Life as a Modern Dancer

10 Years, 1381 Posts, and Much Gratitude

Dearest readers, friends, family, and colleagues,

Today marks the completion of 10 years of this blog! This week has been a sweet moment to reflect on this time and this journey.

Because I could not resist, I indeed went back and counted the number of posts from the past decade. The current count is 1381! I have so much gratitude for every person who took the time to write a piece, to share their viewpoints and paths, and to contribute to this site for voice, dialogue, reflection, and celebration of modern and contemporary dance. Readership varies per month - from a few hundred to over 5000. Thrilled to see as of today there are 204,919 reads/clicks, which averages to 1,707 a month. (I know compared to some big blogs, this is nothing. But within the modern dance realm, how many dance books have had 204,000 people pick up a copy?)

Ten years ago, I was teaching full-time at The Hamlin School in San Francisco. I was still performing, and my kids were just 4 and 6. Thank you to dear friends Rebecca Johnson and Mo Miner for supporting me at that moment in August 2012 when I wanted to start this little project. Thank you to colleague Katie Faulkner for saying yes and writing the first artist profile! Thank you to colleagues Melecio Estrella, Nadia Oka, Doug Gillespie, Rachael Leonard, Mike Barber, Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, Tamara Riewe, and Annie Rosenthal Parr for completing the first 10 artist profiles on LAAMD.

I started the blog because I wanted to share and amplify more stories of dancers over 30 and to offer a full picture of their lives in dance - which included teaching, holding non-dance jobs, managing injuries, exploring multiple interests, and much more. I wanted to read what I myself was not seeing in other dance publications. And at the same time, I aspired to have this content (free, online, fresh...) be used as reading material in undergraduate classes to support the next generation of dancers. The seed/inspiration for this idea came from a pivotal discussion my senior year in college with guest artist Keith Johnson. I held onto that story - and his honesty and open heart - for years. Read more about it here and Keith's artist profile, which was the 100th piece on the site.

So, the artist profiles were the main idea for years - self-interviews with artists about their dance background, career paths, goals, and dreams. But over the years I realized that the blog platform could support other important, often underdiscussed, topics as well. I took joy in seeking out new topics and questions percolating in the field. I started to add new features each year - such as the Arts Administrator's Alphabet, a running list of MFA programs in the U.S., My Dance Week, and One Good Quote. I loved playing with durational projects - offering something once a week or once a month (gratitude project, writers' workshop, Dance+Change, 365 Words...).

Then in recent years, due to a gaping hole in dance performance coverage in the SF Bay Area, I started publishing reviews and reflections of local events. I gathered an incredible roster of writers who also wanted to cover the performances and continue to expand how and why we write about dance. It is really important for me to name and thank these incredible writers: Bhumi B. Patel, Sima Belmar, Garth Grimball, Audrey Johnson, Sarah JG Chenoweth, Molly Rose-Williams, and Todd Courage.

During the pandemic in 2021, I had the wonderful opportunity to have my first intern from Wayne State University, Camryn Eaglin! Camryn and I kept projects going, and hope and curiosity alive, during a very rough pandemic patch. Camryn has since graduated from college and is now a paid writer for the blog too. Check out her most recent interview with Dr. Doug Risner here.

As you will see, during the last 2 years I have not published as many posts as prior years. The reason for this is a big one. I have committed to paying every writer a stipend. I am very proud of this commitment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this little musing today, and I look forward to the years ahead with the project! I would love to quote a few pieces from the blog over the years:

question everything.

speaking of questions, there is a difference between the question "should i dance, be a dancer?" and "how can i dance/be a dancer in this moment?" and "how can i make this happen?"

-Shelley Senter, Artist Profile #57 (2/22/2014)

Shelley Senter

I think the biggest thing I’ve learned and am continuing to learn in my 40s is that the messiness that I refer to above is not something that needs to be formalized or contained. Dance for me has become a much more global and holistic practice that doesn’t always find its container in the body moving according to learned behaviors or historicized forms. It’s a philosophy, it’s a spiritual act, it’s perceptual gymnastics, it’s time traveling, it’s psycho-emotional excavation, it’s social communion. The other thing that I’ve realized and something that is not necessarily a comfort is that once you reach a certain stage, not determined by age always, meaning the more the world opens up to you through this elusive practice called dance, there is no turning back.

-Jeanine Durning, Artist Profile #89 (4/04/2015)

Jeanine Durning. Photo: Ian Douglas.

Improvisation - my life in general at the moment. Every move I make from waking up to falling asleep is a study in improvisation. How I use my desires and goals to get me through the day. All I’ve got is time and not many people, places, or things asking much of me. I feel like a professional juggler standing on one leg juggling one small ball. I'm used to using so much more of me; it's a constant study in figuring out what I can do with my other limbs while I hold on to just one thing.

-Jae Neal, Shelter-in-Place Dance Dictionary (5/14/2020)

Jae Neal. Photo: Aeric Meredith-Goujon.

I will be sending out many thank you notes this week, and here I want to share 3 thank yous in particular to Chris Randall, Sima Belmar, and Valerie Gutwirth. My wonderful husband Chris has lovingly supported this project every week, along with a variety of other ideas, dreams, and aspirations. Sima Belmar, longtime friend and colleague, remains my north star with writing - about integrity, curiosity, and continued growth and learning. And Valerie Gutwirth - another longtime friend and colleague of 20+ years - listens to every new, hair-brained idea and says "yes!" to being a part of many of them, including this blog throughout the past 10 years. Love and gratitude to Chris, Sima, and Val!

