Embody: Early Research

Later on in July, I’ll perform in collaboration with fiber artist Kat Howard, producer and musical artist Kathy Kearns from Third Law, choreographer Catherine Meringolo, and Alex Gingrow of Stony Kill Studios in Kerhonkson, NY as part of a project for Upstate Art Weekend. I’ve been researching now, ahead of travel and the rehearsal process, to prepare some built phrase-work material, as well as some scores for the dancers to dive into. Some of the themes include abundance and depletion, from the sense of climate crisis, change and justice, and some undertones of the dangers of curiosity, and some female archetypes found in the tale of Blue Beard. Can’t wait to see what fully emerges!

Dutchess School of Performing Arts Annual Recital

Early in May, the students at Dutchess School of Performing Arts performed their annual recital. I’ve been working with this studio since its’ inception in 2013. It’s the only studio that I teach at with some regularity - almost weekly, during the school year. When I’m traveling, gorgeous subs step in to give students a taste of other styles and flavors if teaching. I teach Contemporary and Irish dance, but the studio also boasts Jazz, Tap and Ballet. I love being backstage and behind the scenes during the recitals!

One is Not Enough

Following two weeks in residence with Nita Little at Wildheart Center, I performed in ONE IS NOT ENOUGH. This score-based dance improvisational piece in a sort of roving, gallery style, was set to James Bridle’s lecture on Planetary Intelligence, and sought to challenge attentional and relational skills of both dancers and viewers. It was a privilege to dance and create alongside Mandy Hackman, Nuria Bowart, Gabrielle Revlock, Cam Moreno, clyde fusei forth, Christine Bornarth, Nikita Patel, Glenna Yu, Karina Mehta, Timna Jahoda Kligler and Neva Cockrell.

Brain, Behaviour & Development

Alongside Director Nita Little, and in my capacity as Global Coordinator, I supported a training in the methodology of the Institute for the Study of Somatic Communication on Somatic Research at the MARCS Institute for Brain Behaviour and Development in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.  I’ve been supporting Nita on a lot of these trainings as of late, because we are working on a sort of “quality control “in our trainings - ensuring that we cover all elements of our material in what inevitably feels like never enough time!

As you can imagine, there’s a lot to do and sometimes just a little bit of time! After the Sydney training, we started upgrading the training document that we provide all participants to include the receipt of a section beforehand, so that participants in the training can review and digest a good deal of information before they even set foot in the studio with us.

My mind is always blown as we begin practicing the methodology together as a training group. I’m usually reminded of how powerful this material is and how meaningful it can be to so many! It’s exciting to be preparing a group to engage as a Collab, Should they desire to form, and in this particular case, the training preceded a collaborative choreographic event that is to occur in April in the Hudson Valley, New York.

With Nita Little as the lead choreographer, and Nikita Patel, Neva Cockrell, Nuria Bowart, and I as additional choreographer of our own groups of dancers, we will explore the intersections of collective intelligence and somatic, communication specifically in ensemble, dancing with the foundations of Contact improvisation as our central skills.

The performance is going to be set to a lecture by James Bridle called “Planetary Intelligence”, and is informed by the work of Tufts University professor Michael Levin on the idea that “All Intelligence is Collective Intelligence”.

I’m enjoying my time “researching” by engaging with artificial intelligence, and on the almost other side of it feels like a very strange spectrum, nature – weeding, my gardens, de-vining, my oak trees, and noticing. More, soon!

I Had a Dream About Cyborgs

Earlier in the summer I participated in T2 Dance Company’s CHOREOFEST, which was a gorgeous coalition of choreographers getting to play with the company dancers, with prompts from mentors! Some of my favorite moments outside the studio were dinners and casual meetups between the choreographers - gorgeous! T2 Dance Company invited me back to set a full work on the company, which I premiered at their VOICES concert in May. I Had A Dream About Cyborgs emerged, and was additionally shown in T2’s COLORWHEEL concert in December, set to a backdrop of vibrantly colored student drawings. Head over to this link to watch the performance footage!

