Laura Foreman, 64, Dancer (obituary)
Back Stage: 13
July, 2001
The director of dance at the New School University, Laura Foreman, died in Manhattan of cancer on July 5. She was 64.
Moving to New York in the mid-1960's after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Ms. Foreman directed the dance program at the New School from the late 1960's until her death. Leading her Foreman Dance Theatre and Composers' and Choreographers' Theatre, she provided exposure for new and avant-garde dancers and choreographers through many dance and music series including Choreoconcerts and Critiques.
Married to composer John Watts, Ms. Foreman began concentrating on art and writing after his death in 1982.
Transitions - recent deaths in the dance world - Obituary
Dance Magazine: Jan,
2002
Laura Foreman, an artist, writer, and teacher, directed the dance program at the New School University from the late 1960s until her death on June 15, 2001, of cancer at the age of 64.
Born in Santa Barbara, California, Foreman danced with Helen Tamiris in her early years, and also with Daniel Nagrin. She completed her degree at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and then moved to New York in the mid-1960s. Soon thereafter she became the director of dance at the New School, where her Foreman Dance Theater and Composers' and Choreographers' Theater were in residence. She provided an outlet for new talent at her Choreoconcerts and Critiques series, where choreographers, dancers, and composer/musicians could gain much-needed exposure. She and her company performed regularly into the 1970s. She was the recipient of several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, among others.
Foreman was well known as an artist. "Wallwork," created in 1981 with her husband, composer John Watts, was a conceptual event that existed only in advertising posters and on a telephone reservations number. When a sold-out sign was added to the posters, the reservations number grew very busy. She worked in film and video as well, and won a bronze medal in the category of Documentary: Women in Film at the Houston International Film Festival for TimeCoded Woman I, II, III.
Foreman began to focus more intensely on her art and writing after her husband's death in 1982. The 1990 sculpture "Birdhouse as Metaphor" was shown at the Souyun Yi Gallery in SoHo and many of her sculptures were installed in various neighborhood gardens throughout Manhattan. Her short stories were published in journals and collected into a book, Close Encounters, published in 1997 by CRS Outloudbooks. She was also a co-founder and member of Artists and Scientists in Collaboration.
"Laura was constantly aware of the beauty and comedy of life. She was very encouraging, and had a tremendous amount of caring and respect for her peers," says Meli Zinberg, a fellow teacher at the New School. "Even while she was sick she was still inspiring people to do what made them happy."
Foreman is survived by her companion, Richard Keene, and her mother, Gladys Foreman of Los Angeles.
--Heidi Landgraf
©2004 Christian Bernard Singer.
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