Last, I hope that you will continue to be a part of it too! Here are 4 ideas:

• Please bookmark the blog on your computer or "Like" the Facebook Page. Those are the 2 of the easiest ways to stay connected.
• Share the blog with a colleague or student. This means so much to me, and you help continue to expand the conversation.
• I am always looking for writers and pitches for pieces. Write anytime to randalldanceprojects@gmail.com. This can be about an artist, upcoming show, new book, or initiative.
• Last, if you are able, I am seeking 100 readers/fans this month to contribute $20/each. This funding will nurture the writing for the rest of 2022. 100% of these donations will fund writers. Please consider donating today via Venmo (Life as a Modern Dancer, @Jill-Randall-6 ) or Patreon. Many, many thanks! (If you are wondering, the cost of running the blog is about $6000 a year.)

I end here by saying - the Life as a Modern Dancer Blog has brought me so much joy over the past 10 years. Reading fellow dancers' life stories, and having them open their hearts, is just breathtaking. And with the posts I personally created over the years to offer resources, ideas, and guiding questions - it is my pleasure and joy to help others, connect others, and contribute to the dance field.

Thank you for being an integral part of this project!

 

With love and gratitude,

Jill Randall
Berkeley, CA (August 13, 2022)

----------------------------------------

 

Inside an Insightful Mind: An Interview with Dr. Doug Risner

Inside an Insightful Mind: An Interview with Dr. Doug Risner

By Camryn Eaglin

Dr. Doug Risner is an accomplished, well-respected dance educator and scholar. With a focus in dance education, his research and practice is etched in humanizing dance pedagogy. From his extensive research throughout his Masters and Doctoral studies, to publishing his first book “Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance” in 2009, he places a critical lens on traditional dance pedagogies and aims to unearth inhumane teaching practices. He always asks his students two valuable questions: What kind of teacher do you want to become? and, What does it mean to be responsible for someone else’s learning?

When you see someone with such an extensive and successful career, you wonder–how did they get here? Dr. Risner gave me some insight into his personal journey.

The Early Years

For professionals in a field they're passionate about, it’s common for them to trace back to a moment, a feeling, or a person who ignited that initial flame. For Dr. Risner, that was his 1st grade teacher Mrs. Shaffer. She was sure to amplify her students' strengths without emphasizing their "shortcomings." He took inspiration from her and from these moments. Dr. Risner had an interest in teaching, to the point where he would play school with his neighborhood friends, and he of course would act as the teacher. This all left a lasting impact on Dr. Risner. His passion for dancing would blossom soon after, and although his path wasn’t completely linear, the dots would later reconnect.

Camryn Eaglin (CE): At what point in your life did you find a serious interest in dance teaching and education?

Doug Risner (DR): I started taking dance “lessons” when I was in second grade. My mom put me in tap dance classes because I was a chubby 7-year old, and she thought tap dance would help me lose weight. Yet, my very first dance teacher, Phyllis Liles, saw my potential and always supported me in positive ways, never negative or demeaning. She taught me to always do my best, never give up, and to work hard. 

At the same time, I also remember being only one of two boys who took dance lessons, and I wondered why that was. Dancing was physical, challenging, and took lots of practice and fortitude. Why don’t more boys dance? It’s a question I’ve been asking in my research and scholarship for over 20 years, and is the subject of one of my most recent books, Masculinity, Intersectionality & Identity: Why Boys (Don’t) Dance (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022). 

I was also drawn to teaching and studying how to teach because I struggled early in my career with dance teachers who taught from traditional, authoritarian, banking-method dance pedagogies. I wanted to find and develop ways to significantly counteract the negative deficiency model which focuses on what the dance student can’t do. 

CE: How did you get your start in Academia earlier on? 

DR: My early experiences of academia were quite rough. I went to Miami University in Ohio right out of high school as a pre-medicine major. I thought I wanted to be a medical doctor in large part because my father died from cancer when I was only 10 years old. I wanted to give back in some way so that others might not have to go through what I did. But after two years of college, the required pre-med coursework was over my head. So I dropped out. Although I had started dance lessons when I was a young boy, dance was not something males took as a major in the late 1970s. So I worked in department store retail and continued to study dance and perform in musical theater productions for a number of years.

 In 1981, I met a male dancer in a production who was auditioning for Point Park College and asked me if I wanted to audition too. So I did and got accepted. I completed a year there, but tuition was beyond my means to continue, and honestly, I never felt that I fit into the highly competitive conservatory setting. By 1984, I was teaching at the School of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and had become a father. I was 25 years old with a family to support. I knew that to survive I needed to get my undergraduate degree in dance (BFA, 1988) and move right into a graduate program (MFA, 1991), which I did, both at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Other than becoming a father, it’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

In the Thick of Academia

Dr. Risner knew he wanted to continue his higher education journey. Once he graduated with his MFA, he began what would be a 37-year in higher education dance. His teaching endeavors flourished in college dance departments, and this is where Dr. Risner developed, explored, and crafted his own personal pedagogy and teaching methods, which were heavily influenced by his personal experiences and education. His earliest university teaching experiences focused on technique, choreography, community outreach, and repertory for undergraduate and graduate students.