Please Let Me Be A Bird

Last summer I premiered a new work on a group of advanced students using the handheld lights. In fact, the only light on stage. This fall I had a chance to reset it on some pros for the Break the Mould Dance Company’s OUT STORIES showcase. The goal was to catch a proper film of the piece so I might share it and shop it around to some other showcases, festivals, and companies. Alas, while in Tampa/St. Petersburg Florida, I found myself dodging not one, but TWO hurricanes. The rescheduling meant that I ended up dancing in the piece, which I try not to do these days, but here we are. So did I get that piece capture? Nope. Will I try again? Yup!

Big Sky

I’ve just completed about a week in Denver, Broomfield and Boulder Colorado, working with T2 Dance Company (Erin Turnbridge) for their 2024 ChoreoFest! Six choreographers, together with two mentors, set three, 24-hour prompts on individual dancers from the company. What an enlivening exchange! At the end of the week, one choreographer is invited to return and set a full length work on the company for their November performance at Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, CO. I’m delighted to share that I’ve been selected to be that choreographer, huzzah! Huge thanks to the generous dancers and community of T2, who were such a joy to work with.

Watershed

The first week in July brought with it the privilege of collaborating with Birdhouse at the Pillowfort Performing Arts Center in Andes, NY. I went in residence with this collaborative group as a documentarian (film/photo), but naturally (and to my delight) wound up doing a bit of dancing, in addition. I look forward to working with the footage in the weeks that follow to craft a little something something for the beautiful Raven White (who created Birdhouse).

MADNESS

As I’ve mentioned, I’m mentoring this brilliant little bug Karina Mehta, who I met through the Harvey school. Karina came in on the first day of Choreo/Comp class and said “So, um, I want to be a professional choreographer”. OK - um - cool, I can help with that! So recently we did a film capture of her latest piece, There is Sanity in Madness ahead of its application circuit for a little touring cycle. Love getting a few photos on top of the film! Cool, right?

Beginners, Beginners, Beginners

I love coming down to New Orleans in the summer, because I swear I walk outside and even after 7 years of coming down, feel shocked and awed by the humidity! This summer’s time at New Orleans felt so beautifully simple. I taught beginner aerial silks each morning to the tiniest little humans, then had a studio all to myself to train (I’m working on hand balancing, acrobatics, and being a flyer!), and then taught beginner contemporary floor work and contact improv! It’s nice to meet new students, and work with students again and again. It’s nice to model what training and discipline is like for them when I’m working in the studio beside them. Most of all, I love getting to travel, especially to repeat clients, all over the darn place to teach, choreography and perform. So lucky!

Site Specific Szn

In my year at Harvey School, I had the privilege of participating in multiple choreographic, creative and educational projects. One of my favorites, though, has been the Site Specific Digital Dance Concert. Students had the opportunity to create or dance in pieces that took place all over campus. We filmed the dances immersively and released them as a unified digital concert that folks could watch anytime, anywhere, or join us in the studio for a showing! Some of the students not only choreographed, but also chose to film and/or edit their own pieces, too! I loved watching kids have the autonomy to choose at what level to participate, and then really laugh alot and create some art.

New Dorp

I spent a whirlwind March weekend auditioning and then setting a new dance on students at The Studio School in New Orleans, LA. NOLA Dance Project, their performance company, will premiere the work in their June gala. This new piece feels flirtatious and fun, with lots of whacky partnering and acrobatic skills. The kids dove in full-heartedly into safety and principles of weight bearing and weight sharing. AND, we managed to make some time to do a little improvising on film in a field (as pictured!).

