Sarah Michelson, a choreographer known for her rigorous and boundary-pushing approach to dance, has taken over the second-floor atrium of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) with her latest work, titled "nowhere," running through October 11. The installation presents dance not simply as a performance but as an evolving, lived experience that engages dancers, the public, and the expansive museum space.

Michelson, who turns 62 this month, has developed a reputation over more than three decades for interrogating the traditions of classical, modern, and postmodern dance. Her choreography blends formal precision with the energetic spirit of her youth in Manchester, England, producing works that are at once disciplined and exploratory. Throughout her career, she has created both large-scale productions, including outdoor performances involving children and mixed casts of trained and untrained dancers, and intimate solo pieces featuring her own body.

"nowhere" transforms MoMA’s atrium into an active, daily site of dance where Michelson and a rotating group of dancers occupy the space from Saturday through Thursday during museum hours. On Fridays, the venue opens up as a public forum for dance artists, arts workers, and the community, fostering an open environment for spontaneous artistic exchange. Michelson describes this approach as resisting the traditional format of a dance beginning and ending at set points, emphasizing instead the ongoing and collective nature of dance as "embodied questions" or "embodied philosophies."

The exhibition was organized by Ana Janevski, curator at MoMA, alongside associate curator Martha Joseph. Janevski sees the atrium’s unique setting as ideal for Michelson’s dramaturgy and ability to build momentum across extended durations. Together, they frame "nowhere" as part concert, part installation, and part participatory space that pushes the boundaries of how dance can be experienced in a museum context.

Michelson’s relationship with her own body, forged through years of physical discipline and challenges, is central to the work. She reflects on her body as both a source of guidance and vulnerability, shaped by a career that included a near-fatal accident during a performance in Amsterdam and early ballet training in England. For Michelson, dance is inherently ephemeral and live, resisting capture by recordings or archives. She emphasizes the importance of being physically present to experience the "energetic transaction" that happens between dancers and audience.

While Michelson’s practice has long been supported in the visual arts world — including past presentations at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, and representation by David Zwirner since 2023 — she acknowledges ongoing challenges faced by dance in gaining equal recognition. She has spoken about the difficulty of avoiding objectification and the pressure to measure dance against other art forms’ value systems.

"nowhere" exemplifies Michelson’s expansive vision of dance as inclusive and open-ended, inviting a multiplicity of experiences rather than a singular statement. As the MoMA atrium becomes a stage for this evolving project, it raises fresh questions about what constitutes dance and how it can be lived and shared over time.