CE: What did your career look like the first few years after earning your MFA in Dance?

DR: With my MFA in Choreography and Performance completed in 1991, I was appointed Assistant Professor of Dance at Luther College, a small liberal arts college, with an active and vibrant theater and dance department. I had published two academic journal publications based on research I had conducted for my MFA written thesis, “Dancers in the Rehearsal Process: An Interpretive Inquiry.” At the time, MFA grad students at UNCG were required to complete both a written scholarly thesis and original choreography for a shared dance concert with another MFA grad student. I am so fortunate and grateful that scholarly research was such an important, required component of the MFA in Dance at UNCG.

CE: Many creatives express a difficult time choosing their higher education path. How did you later decide on a PhD in Curriculum and Teaching?

DR: There was so much more I wanted to learn about research design and methods. I also had a strong desire to address some of the most troubling challenges and issues confronting dancers, dance educators, and the field of dance education. Although I had been promoted to associate professor with tenure at Luther College, I resigned my position in 1998 and returned to UNCG for a PhD in Curriculum and Teaching. I was 40 years old and back in school, again. And I loved every minute of it. 

CE: You’re currently the Director of the Master of Arts in Theater & Dance Teaching Artistry at Wayne State University in Detroit. How did this program come about, and what do graduate students in the program gain from their studies?

DR: Fast forward a decade, along with my Wayne State theater faculty colleague Mary Elizabeth Anderson–also a teaching artist for many years–we conducted a mixed-method qualitative dominant research study of dance and theater teaching artists (n=172). With so little published literature on dance and theater teaching artists at that time, the three-year study’s findings contributed significantly to the curriculum design and course development for the MA in Teaching Artistry program. The study’s description and findings were published as part of our book, Hybrid Lives of Teaching Artists in Dance & Theater Arts (2014). 

What we learned from working teaching artists shaped nearly all aspects of the program’s design and format. First, it was clear that the MA program needed to be available in a fully online format–the majority of TAs told us they would be unable to relocate or uproot their families. Second, they made clear that continuing their current teaching artist employment while pursuing a master’s degree was a high priority. Third, they wanted options for internships and fieldwork experiences in their area as part of the program. We designed the program to meet each of these needs. In addition, Mary and I were committed to creating a culture of community, collegiality, and collaboration, especially given the challenges some students experience in online courses and programs. 

The Master of Arts in Theater and Dance - Teaching Artistry admitted its first cohort in 2016. Our fourth cohort will begin this Fall 2022, and it’s one of the most diverse and talented so far.

The Exploration & Research 

CE: What goes into your process on deciding what to write about and research in depth, specifically in dance pedagogy?

DR: My process for identifying issues in dance pedagogy has often focused upon dehumane teaching approaches and practices–many of which I experienced as a young dancer. 

As I wrote two decades ago in “Rehearsing Heterosexuality: 'Unspoken' Truths in Dance Education” (Dance Research Journal, 2002):  

“I believe the overarching problem centers on the dehumanizing effects of  traditional dance pedagogies and the ways in which ignoring these issues cultivates further dehumaniza­tion in dance education. Unless we diligently critique the ways in which we were taught, trained, and treated, we frequently manufacture exact pedagogical replicas. Moreover, from a very early age, students are the unwitting beneficiaries of this process. “

Seldom receiving the attention that could adequately prepare dance educators to con­front these critical issues, the profession frequently waits until a crisis develops in our pro­grams or schools. We then stumble, struggle, and fumble through territory we often know little about, for which we have no preparation and, worse, lack the technical skills to be responsive. Twenty years later, we find ourselves in similar situations, exacerbated by COVID-19 and widespread asynchronous learning. 

CE: You’ve written hundreds of  papers, journal articles and chapters. After an extensive writing career, how do you find  new topics you’re passionate about researching and writing?

DR: That’s a great question. Because I’ve been researching, writing and publishing for so long, finding new topics that really interest me is an ongoing, organic process that never stops. I’m thinking about new projects all the time, especially those that excite me– what I have questions about and want to learn more– and what the profession needs to learn, know, and address.

My book projects, often edited volumes, are time consuming and require mentoring and managing numerous contributing authors. Because edited volumes– at least for me– take about three years to produce, I’m also working on a number of journal articles and chapters for other books simultaneously. To remain engaged in each of these ongoing projects means I have to be deeply passionate and committed to the topics I pursue. 

My passion also comes from collaborating with other researchers and scholars whose work I admire and respect. After I published my first book, Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance (2009), I swore I would never write a book by myself again. Collaboration, on the other hand, requires listening, responding and supporting others; all of which provide meaningful opportunities for learning, understanding and questioning. Most of my work over the past decade or so has been collaborative.  

Words of Wisdom

CE: Out of some of your distinguished pieces, which one are you most proud of and hope more dancers and educators would read?

