach is not conducive to creating contemporary dance works.

What’s CDP’s auditioning process like?
After we have seen their resume and dance reel and confirmed they can dance, the rest of the audition is done almost entirely on Zoom. We give the dancer repertoire works across a range of styles to learn. Usually something of mine and something from another choreographer. Then we go on Zoom and coach them in it. How they respond to coaching and being pushed is perhaps the most important part of the audition. We also look at their personality and whether they will be fun in the studio. I feel we have cultivated a really good atmosphere in the company, and I was never willing to risk that for some wiz kid. 

How would you describe the atmosphere in the studio?
I purposely try to create an atmosphere of camaraderie that extends to the musicians, the choreographers, and anyone we bring in.

You have commissioned some 25 works for CDP over the years; what did you look for in choosing choreographers?
I looked for voices that were unique, whose choreographic style drew on classicism to create a new sense of beauty and expression. It also helped if they were easy to work with.

What have been the biggest changes you have seen in the culture and landscape of dance in the U.S. since you founded CDP?
The technical facility of dancers today is amazing. They can do anything. They also have an openness to trying everything. I think a big change for ballet companies over the years has been a waning reliance on Balanchine ballets. That has created opportunities for other choreographers to flourish. My other enduring concern, which hasn’t changed, is the lack of collaboration with live music. I understand when it’s a sound score that may not be possible, but how have we gotten to the point of thinking that dance is a performing art when it is not set to live music? 

What else have you found disappointing about the dance world?
People don’t want to collaborate enough. Everyone wants to be in their own silo. I wanted a home for my work, but never, ever, only my work. I always thought the vanity company was a selfish model.

What’s next for you?
Learning, creating, and trying to have a positive impact in new ways. I have an internal list of things I want to do, but I am trying to keep that little girl inside of me from Rocky River, Ohio, from setting a goal and going after it. I want to sit in the world without any expectations of goals or outcomes, or any commitment to anything.

Will you continue to choreograph?
I don’t think so. There are a million ways to be creative, and I want to try more of them, including continuing to paint.

Chamber Dance Project performs Iconic Works, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 24 – Friday, June 26, and 1:30 p.m., Saturday, June 27, 2026. Tickets are $65-$85. For tickets and more information, visit chamberdance.org/june-2026

Annual Summer Solstice Party: Join the company after its final performance, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 27, 2026, for an exclusive after-party with Diane and the artists. In the spirit of light, patrons are asked to wear white. Tickets are $250 Golden Solstice Circle and include premium orchestra seating with pre-performance drinks with the artists at 6:30 p.m. and access to the summer solstice party; and $150 for Solstice Circle that include a performance ticket and access to the summer solstice party. For tickets, visit chamberdance.org/event/june-season-closing-night 

Pre-performance artist chats will be held on June 24, 25, and 26 at 6:30 p.m., and the June 27  performance at 1:30 pm, will be followed by an onstage workshop.