mission statement
Founded in 2014, Acts of Matter is a project-based performance group with a mission of revealing and reveling in our greater humanity through investment in process and collaboration. The work of the company is grounded in an unfettered willingness to attempt something while accepting the possibility of its failure. This physical exertion—this act of trying—is the core of humanity in the work. As a choreographer, Artistic Director Rebecca Lemme is inspired by the ability of movement to move people—to stir in them something innately human: the need to find connection. Acts of Matter hinges on the belief that as a society we are defined by what unites us—by what makes us similar, not what makes us different. Drawn from immensely personal inspiration, the work creates a window in which others can see their own experience reflected. It suggests that at the core of every private struggle or individual joy is something universal.
About Rebecca lemme
Rebecca Lemme is a choreographer, performer, and educator. She is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the performance group Acts of Matter. Her work has been commissioned by Visceral Dance Chicago, LA Contemporary Dance Company, Santa Barbara Dance Theater, River North Dance Chicago, CalArts, Loyola Marymount University, Grand Valley State University, California State University Long Beach, Columbia College, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Chicago’s Dance in the Parks. Additionally, Lemme has been invited to present work in the The A.W.A.R.D. Show!: Chicago, Los Angeles Dance Festival, Dance at the Odyssey (Los Angeles, CA), Front + Main Festival (Temecula, CA), Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Choreography Showcase and Competition (Glen Ellyn, IL). Since its founding the company has produced annual shows in the greater Los Angeles area, has been presented throughout southern California and the Chicagoland area, and recently toured to New Mexico to headline the SHIFT Dance | Festival. Thematically and physically, Lemme’s work is grounded in an unfettered willingness to attempt something while accepting the possibility of its failure. This physical exertion—this act of trying—is the core of humanity in her work.
A Chicago native, Lemme has toured nationally with contemporary repertory companies Luna Negra Dance Theater, River North Dance Chicago, RTG Dance, Hedwig Dances, and Instruments of Movement, working with and performing choreography by Jose Limon, Robert Battle, Daniel Ezralow, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Eduardo Vilaro, Frank Chaves, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Alejandro Cervera.
Lemme teaches extensively in Release, Ballet, Composition, and Improvisation. Through her company she hosts open company classes in Release and has created a bi-annual workshop entitled Focused Study. This workshop is grounded in the values and the mission of Acts of Matter: to bring diverse people together to enhance each others’ experience in life and in dance through sharing, listening, and learning. She has also been a co-facilitator for every module of LACDC’s Choreography Lab, where she mentors emerging choreographers in process.
A tenured Associate Professor of Dance at California State University, Long Beach, Lemme has been a full-time faculty member at California Institute of the Arts where she also taught during her MFA candidacy. Lemme has also been on faculty at Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University, Hubbard Street’s Lou Conte Dance Studio, Visceral Dance Center, and Joffrey Ballet Chicago. Additionally, she has guest taught at the American College Dance Association Conference, Loyola Marymount University, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Wake Forest University, Beloit College, Loyola University Chicago, and the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. She has been Choreographer in Residence at Grand Valley State University setting work and teaching master classes within the Dance Department. She has regularly taught at intensives for LA Contemporary Dance Company, Danceworks Chicago, Visceral Dance Chicago, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, and previously River North Dance Chicago. Through a holistic approach to dance education her classes merge critical thinking processes with skill building and art making.
Lemme holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Choreography and a BA from Princeton University in English and Theater. She was the recipient of the Francis LeMoyne Page Theater Award for distinctive achievement in theater at Princeton as well as the Caroline H. Newhouse and Sono Osato Scholarships, both for graduate study.