DR: This is a tough one to answer. It’s like asking, “Which of your children are you most proud of?” My next book, Dancing Mind, Minding Dance: Socially Relevant and Personally Resonant Dance Education (Routledge, 2023), is a retrospective volume of 17 articles published from 1992-2022. The book comprises both pivotal works cited frequently by other scholars and articles that are no longer available or difficult to find. It is organized in five sections: 

• Dancing Making Pedagogies; 
• Dance Curriculum and Teaching; 
• Dance Teaching Artists; 
• Dance, Gender and Sexual Identity; and 
•  Social Justice and Humanizing Dance Pedagogy.

The book provides readers a 30-year perspective of my scholarship and research studies. Although I’m unable to say which article I’m most proud of, I know there’s something for everyone in this collection. Dancing Mind, Minding Dance is scheduled for publication in February 2023. 

CE: It’s important for artists to understand there are many aspects of dance to be involved in other than performing. What advice would you give them to help find their niche in the dance field? 

DR: Excellent question, thank you for asking. It’s vital to help dance students understand and embrace that a career in dance doesn’t necessarily mean one career. Careers I have had over my lifetime are one example: I was a professional dancer, technique teacher, choreographer, teaching artist, dance professor, dance department chair, and scholar/researcher. Also research shows that nearly 70% of undergraduate students with degrees in dance earn most of their income from teaching dance. 

I encourage undergraduate dance majors to pursue their interests in dance while also taking courses that prepare them for dance-related careers, as well as courses of interest outside of dance. As you know at Wayne State, I designed and teach the course Introduction to Dance Professions, in which students explore their interests and aptitudes in a variety of careers such as: Dance Arts Administration; Dance Production & Technology; Dance Teaching in P-12 Schools; Private Dance Studios & Commercial Dance; Dance Science & Somatic Education; Dance in Higher Education; Dance Writing, Journalism & Criticism; and Dance in Community & Alternative Settings. Personally, I think it would be unethical not to provide this level of career knowledge and possibilities, or promote students' exploration of interests beyond performance. 

CE: How can young dance scholars confidently conduct research and find their area of expertise in the dance writing field?

DR: Based on my experiences, there are a number of ways young dance scholars can build their research knowledge and self-confidence. A considerable part of confidence that’s necessary to conduct quality research is experience and deep exposure to research design and research methods. Oftentimes this comes through research coursework. Another important part of researcher confidence is learning by example–whether that occurs through a working relationship with a research/faculty mentor, a faculty researcher, or other professional scholar/writer, or reading research-based articles in the discipline. A third component of conducting research is learning by doing, practice –that is, the more you do something, the better you get at it–just by human nature.  

The latter requires curiosity, introspection, and reflection. What is it you want to know/learn more about that others in your field need or deserve to know? In other words, your research needs to be both professionally relevant (to the field) and personally resonant (to you). 

 

Camryn Eaglin is a professional dancer, freelance writer, dance teacher, and creative. Eaglin recently graduated summa cum laude from Wayne State University in Detroit, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Dance with a minor in Broadcast Journalism.

“One. One & One” Equals All - By Garth Grimball

“One. One & One” Equals All

By Garth Grimball

Vertigo Dance Company, based in Israel, concluded this year’s American Dance Festival with a performance of “One. One & One” (2017) at the Reynolds Theater on Duke University campus. The dance opens with a solo. Yarden Oz drips and extends her body while Etai Peri pours peat moss out of a bucket in a line from downstage right to left. Avi Belleli’s soundscore starts with a layering of strings, dogs barking, and, perhaps, explosions. There is an evocation of a wall. A black curtain hangs mid-level on all three sides of the stage, bifurcating the space horizontally. Stone-like benches sit facing each other.

Choreographed by Noa Wetheim (Artistic Director and Co-founder) with Rina Wertheim-Koren (Assistant AD), “One. One & One” features nine dancers whose spines curve, bend, and arch like the slopes of a mountain range. The full cast joins Oz and Peri in overlapping solos and counterpoint. Dancers strut down stage and strike poses. A motif emerges of thwacking hands back and forth between thighs and chest with a force of self-flagellation. 

Each dancer moves like every cell is charged. A body’s internal motion is as evident as the lines and shapes that glide through space. The energy swells and the dancers bring out more buckets creating more lines horizontally across the stage. The lines are broken. The soil is thrown and spread until it covers the stage. Ruth Ben David catapults herself into the new landscape creating dust clouds. She embodies the frenetic mob as she vibrates and rolls.

The relationships shift. Solos become group dances. The men do an abstraction of folk dancing. The cast starts cheering each other with hoops and hollers. They run across the stage and leap into and over arms, reaching higher and higher. The accumulated sweat and soil dampen the neutral toned shirts and pants into second skins to be peeled off.

The movement vocabulary feels deeply influenced by Gaga technique and the Batsheva aesthetic. In addition to soil as set, the style of repetition is reminiscent of Pina Bausch. Belleli’s score leans towards the melodramatic, especially a section featuring electric guitar. The dancers keep the work from feeling derivative. They exude an almost feral presence; ready to erupt at any moment as if they are dancing for the first time.

With the exception of a gendered moment that felt rather retrograde, “One. One & One” becomes a big, sweaty, powerful group dance. The lights go down on a collective, standing together, breathing.

 

Garth Grimball is a dance writer and artist based in Oakland, CA. He is a contributor to SF Examiner and Dance Media. He is the editor of ODC’s Dance Stories.

