Photo: Katelin Carter
Hometown: Aurora, Illinois
Current city: Phoenix, Arizona
Age: 31
When you started to dance: I began my formal training in college when I was 17.
When you first took a modern dance class: My first modern class was my first semester of college.
College and degree: Western Illinois University – BS in P.E. – Exercise Science Emphasis
Graduate school and degree: MFA Dance from the College at Brockport in Rochester, NY;
I began graduate school one year after I finished undergrad. I was 22.
Website: Treeline Dance Works
How you pay the bills: I currently adjunct at various universities and teach Pilates and personal train. I have done personal training or instructing even when I had a full time university job. It has allowed me to keep up with the current trends in exercise, and solidify my philosophy on training dancers.
All of the dance hats you wear: Artistic Co-Director and Choreographer for my dance company,Treeline Dance Works; Dancer for Bill Evans Dance Company (project basis) and many emerging artists; Teaching Artist at universities and through many guest artist residencies; Pilates Instructor; Personal Trainer; Somatic Movement Therapist
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Describe your dance life in your 20s:
I grew up as a competitive gymnast, and when I reached level 8, I began choreographing my own gymnastics routines. This was when I discovered my love for choreography. I chose to study dance in college because I wanted to travel the world choreographing for companies! I had no idea when I chose this that it would become a reality, yet it certainly has. My 20s were spent in the studio soaking up as much information as I could. Because I came to dance late in life, I had to learn a whole new language, one that was exciting and challenging. I signed up for as many extra classes as I could fit into my schedule and took master classes, etc.
I knew when I graduated college that I would go back to school for my MFA in dance, so one year later after working as a personal trainer and exercise instructor, I began my graduate studies in upstate NY. I spent the later part of my 20s completing the three year program, practicing the art of choreography, traveling for performances and developing a strategy for starting my dance company. After finishing graduate school at age 26, I moved to NYC for a year and a half. I didn’t spend much time in the city before I got a full time teaching position offer at Ball State University in Indiana. After a year and a half there I went back to Rochester, NY to dance full-time with the Bill Evans Dance company and adjunct at several universities in the area.
Write about your 30s:
So far my 30s have been very exciting. I feel like my 30s is my time to be comfortable in my dancing body. I am more fearless in my performing and choreographing abilities and am taking big risks in creating a life that I want and love.
Can you write a little about your career within fitness and somatics. What is the relationship between your fitness work and your dance work? What do you enjoy most in your work? How do you care for your body?
When I chose Exercise Science as a major in college I chose it because it paired well with dance. Blending fitness and dance has grown into a career and a way that I have prevented injuries and coached many others to do the same. I discovered a more somatic approach to fitness in graduate school when I studied under Sondra Fraleigh (EastWest Somatics creator, teacher, mentor). I began studying the subtlety of movement, the process of recovery from injury, along with deep listening to the body. After graduate school I finished her certification program and became nationally certified through ISMETA as a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist. I have utilized Somatics in every aspect of my dancing, teaching and training and feel it is extremely beneficial. It is an approach to thinking that keeps me in tune to how my body wants to move.
Photo: Katelin Carter
Treeline Dance Works. How many years has the company been in existence? What are the goals for this season? How is it a bi-city company?
Lyndsey Vader, Co-Artistic Director, and I formed Treeline Dance Works in 2009 and just celebrated our third birthday as a company. We went into it with the goal of creating a collective where dancers could come freely in and out of the company, and collaborators could share their choreography and ideas. Although the majority of the work has been created by Lyndsey and myself on three main dancers, we just invited two collaborators on board and two new dancers.
The bi-city company was developed when I moved away from NYC. Lyndsey has stayed there working with our core dancers. I have been blessed to have new dancers with each city I move to, and it has challenged me as an artist to efficiently teach my ideas to new members. The great thing about having two bases for the company is that we have received more exposure from performances in multiple parts of the country. We are hoping that with my now living in Phoenix that the East and West can diversify Treeline even more. Because these two places, NYC and Phoenix, are artistically so different, we are gaining many new perspectives for growing the company.
What do you look for in a dancer for the company?
The main thing I look for in a dancer is someone who is unique in his/her style. That dancer doesn’t have to copy my movement perfectly, but she needs to bring herself into the process. I am most captivated by risk takers and “thinking dancers” who embody movement fully. Also, dancers who are driven to excel in their performance.
Lyndsey and I have been working with three dancers, Erin Johnson, Jess Reidy and Caroline Nelson, since our days at The College at Brockport. We feel extremely connected to them and their movement signatures, and all three have helped us grow the company to where it is today.
How much time each week do you spend doing work for your company?
Currently I spend one-third of my time each week on administrative/creative work for Treeline. This fluctuates depending on our season performances, application deadlines, guest residencies, etc. When we are creating new work and self-producing our yearly concert I begin to spend half my time a week on Treeline.
Future career goals:
I have many future career goals, but the two main goals are about a festival and a university position. My first goal is to create a yearly festival that brings together artists from all over the world. I love festival planning and curating and am hoping to form a festival of my own within the next two years. My second goal is that in 7-10 years I will be the Chair of a dance department in a university.
Advice to young dancers:
If I could tell young dancers one thing, it would be to create goals and see them through. The dance world is small and it holds many opportunities for lasting relationships. Decide how you want to leave your mark and then make strides to get to that place. It is possible!
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