Mentoring

What a joy it’s been to work specifically with a student, Karina Mehta (KZChoreo), while I’m working at Harvey School in Katonah, NY. This is a kid with loads of talent, and we are getting to work on honing that talent into effective skills. She applied and was accepted into the MODarts Dance Collective showcase COLLECTIVE THREAD. She had to learn all about writing contracts and fundraising, and was able to hire 9 dancers to reset her work THE EXPERIENCE. I had the GREAT joy of mentoring her during the process, which included an intensive rehearsal period and a weekend performance!

Winter Dance Concert

In my work at Harvey School, I have the responsibility of producing the Winter Dance Concert. Given this is my first season with them after a 20-something year legacy, there was so much new for students to realize - new culture, new expectations, new normal. I did my best to show students what professional feels like in rehearsals, behind the scenes and at show time. The students presented 10 new dance works, largely contemporary and jazz, with guest material by Mickey Lonsdale, and student choreography by Karina Mehta. I set two adaptations of repertory works on the kids, Crystal Clear and Etude.

Drawing Down the Moon

I shot with Hem Borromeo for the first time this year (February) and we explored deeply intricate cross-contextual art concepts via each of our own mediums, and came out with some interesting images, to boot! I’ve been working with Hem for something like 6 years at this point, and find I walk away feeling full and whole each time.

"Antlers in all of my Decorating"

This fall I had the pleasure of working with the artistic team and students at Harvey School to produce Disney’s Beauty and the Beast! On such a short timeline, we managed to pull off a spirited, fun and creative presentation! I was responsible for the choreography and some direction, and had an especially fun experience learning these (new to me) students! Photo Credit: John D. Brooks

Grand Marshal

On Halloween this year, I had the distinct honor of choreographing a group of humans to carry Black Flags and Spirit Poles with the Grand Marshal float at the NYC Halloween Parade. The 50th Anniversary of the event, this year’s Grand Marshal was artist Laurie Anderson, who’s late husband, Lou Reed had a song “See you at the Halloween Parade” - which was meant to invite our lost loved ones to join us each year at the parade. The float featured names of New Yorkers who had passed in the last year, lyrics from the song, Lou’s guitars amplified and droning, a vocalist, and Laurie improvising along on a violin. We processed beside the float with Spirit Poles meant to invite spirits to join us, and waving 14 ft black poles with 9 ft black flags with lyrics written on them. HUUUUGE kudos to Jeanne Fleming, Martha Tobias, Ellie Brown and the many other humans who were part of this special experience.

The Legend Cirque Returns!

For the second year, the Westchester Circus Arts tent “Lucy” was assembled in Sleepy Hollow, NY, in collaboration with the Village of Sleepy Hollow to present The Legend Cirque. This year felt incredibly different than the inaugural year in ways that I didn’t quite predict! There were some amazing reminders throughout about professional standards, balance between personal and professional relationships, and prioritizing what matters the most. This was also the second of two back to back shows for me in this tent, and while I love it and the team at WCA, I’m totally ready for hibernation!

EPHEMERA (living dolls)

The last two iterations of Fern Katz’ EPHEMERA piece, I’ve actually been a dancer on the cast. This time, however, I was feeling a bit too overbooked to properly and physically commit to the project. Instead, Fern asked if I would come in to capture the project on film. This iteration, known as Living Dolls, was performed in The Adams Theater in Adams, MA - a work-in-progress theater being renovated under the care of Tina Moore, and the entire community. Katz’ vision is for each iteration ahead to be informed by the space in which it is being created, and having been a cast member in the past I can confirm - this was a whole different experience!

HELIX

Rachel Barringer and Caroline Wright who perform together as DuoShadow are the 2022-2023 Artist First Residents with the Contemporary Circus and Immersive Arts Center. The only one in the nation, this 12-month mentorship residency supports the artists in take the seed of an idea for a show and bringing to a complete evening-length production. I’ve had the privilege of being the “mentor” in support of these artists, and they were able to present an In-Progress showing at the Roslindale Substation (in collaboration with Circus 617 and under the direction of Sophia Herscu) ahead of their Premiere at the CCIAC Circus in the Park event.