-----

"Dance/Reflect:" A New Journal to Use with High School Students

 

"Dance/Reflect:" A New Journal to Use with High School Students

By Jill Randall

 

Over the years, I have created 4 journals to be used in undergraduate and graduate-level technique courses. I have heard of high school dance teachers adapting these journals to use in their classes and studios as well.

This year, I decided to make a teen-focused journal to use in a high school dance program or studio setting. Thank you for adding writing and reflection into your teen program! These small activities can provide powerful opportunities for students to pause, consider, and capture ideas and feelings in words.

Teachers can print out the journal for their students at a local printer, ask the students to print their own copies, or use the PDF version, in which you can type. It is 50 pages in length.

There are 20 prompts in the journal which can be explored in any order. Students can select a prompt each week that resonates for them, or you can assign a particular one each week. 

In addition, there are pages for students to write down assignments, corrections, choreography notes, and more. 

You might set aside 10 minutes each week during class to use the journal or assign it for homework each week. I look forward to hearing your feedback and impressions this fall semester. Thank you!

Download Teen Journal Fillable PDF

Download Teen Journal to Print at a Printshop

Download Teen Journal to Print at a Printshop

------

Blog Series: "Why improv?" (with Bhumi B Patel)

Photo: Shinichi Iova-Koga

 finding tiny freedoms

By Bhumi B Patel

I often begin my studio time by pulling a tarot card to guide my improvised practice - the deck depends on the day, but there are three that are in my rotation. Sure, I have prompts, parameters, progressions that I am interested in, but the card often gives me a context or a grounding to think and move through. I’ve returned again and again to a card that I pulled some time during the pandemic, the last line on the back reading: “You are never to blame for what colonization has made you believe is your fault.” The patterns in my body learned through movement practice, learned through code-switching, learned through a desire to belong are unlearned, retraced, grieved when I improvise. 

When I am faced with a question like “Why improv?” it leads me back to fundamental questions like “Why breathing?”. The wondering about why I choose improv instead of other movement patterns and lineages that live in my body always lands at an understanding that there are few things that make me feel as alive as my improvisational practice. Few other practices bring me closer to my own ability to locate liberation.

To improvise is to center the mover (me) as an expert on my own experiences and to embody the pursuits of activism to which I commit my life. To improvise is to shift power. To improvise is to create with, not just for. To improvise is to respond. To improvise, in many ways, is to trace the evolving and changing definitions of decolonization through the body.

Improvisation is, in part, a pursuit for liberation, a mode to tell stories that don’t always fit into the structures created by codified form, and the very reason that my family emigrated to the United States - to cultivate a freer future. Can improvising lead to freer futures? Can improvising allow us to future new freedoms? 

The truth is: I haven’t seen many people who look like me in improvisation spaces in the US: queer, brown, child of immigrants. I know you are out there, dear kin, but I don’t know you yet. I hope that we will meet soon.

The truth is: I am often disoriented with the tides of news and the ways that the world moves too quickly for my sensitive spirit. When I practice improv, I find ways of reorienting. 

The truth is: I have become a person who lacks urgency, not because I don't care, but because I cannot move that fast while acting in alignment with what I believe. The way that I practice improvisation allows for the speed to shift. On some days, I feel like flying. On some days, I move glacially. 

Lately, I am trying to see the improvisation in everything I do. Yes, there is the dancing: when I dance, it is often solo or duet practice where I set a timer and an intention and follow it through. When I work with my company, it is often a small group practice that is based in sensation and feeling. But I feel like I am improvising through everything: conversation, cooking, simply existing in public spaces. And allowing myself the opportunity to not have answers, to slow down and think, to really improvise and listen, that continues to deepen my love of improv.

In the many ways that I have never belonged, I find belonging through improvisation. I find liberation. As I continue to explore the sweet and delicious waters of my improvisational practice, I return to the question over and over again: When the story comes out through your body, is that called research? It is. It must be.

 

Bhumi B Patel is a queer, desi artist/activist, choreographer, dance writer/scholar, and director of pateldanceworks (she/they). In its purest form, her performance work is a love letter to her ancestors. Patel pursues liberation through dancing, choreographing, curating, educating, and writing/scholarship. Patel aims to support marginalized and oppressed voices through performance and movement education. She earned her MA in American Dance Studies from Florida State University and her MFA in Dance from Mills College. Bhumi is currently a doctoral student at The Ohio State University. She is a member of Dancing Around Race, and engages with curatorial practices for both performances and written publications. She has presented her research at the Dance Studies Association Annual Conference and the Popular Culture Association Annual Conference as well as having been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Life as a Modern Dancer, Contact Quarterly, and In Dance. 

-----

Related posts:

Somatic Writing Series: Bhumi B. Patel, Andrea Olsen, and Elizebeth Randall Rains

Let us eat cake, consensually, that is: A Reflection on TALK.DANCE.CAKE - By Bhumi B. Patel

Blog Series: "Why improv?"

-------------

Resources on Site-Specific Dance for College Courses (Updated July 2022)

The author in Natural Settings (2016)

I originally made this list back in Winter 2021 after seeing several Facebook posts from colleagues one week, seeking resources for courses exploring site-specific dance. I thought I would make a post to share a few of my favorites here. Please add yours in the comments section below as well! Thank you.

My MFA thesis explored site-specific dance in the United States, so this is near and dear to me.

