Critically acclaimed as both dancer and choreographer, Demetrius Klein occupies an enviable position at the edge of post-modern dance. Whether its working on a new commission to be set on an outside company, or developing a new work out of the back of his Lake Worth studios, Mr. Klein is unintentionally breaking new ground that windows audiences to a new world of movement.
Since forming his own company in 1987 in Lake Worth, Florida, Klein's work has been produced by P.S. 1 - Institute for Art and Urban Resources, (Barebones Dancing Series, Spring 1988, NYC), the Field (Fall 1994, NYC), The New Music American/Miami Festival, Miami Waves Experimental Media Festival, Flights of Fantasy, National Performance Network at P.S. 122 (Fall 1989, Winter 1994, Spring 1997, NYC), and the Region Languedoc-Roussillon, France in 1991. He has also self-produced his work three times at the Cunningham Studio in NYC, The Mulberry Street Theatre in NYC, and Movement Research in NYC in 1991 and 1992. Mr. Klein and his company also maintain a very active performance schedule in their home city of Lake Worth, Florida, where his company has produced thirty full concerts in the last five years. He has received two choreographic fellowships from the State of Florida, three commissions from Southern Ballet Theatre in Orlando, Florida, was awarded the Hector Ubertalli Award for Artistic Excellence from the Palm Beach County Council of the Arts and a 1995-97 Choreographic Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. March 1998 Demetrius received a Guggenheim Fellowship.
In 1992, Mr. Klein was commissioned to make a collaborative duet with Bessie Award winning New York Choreographer Ralph Lemon. Mr. Klein's work appeared in the Jacob's Pillow Men Dancer's Project (the Ted Shawn Legacy) with performances in 40 cities in the United States as well as Russia, Estonia and the Netherlands as well as being introduced into the repertories of the Harid Conservatory, Florida State University, Florida International University and the University of Minnesota.
1994 marked Mr. Klein's commencement of the company's most ambitious endeavor to date: the Forgotten Spaces Project, touring to Winston-Salem NC, Columbus OH, and Minneapolis MN. In 1995, Mr. Klein was a Cowles Chair Visiting Artist Fellow at the University of Minnesota, and was also commissioned to set a new piece on the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.
In 1996, Demetrius Klein choreographed the Earth Studies Project, an evening-length dance/oratorio. This piece marked Mr. Klein's first endeavor into a major collaborative piece. Earth Studies featured a score by Martin Brody, lighting by Michael Mazzola, theatrical direction by Nick Deutch, costumes by Mimi Gross and sets by Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz. Earth Studies was premiered at the Duncan Theatre in the Lake Worth, FL. and subsequently performed at the Emerson Majestic Theatre in Boston, MA. During the summer, he has taught at the Harvard Summer Dance Center, Florida Dance Festival and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.