page_title: Karen Bernard
section_title: Early Life
hierarchical_section_title: Karen Bernard / Early Life
caption_attribution_description: English: A portrait of the performance artist, Karen Bernard. Taken by Svelta Atanasova.
context_page_description: Karen Bernard is an American choreographer and performance artist. Bernard is the Founder and Director of New Dance Alliance in New York City.
context_section_description: Karen Bernard was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Brookline, MA. She began studying dance at age three under the tutelage of her father, Steven Bernard, a company member with modern dance pioneer Charles Weidman. Her childhood home consisted of a barn, which Bernard’s father renovated to include a large dance studio and office, attached to the family home. The constant flow of students filtering in and out sparked Bernard’s study of performance merging with life itself.
  In 1966, Bernard received a three-year scholarship to attend The Boston Museum of Fine Art, but after one year, diverted to join the pilot program of The London School of Contemporary Dance. By 1969, Bernard premiered a solo in collaboration with sculptor David Tremlett at Tate Britain (f.k.a Tate Gallery) and performed an adaptation of Les Sylphide while on tour with Captain Beefheart & His Magical Band at The Royal Albert Hall on March 27, 1972.
caption: Karen Bernard, photo by Svelta Atanasova
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