In 2021, I also had the honor to help behind the scenes with the editing process of Stephan Koplowitz's book On Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation. It is a truly wonderful and thorough book. I highly recommend using it within a course.

-Jill Randall

---------------

BOOKS

NEW! On Site: Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation - by Stephan Koplowitz

Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces - edited by Melanie Kloetzel and Carolyn Pavlik

Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance - edited by Victoria Hunter

Tandem Dances: Choreographing Immersive Performance - by Julia M. Ritter

The Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making - by Andrea Olsen (sections of the book)

 

ARTICLES, INCLUDING POSTS FROM THE BLOG

Joanna Haigood by Maura Keefe (Jacob's Pillow website)

Artist Profile: Jo Kreiter (Life as a Modern Dancer)

Artist Profile: Steve Koplowitz (Life as a Modern Dancer)

"Out of Site: Trisha Brown's Roof Piece" - by Amanda Jane Graham (Dance Chronicle)

"Companies Are Rethinking Live Performance—and Coming Up With Many Creative Solutions" - by Nancy Wozny (Dance Magazine)

"Dance as Event: An Interview with Lauren Simpson about DANCE EXHIBIT" - by Jill Randall (Life as a Modern Dancer)

Moving Truck: 5 Questions for Lauren Simpson - by Jill Randall (Life as a Modern Dancer)

A Practice of Unknowing, Breaking Away from Structures and Habits: An Interview with San Francisco Dance Artist Jennifer Perfilio - by Jill Randall (Life as a Modern Dancer)

 

ARTISTS TO EXPLORE/VIDEOS

Forklift Danceworks

Joanna Haigood/Zaccho Dance Theatre

Steve Koplowitz

Jo Kreiter/Flyaway Productions

Bandaloop

 

REVIEWS OF SITE-BASED WORK

"Rachel Tess, early in the morning" - Jamuna Chiarini (Oregon ArtsWatch)

About Joe Goode's Still Standing

About Doug Varone's piece Neither in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

About Bandaloop's Harboring

An Afternoon Walk and Dance Through Glen Canyon Park: FACT/SF’s “Diffusion” - Molly Rose-Williams

Zaccho Dance Theatre’s "Love, a state of grace": aerial, ethereal, magical - Sima Belmar

 

CHOREOGRAPHIC TOOLS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUTDOOR SITE-SPECIFIC DANCE

Please find here a vocabulary list I made during graduate school. I pulled the text from my thesis to share it here:

Download Choreographic Tools and Considerations

-------

Higher Ed Prep: 13 Posts

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

This is one of my favorite times of the year on the blog - planning ahead for the upcoming school year. August also marks the 10th (!) anniversary of the start of Life as a Modern Dancer. While the blog serves many purposes these days, it is important to me to share that the original intention behind it was to create a "living textbook" for college students (free, current, and easily accessible content). Thank you for being a part of this journey!

Over the next 3 weeks, I will share 13 posts, which I hope will be useful as you plan your undergraduate and graduate level dance courses for the coming school year. Please also feel free to write to me (randalldanceprojects@gmail.com) directly if there are particular resources you are seeking for a course.

------

Holding juxtaposition: post-performance reflections on "Four by Four"

Photo of "Four by Four" by Steve Disenhof.

Holding juxtaposition: post-performance reflections on "Four by Four"

By Emily Hansel

Woohoo we did it! I produced my first evening-length choreographic work, and it was awesome! Cut to: everyone in the world asking me what I’m making next. I’m only half joking when I respond with, give me a few years to recover then try asking me that again.

I understand the instinct though. When I finish reading a new book that I really liked, I immediately start waiting for the author’s next book to come out. But whew! I just poured my heart and brain and body and schedule into this project and I need a rest period. Not to mention, I just did something huge that I’ve never done before and I need to evaluate what all just happened before I can be intentional about what project I want to try next. (My production, Four by Four, premiered at ODC Theater one month ago, as I write this, so I’m at the very beginning of my assessment period.)

The word I’ve heard most from folks offering me feedback is “pleasure.”

One audience member described Four by Four as an antidote—a reprieve from everything else going on in the world. He asked me if I’d put care into considering what I was leaving the audience with. My answer is that I focused on the needs and desires of the dancers and myself and we built a culture that allowed for a rather joyful dance to be made. And we ended up sharing some of that joy with the audience. 

In general, I’m somewhat interested in taking care of the audience, but just a little. Enough to ensure that the venue and the work is accessible and to make sure no one is harmed by the work we share. But I’m placing much more importance on the artists’ desires. And interestingly enough, that act alone was enough to make something that audience members were able to enjoy and/or engage with.

Photo of "Four by Four" by Steve Disenhof.

Show-goers have been asking me about the possibility of bringing the performance to other venues and locations. My first instinct is to answer no, touring seems highly unlikely. That said, Four by Four feels very excerpt-able, and if anyone out there runs a festival and wants to bring us in, hit me up, let’s do it. But realistically, I don’t expect Four by Four to have an extensive performance lifespan. Our single weekend of performances was awesome, and its fleeting nature is part of what made it so great. That weekend was a perfect culmination to the months we’d spent together in the studio. It wasn’t anything too precious. 

