Dorothy Hershkowitz; infused dances with emotion

Dorothy Hershkowitz, a dancer-choreographer who created what she once called "dances for people who aren't dancers," died of ovarian cancer Friday in her home in Newton. She was 62.

"She used experiences from her life in her choreography. Her work had a real emotional base," Amy Zell Ellsworth, president of the board of directors of the Boston Dance Alliance, said yesterday.

Ms. Hershkowitz's creations included "Monday Morning Quarterback," a widely acclaimed piece about slick sports commentators and competitive athletes, and "From the Great Green Room," a work inspired by the children's book "Goodnight Moon" in which she attempted to see the world through the eyes of a child.

In a Boston Globe review published in 1997, dance critic Christine Temin described her work as "dance as theater -- a blend of experiences, gestures, sounds, thoughts, and feelings, which is both accessible to a wide audience and packed with images for those who look beneath the surface."

Ellsworth described her as a true original. "She was a very strong woman with strong opinions and had a very clear sense of what she wanted to accomplish artistically. She didn't follow other artists."

Born in New York City, Ms. Hershkowitz trained with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and members of the Limon Dance Company before relocating to the Boston area, where she taught for many years and was affiliated with the Dance Collective and Harvard Dance Center.

"She was a very serious person who faced many challenges in her life," said Ellsworth. "She used those experiences to inform her work, much of which reflected her deep spiritual values as a Jew."

Ms. Hershkowitz was the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation.

"She was a central figure in teaching dance to professionals and preprofessionals in the mid-1970s," said Ellsworth, who operated a dance school with Ms. Hershkowitz in the 70s.

She also taught at Wellesley College for many years and at her studio in Newton.

For about 10 years in the 1980s and '90s, she stopped performing to concentrate on teaching and raising her children. "It was a real juggling act, raising a family, teaching, and keeping her artistic light alive," said her husband, Dave Evans. "She was pretty amazing, a real hard worker who would be balancing the checkbook at 11 o'clock at night."

Videographer-dancer Lynn Bikofsky collaborated with Ms. Hershkowitz on several multimedia pieces in recent years, including "Chasing Wild Geese" and "Blue Stones and Red Ribbons."

"She liked to incorporate spoken word and video into her work; it was very complex," Bikofsky said yesterday. "Nothing was quite as exciting as watching her brain and her body work together."

Bikofsky said Ms. Hershkowitz had a devoted following of students of all ages. Many, she said, looked upon her as a spiritual guide. "Dance was her life, because she very much needed to keep moving," said Bikofsky.

In addition to her husband, she leaves two sons, Alexander Bohn of Providence, and Jonathan Bohn of Billerica; and a brother, Noah Hershkowitz of Madison, Wis.

A funeral service will be held at noon today in Levine Chapels in Brookline. Burial will be in Newton Cemetery.