Theatre, Speech and Dance

Julie Adams Strandberg, Executive Director of The American Dance Legacy Institute is Artist-In-Residence and Director of Dance at Brown University. In 1971 she co-founded The Rhode Island Dance Repertory Company and was its artistic director until 1978. . In 2000, the company reunited to create Arabella Project to showcase what mature dancers have to offer both through new and classic works. In 1973, she co-founded The Harlem Dance Foundation with her parents, Julius J. and Olive A. Adams and her sister, Carolyn Adams. She is Associate Artist Director of the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Dance and was on the faculty of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival from 1992-1995. She has choreographed and directed extensively for college, community, and professional theater groups, directed the Brown University productions of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," and Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story," choreographed the Trinity Square Repertory Company productions of "Ghost Dance" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," and directed, "Tabou: Parisian Cellars in the 50's and 60's" and "The Life and Times of Joseph Beuys" for The Rhode Island School of Design, and directed The Harlem Dance Foundation's "Santa Claus and The Unicorn," an original, multi-generational musical. She was one of the original teachers in the "Dancers in the Schools" pilot project. She served as vice-chairman of The Rhode Island Alliance for the Arts in Education and, in 1974-1975, was the first dancer-in-residence for The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. She has designed and coordinated programs, workshops, and productions for young children, such as "Where the Wild Things Are" (1974), "The Trouble with Toys" (1976), and "Somewhere Near the Moon." (1983) She has also collaborated with scientists and artists in other disciplines to create many works for traditional theater as well as experimental spaces. In 1985, she took a sabbatical leave from her duties at Brown University for a world tour, with her daughters, studying dance and theater traditions in other countries. She is listed in Who's Who in the East and the Directory of Distinguished Americans. She was honored by the city of Providence, R.I. as one of its 350 most distinguished citizens during the celebration of the city's 350th birthday. With her sister, Carolyn Adams, she co-authored "American Education and The Arts: A Balancing of Visions for Cultural Transformation" and co-edited "Dancing Through The Curriculum: A Guide To Dance Video Tapes Curated By and For Teachers To Enrich The School Curriculum." She has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to develop repertory and educational materials for the Kindergarten-University curriculum. In June 2002 she was awarded a Dance Alliance Legacy Award and a Citizen Citation from the City of Providence in recognition of innovation, generosity, wisdom and artistry and for a profound understanding of the importance of the arts and ongoing efforts to promote and advance standards of excellence in dance and dance education. She is a graduate of the Ethical Culture Schools and has a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.S. from The Bank Street College of Education. She and her husband Josiah (Ph.D, Brown '75), a computer programmer, have two daughters, Laura Carolyn, (Brown '92) a dancer and educator, and Marie Elisabeth Strandberg Porter, (USC '96), a computer support engineer.

77 Waterman Street - Box 1897
Providence, RI 02912
(401) 863-3283 - Fax: 401 863-7529