Karl Schaffer
Mathematician/ChoreographerSchaffer’s dance work plays with ideas and movement in original, surprising, and entertaining ways, and often explores imaginative connections between dance and mathematics. His works have been performed at Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; Mondavi Center, Davis, CA; Annenberg Center, Philadelphia, PA; the Bridges Art/Math Conference, Seoul, Korea; and West End Studio Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA. He has been Co-Artistic Director with Erick Stern of the Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern Dance Ensemble for over 25 years and was recently appointed as a Participatory Performing Artist in Residence at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. Schaffer and Stern are on the Teaching Artist Roster of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education, and travel frequently giving workshops for major arts venues on integrating math and dance in the classroom and studio. He received his BA from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, his MA and his PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Schaffer will be collaborating with Laurel Shastri while in residence. mathdance.org