Suzanne White Manning

Suzanne White Manning died at home in Durham, NC on May 14th, 2022.

She was born in 1940 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she grew up. She sang before she talked and family lore claims she danced before she walked. While her father was serving with the army in Italy during WWII, her grandfather engaged her in dance classes, thus establishing the major focus of her life.

She discovered modern dance while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, then eventually earned her Master's degree from an exciting new program at UCLA. Meanwhile, she had a number of dance teaching stints in Detroit, Los Angeles, NC and New York before taking a faculty position at Duke in 1970. She drew a wide range of creative interests among students and faculty into dance program projects, resulting in numerous innovative interdisciplinary endeavors. Meanwhile, she had prepared the groundwork for the American Dance Festival's move to Duke, though left in 1977 to pursue the Laban program in New York, studying with the legendary Irmgard Bartenieff.

Her creative reach culminated in the innovative Synergic Theater, which premiered at Duke in 1974 with the US/USSR track meet and arts festival. She and her husband, David Manning, codirected the company for 20 years, creating and presenting their unique approach to sound-image-movement theater as manifested in original productions and a signature creative process workshop technique. They lived and worked in Durham, San Francisco, Barcelona and, mostly, New York, receiving significant critical recognition along the way. Suzanne also continued to conduct dance and movement-theater residencies in New York, North Carolina and Turkey.

An accounting of meaningful people, places, influences and experiences encountered along the way would be too lengthy and perhaps even, in its own way, infinite.

In 2016, the Mannings returned to their roots in Durham, where she enjoyed taking dance classes at the ADF and online with her New York ballet guru Finis Jhung before succumbing to a drawn-out illness over the course of the past year. Meanwhile, the Synergic Theater archives were acquired by Duke's David Rubenstein Rare Books and Manuscripts library in 2019.

What people recall most of all is her special, engaging laugh.

In lieu of flowers, contributions, or other forms of condolence, the family suggests that people consider perusing the Synergic Theater website, including her personal bio statement, at SynergicTheater.org  A memorial will be held at a later date.