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually not too attached to the movement that ended up onstage. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movement that made it into Four by Four and each little bit of it is valuable to me. But there isn’t a single part of it that absolutely neeeeds to be exactly as it is. There’s no part of Four by Four that couldn’t be further experimented on, edited, or even removed. For me, the essence of Four by Four is the dancers’ smiles, our “fuck it up” mantra, the improvisatory and fleeting nature of the choreography, and the looseness we achieved within the dogmatic confines of the theater. The essence of Four by Four is Alex, Chelsea, Mia, Shareen, Thomas, Sophia, Ben, and Emily—the four dancers who performed the piece, our scenic/lighting designer, our two composers, and me. These things and these people were the priority, and they were valued more than any particular movement vocabulary. 

Fun fact (and completely contradictory notion): in several cases, the movement vocabulary came first, before the essence was revealed. So again I’ll mention that the movement vocabulary is in fact super valuable and important to me. But my point is that nothing is so precious that it couldn’t be reconsidered.

I’m realizing as I write this that, for me, Four by Four is largely about holding juxtaposition. Highly human movements and interactions taking place inside the decidedly contrived container of the theater. Improvisation within and alongside set choreography. Making a thing that is mine yet sharing it with an audience. Taking ownership of my choreographic voice while sharing authorship with co-creators. Being highly organized on paper with my lists, budgets, and calendars, while fighting my perfectionist tendencies in the studio. 

These contradictions parallel several ironies I mention in the program note that I wrote for Four by Four:

“Our performance is the result of a process that was centered around a few goals:

• Creating a safe and equitable work environment
• Being adaptable and flexible
• Taking our time
• Practicing ongoing consent
• Embracing messiness and not knowing 
• Opposing our capitalist tendencies toward productivity

There are several ironies at play here. Our not knowing led us to know new things. We took all the time we wanted until we got to theater week and only had three days to get the show up. In order to create any semblance of refusing capitalism, we spent lots of time considering various economic factors, like contracts, fundraising, and artist pay. And, evidently, our laid back, anti-capitalist studio time delivered a literal product that I’m inviting people to pay to attend. 

In this product, you’ll witness some fairly abstract stuff—stuff that both means a lot and means nothing at all. Everything has really specific meaning, and everything has whatever meaning you decide it has. There’s plenty to get, nothing to get, you get what you get.”

Photo of "Four by Four" by Steve Disenhof.

If you would like to experience Four by Four, you can sign up to receive the video.

Four by Four is choreographed and directed by Emily Hansel, co-created and performed by Alex Carrington, Mia J. Chong, Shareen DeRyan, and Chelsea Reichert, with scenic and lighting design by Thomas Bowersox and original music by Sophia Cotraccia and Ben Juodvalkis.

Thanks to Jill Randall for offering this post-show writing opportunity.

 

Emily Hansel is a San Francisco-based dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, arts administrator, and dancer advocate.

---

Related posts:

“Four by Four” by Emily Hansel: Reflections on Product as Process (Molly Rose-Williams)

Empowering Dancers Through Contracts (Emily Hansel)

--------------

One Good Quote: "Go Big or Go Home" with Aiano Nakagawa and Heth Stockton

In Fall 2017, Life as a Modern Dancer launched a new concept for post-performance discussion and writing. The goals are multi-fold:

• What are new ways to invite post-performance writing (since so few publications now print dance reviews, and there are fewer and fewer dance critics in the United States)?
• How can choreographers hear and read more from audience members about their impressions and experiences of dance events?
• Can we offer new mechanisms for choreographers to gather language about their work, to further their work and to promote their work? 

The premise is simple. If you experienced the dance film "Go Big or Go Home" with Aiano Nakagawa and Heth Stockton,  June 10-11, 2022 as a part of the Queering Dance Festival, please take a few minutes to leave a comment. Write down images, impressions, appreciations, and questions from the performance. These can be words, phrases, or a few sentences. 

We thank you for your time, support, and thoughtfulness. Here's to more dialogue, more reflection, and more writing on the dance performance experience. As choreographer Mariah Steele noted, we are "democratizing dance criticism."

-----------

In “FRAMEWORK,” Kristin Damrow & Co Explore The Body Inside And Out

Dancers Brandon Graham,  Anna Greenberg Gold, Sawako Ogo, Sam Grayson, and Allegra Bautista. Photo by Hillary Goidell.

 

In “FRAMEWORK,” Kristin Damrow & Co Explore The Body Inside And Out

By Garth Grimball

Kristin Damrow knows how to produce live art. Since “Eames” premiered in 2018 in San Francisco, Kristin Damrow & Company has been making dances that are design-forward, thoughtfully staged, and detail conscious. “FRAMEWORK,” presented at The Lab on June 3-4, builds on the company’s reputation of impressive execution while plateauing in movement invention.

“FRAMEWORK” is billed as an immersive experience of the skeletal structure and biomechanics. The Lab gallery had three 12-feet high white, monolithic structures cutting through the space at different angles. A striking paper sculpture, made by Damrow, hung from the ceiling like a diorama of vertebrae or layers of skin peeled back. On the back wall a projector showed images of biomass at a cellular level.

Damrow invited the audience to move through the space letting yourself miss some things and discover others. Throughout the show she led by example and the audience followed suit, creating our own swirling biomass. I walked, sat, squatted, leaned, stood still. I was more aware of my skeleton by moving through the space than if the show were a seated event. The audience accepted Damrow’s invitation to immerse.

