Artist Statement:
Who I Make Dance With/ For?
Read on to see if you fit the mold.
A litmus test for my target dance circle:
Place a stick on the sidewalk. Watch people trip over it as they hurry about their lives. If they laugh at their own stumble, I would give them a golden ticket.
This is also who I want to represent onstage. Ballet is often labeled the pursuit of perfection but the philosophy behind my choreography is navigating the world with the best of your ability, a sense of humor, and the possibility of mistakes. The dancers and the audience both should be those who have had to work around, with, and against obstacles in life.
No porcelain music box ballerinas here. I’d rather have the people who trip on the stick. They understand where I’m coming from.
If this is also you, read on.
I work mostly with traditional modes of presentation, on a theatrical stage. This is to extend the circle of invitation to those who doubt their value as something to be seen. It is not confined to the young, the thin the flexible the privileged the strong the healthy. I expect dancers who want to share something of themselves beyond technique. If a dancer is simply looking for toned abs or millions of pirouettes, I am not the teacher for this person. Whether on a stage or in the studio, dance is a mirror for what I would hope to see more of culturally.
Still with me? Keep going.
As a creator, I am fascinated by both the inner and outer worlds. My choreography is structured with principles of neuroaesthetics and the brain-based mechanisms which govern visual processing of information. My work relies greatly on linguistics and tools of writing, as stories are the only humanmade creation without need of any natural materials. Imagination is a useful tool for anyone dancing with me or seeing my work.
No stories have ever been found in the wild, stumbled upon like my tripping-stick. We had to make them all up. This is even true of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Those are usually the ones that need the most editing, and that’s what I like to work on with people.
Through metaphor, idiom, and analogy translated to body language, my work demonstrates the possibility to communicate with someone else and be understood . When movement relates to something familiar in the mind of the observer, it becomes more than physical action; it carries with it a meaning, and a bit of ourselves. I don’t make up these dancing stories to shout into a void. I make them to share them with someone.
If this resonates, read on to the next section.
I choose to use contemporary ballet vocabulary because of the rich language possible with fluidity between traditionally lifted posture of ballet and more apparent presentations of strong weight that dancers can incorporate into movement. To me, contemporary ballet is the wave of burdens and blessings, defiance of gravity, resilience in motion. It can go up or down at any moment.
If that makes sense to you, keep going. You have almost made it to the end.
My hope is that this moving resilience subconsciously gets the audience to sit up straight, to walk a little taller, lighter, leaving the theatre. My wish is that dancing with me gives people both the urge to strive upwards with the freedom to fall.
And I hope they keep tripping on sticks, laughing every time.
Congratulations, you made it!
Want an example?
Follow this link for a Choreography Sample