Judith Marcuse

Judith Marcuse is one of Canada’s senior artists/producers with a career that spans over 40 years of professional work as a dancer, choreographer, director, producer, teacher, writer and lecturer. Her repertory contemporary dance company toured nationally and internationally for more than 15 years, and she has created over 100 original works for live performance by dance, theatre, and opera companies; many projects for film and television; and has produced seven large-scale arts festivals.

Judith developed three multi-media productions with youth involving years of workshops, live touring and film productions, and extensive community outreach work. These included ICE: Beyond Cool (1997), focusing on teen suicide; FIRE…where there’s smoke (2001), exploring bullying, violence, and homophobia; and EARTH=home (2009) on environmental issues.

Judith teaches and presents in universities and other settings in Canada and abroad. She has been awarded with two national choreographic awards, the Chalmers and the Clifford E. Lee, and an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.

Judith is the Founder and Co-Director of the International Centre of Art for Social Change, a partnership with Simon Fraser University, and is a Senior Fellow of Ashoka International. She is the Principal Investigator of the ASC! Research Project, a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded research project on arts for social change.

Links and Publications

Art for Social Change in Canada: A Call for Candour and Connection (Video, Keynote for Creative Catalyst: the Symposium on Art and Social Innovation, 2015)