About the Collaborator

The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has been the region's leading multi-disciplinary performance venue for Theatre, Dance, Jazz, World Music, New Music and children’s programming since its inception in 1971. The Annenberg Center’s curatorial vision emphasizes four primary values: artistic integrity, cultural diversity, curatorial balance and a willingness to take risks. By presenting world renowned and cutting edge artists and companies who express adventuresome perspectives on contemporary issues, timeless ideas and diverse cultures, the Annenberg Center promotes critical thinking and dialogue among its audiences, creating a uniquely rewarding arts experience.

The Annenberg Center has achieved national recognition for its outstanding Dance Celebration series (presented in partnership with Philadelphia's Dance Affiliates), touring theatre series, and for its superior offerings for children, including both its Student Discovery Series and the acclaimed 25-yearold Philadelphia International Children’s Festival, the oldest festival of its kind in the United States. Through a generous grant from the Wallace Foundation, the Annenberg Center also showcases its commitment to local artists each year through its By Local series.

Throughout its history, the Annenberg Center has presented innovative and critically-acclaimed theatre productions with some of the biggest stars of stage and screen including Liv Ullmann and Sam Waterston in A Doll's House, A Streetcar Named Desire with Glenn Close, Jessica Tandy in Beckett's Not I, and Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth with Irene Worth and Christopher Walken. Noteworthy Broadway producer and director Harold Prince (a University of Pennsylvania alum) and Joseph Papp staged many of their plays at the Annenberg Center before taking them to Broadway. As part of the Dance Celebration series, a broad range of world-class and emerging dancers and companies have appeared at the Annenberg Center each season including the Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, MOMIX, Parsons Dance Company, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and Alvin Ailey.