Allegra Bautista, Brandon Graham, Sam Grayson, Anna Greenberg Gold, and Sawako Ogo entered in black pants and semi-translucent yellow anoraks cropped at the waist. In a line they leaned against one of the monoliths touching their heads to its surface. Delicate moments like this heightened the sense of architecture’s precarity; no matter the strength of the materials the assembling is key to integrity. The dancers disassembled and assembled in solos, group choreography, and stillness.

Kristin Damrow & Company. Photo by Hillary Goidell.

The choreography began with motifs on waves and distal ends. Erect arms acted like a compass for the body to rotate around. Deep lunges were the base for torsos to ripple and sway like bamboo scaffolding. One movement phrase evoked the jelly bones of Trisha Brown—side step into a curtsy lunge as the arms slice across the upper body, using the momentum to change directions.

The motifs recurred throughout the dance but the dominant movement vocabulary became contemporary modern: sickled-foot developpes, pirouettes, body undulations to the floor. All danced beautifully by a technically skilled cast, but the connection to the concept spread thin as “FRAMEWORK” progressed. At the work’s beginning I was truly considering the skeleton. By the end the body’s architecture was backgrounded by dance moves that lacked the specificity imbued in the performance space.

Composer Aaron Gold’s score is replete with hooks and beat drops. Part of the evening’s choreography was the swaying and head bobbing of audience members. As the dancers reached their energetic apex though the music had a flattening effect. There was little sonic space left to ratchet up the energy.

“FRAMEWORK” succeeded in its mission to create an immersive dance experience. Walking through The Lab’s gallery was an orgy of sound, visual art, and bodies in motion. The work’s skeleton could use a few more bones.

 

Garth Grimball is a dance writer and artist based in Oakland, CA. He is a contributor to SF Examiner and Dance Media. He is the editor of ODC’s Dance Stories.

-------

 

Inclusive Rules: Teachers Can Learn about Integrated Dance

Nadia Adame (left) and JanpiStar (right). Photo by Nick Flagg.

Inclusive Rules: Teachers Can Learn about Integrated Dance
By Camryn Eaglin

Inclusivity. A word that many have discussed probably more than they’ve practiced. How are dance educators actively creating an inclusive and accessible environment in their classrooms? Inclusivity doesn’t stop at race, gender, or sexuality but must also include disabilities. AXIS Dance Company, a San Francisco Bay Area based company, is offering a virtual summer intensive that includes a teacher training program. It is focused on an integrated teaching method that effectively includes both disabled and non-disabled dancers together.

For over 35 years, AXIS has held a necessary space in the dance world as their company collaborates with both disabled and non-disabled dancers. Their mission “challenges perceptions of dance and disability.” AXIS summer intensives have gained a buzz by offering a personalized experience for each participant. The intensive is virtual again this year, which aids in its accessibility. The intensive spans from July 27th to July 29th and from August 1st to August 2nd. The first three days are broken up into three modules: Improvisation, Choreography & Performance, and Teacher Training for Dancers, Professionals, and Educators. Participants can sign up for all three modules or choose which modules best suit their needs.

The teacher training focuses on an integrated dance teaching method. Nadia Adame, Artistic Director of AXIS Dance, describes this method as, “Including everybody with focus on disabled and non-disabled people in the classroom.” She discusses the non-inclusive tendencies dance culture has when it comes to language. “Teachers often say ‘with our legs we extend forward,’ but what if I’m paralyzed or in a wheelchair, or what if I don’t have legs and I’m an amputee? I would feel excluded because they're telling me to move my legs.” Adame says language is a way you can easily include or exclude someone. Adjusting our language as educators expands the possibilities for all students. Instead, Adame examples that teachers can say, “Use your lower limbs or your upper limbs. Or, stretch your torso one way or the other.” This way students can investigate this movement based on their own unique bodies.

In this module, there is movement in discussion. “We think people learn more by doing and experiencing themselves in their body and the people who are around.” Adame says. Open dialogue is welcome and a realistic approach to inclusive teaching is explored. AXIS instructors will share their expertise on integrated dance and discuss body specificity – working with varying bodies, ensuring everyone is challenged. At the end of the program, participants are offered a teachers’ network to continue to support one another.

For the intensive, AXIS offers many accessibility options for participants virtually. For each class, there will be a disabled instructor and a non-disabled instructor to exemplify how movement can be translated to different bodies. They also offer auto captions and ASL interpreters. Dancers can specifically request needs on their application. Adame says it’s important these tools are available. “What we try to do is not put a little band-aid on the top and just think about it later. No, we are trying to make it a part of the process so it’s more natural and integrated.”

Teachers can learn to incorporate an integrated teaching method in their own classrooms through this program. It costs $375 for the 5-day intensive or $80 per day. Applications for the summer intensive are now open until June 24th. In the application you can identify if you are participating for the full-week or if you are only doing drop-in’s. Any and everyone is encouraged to participate. Get more information and apply for the intensive here: https://axisdance.org/engagement/summer-intensive/ 

 

Camryn Eaglin is a professional dancer, freelance writer, dance teacher, and creative. Eaglin recently graduated summa cum laude from Wayne State University in Detroit, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Dance with a minor in Broadcast Journalism.

----------