Appeal and
Applause Lawyer Performs Interpretives
Dances of Past Cases
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
F or Jonathan Stein, combining law and dance wasn’t the join-
ing of two incongruous practices.

A lawyer at Community Legal Services, which provides
legal counsel to low-income individuals in Philadelphia, for 50
years and a student of modern dance for almost as long, Stein has
long believed that dance is the combination of body and mind.

It’s the perfect format with which to share his career accomplish-
ments to the greater community.

In April, Stein performed an interpretive dance to a poetic
adaptation — written by formerly Philadelphia-based poet
CAConrad — of three cases he argued during his half-century
run at CLS as part of Rehearsing Philadelphia, a performance
art project by Drexel University and the Curtis School of Music.

Th e 25-minute dance, “27 ONWARD: Dancing in the
Revolution,” had Stein undulating his arms, lunging forward and
back and spinning around furniture at his old CLS offi ce space
for 12 performances, a combination of improvised and scripted
movement. In one performance, Stein ducked behind a chair, removed his
threadbare dancing shoes falling off his feet and continued the
dance in socks.

As he moved, a speaker system sounded a narration of Stein’s
three cases in poetry: Two of which, regarding immigration and
medical assistance to disabled children, respectively, made it to
the Supreme Court, where Stein fi rst argued at age 27. Th e third
dealt with racist housing policies from the Frank Rizzo era.

“When you hear Jonathan talk about these cases, you begin
to imagine the positive, life-changing impact he has had on
millions of lives,” Conrad said. “In the text, I diff erentiate
22 MAY 5, 2022
Jonathan Stein developed an interest in modern dance in the
1970s and ’80s when he was in his 30s.

Courtesy of Jonathan Stein
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