Hometown: Hollywood, FL
Current city: Brooklyn, NY /Amherst, MA
Age: 43
College and degree: I attended Miami-Dade Community College and New World School of the Arts in Miami; I never finished my BFA
How you pay the bills: I am a member of the Bill T. Jones Arnie Zane Dance Company. I have 3 performances left with the company, then I will no longer be a company member. I make money from dancing in the company and from teaching in NYC. A new job and financial challenge is coming though....since I am phasing out of the company, I am also looking for work. This fall I will co-teach a course at Bard College as well as perform the piece A Rite on tour with the company. Come the new year, well, it is slowly coming together. I will mostly freelance, teaching 10 day/2 week residencies at Universities. This would include teaching everyday and setting a work on students.
All of the dance hats you wear: Performer/Teacher/Choreographer
Non-dance work you do: I am also a mom. My daughter Mieke is 8.
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Describe your dance life in your….
20s:
In my 20s I discovered modern dance, formal ballet, and improvisation. Before this I was an aspiring showgirl and jazz/tap dancer. Throughout my 20s I worked for a production company that did themed shows for corporate events or industrial events. My first modern dance teacher was Barbara Sloan. She co-owned the University Center of Performing Arts in Davie, FL. From the first class I was completely inspired and excited about a form of dance that I felt as though I could fit into and truly feel. Barbara also introduced me to improvisation, exploring with live musicians, and theater as well. She had a dance company and I joined after a few classes and we began dancing together as a duet. I attended the Parson's Dance Festival for 2 weeks in the summer and met influential teachers that taught in Miami, mostly at New World School of the Arts. That fall I signed up for classes there. At NWSA, I met Gerri Houlihan. After taking her Friday classes for a semester she asked if I could replace a dancer moving to NYC. I danced with Houlihan & Dancers for the next 5 years until 1998. During that time I also met Dale Andree, Mary Street Dance Theater, and AvantGard Dance Theater Company. We rehearsed intensely, working with repetition, raw emotions, and subtlety. I was introduced to contact improvisation. Dale brought in teachers for us to explore with --- Nancy Tofph, Randy Warshaw, Ruth Zaporah and others. Sometimes we would spend the whole day being lead from ours eyes or walking forward 3 back 3 until only our physical body made the choice to shift. Lots of whiplash. Gerri taught at the American Dance Festival and when I was 25, I spent my first summer there. I took classes with Daniel Lepkoff, Wendall Beavers, JacklynVillamil, David Dorfman, and Shelly Senter, and did a performance project with Shen Wei. I think this summer was the turning point for me. I was blown away with the work I did with Wendall and Daniel and so inspired to learn David's way of moving. I spent the next 2 summers there, studying with Danny, David, and Doug Elkins; the last summer I was Daniel's assistant and we performed together. When I was 28 (1998), I moved to NYC to study and work intensively with Danny. After moving I also worked with Lisa Race, Nina Winthrop, and Yin Mei Critchell. I had auditioned for David Dorfman Dance before moving to NYC. It didn't work out, but that also inspired me to move, to be around dancers like Jeanine Durning, Lisa Race, Curt Haworth, Hetty King, and Tom Thayer. In 1999 I was 29; David asked me to understudy, and I joined the company shortly after.
30s:
I danced with David Dorfman until I was 36. Early in my 30s I began making work with Paul Matteson; he was also dancing with David at the time. We performed as a duet. We made many small pieces as well as an evening length duet which we premiered at Danspace Project in early 2006. When I was 35 I had my daughter Mieke. During the early 30s and onward I began teaching in the city. First at Dance Space Center, which is now Dance New Amsterdam. I was an Artist-in-Residence at Dance Space Center. I taught at ADF and the Bates Dance Festival. A year after leaving David, I started working with Martha Clarke as well as continuing to make my own work. I performed in Martha Clarke's reprisal of The Garden of Earthly Delights at the Minetta Lane Theater in the West Village for a 6 month Off-Broadway run. I began teaching at Movement Research and was an Artist-in Residence. I continued making work and spent 2 years working and reworking a duet called "I'd Go Out With You," which I performed with Pamela Pietro and Asli Bulbul as part of my residency at Movement Research. I auditioned and did a season at Danspace Project with Kate Weare. At 39, Janet Wong (the Associate Artistic Director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company) asked if I would be interested in replacing a dancer; I said yes. It is a culmination of everything I had learned and worked towards. Truly inspiring.
40s:
I am 43, finishing up some final performances with the Bill T, Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. I have started my transition to Western Massachusetts, Amherst. This fall I will be teaching at Bard College and teaching a class on Fridays in North Hampton, MA.
A turning point:
I feel like I had a few, perhaps my biggest one was auditioning for David Dorfman Dance and working with Daniel Lepkoff. I had no intention of leaving FL, I was happy and inspired working withHoulihan & Dancers and Mary Street Dance Theater, as well as being around my community of friends. Working with Daniel gave me such a new, intense experience of movement that integrated into everything I did --- it felt like an enlightening. When I went up to NYC to audition for David's company, I was so inspired and enamored with the dancers in his company, the work ethic, the long days, the training, that was everything I wanted. Danny and I spoke about working together in the studio in NYC. After my 3rd summer at ADF, I worked as many jobs as possible, saved up enough money and moved to NYC that fall.
Major influences:
My teachers. The choreographers I worked with, being in the studio creating material. My teaching, finding my own movement voice and teaching it heightened my experience of dance. Books, reading. Becoming a mom. My peers.
Mentors/someone who believed in you:
Linda Rogers Albritton, Beatrice LaVerne, Barbara Sloan, Gerri Houlihan, Donna Faye Burchfield, Janet Wong. I felt like I was trusted and given opportunities to explore myself and my movement potential. We taught each other sometimes. I was able to be myself, make mistakes as well a be completely successful. Be awkward and sometimes beautiful. They took me out of myself, inspired me and loved me.
Luck:
I feel very lucky in general. Perhaps my luckiest moment was when David asked me to understudy. I had been working at a restaurant in the city. I worked double shifts, everyday, as much as possible. I led the restaurant lifestyle, and my restaruant family took the place of my dance family. Before I knew it I was only working. I wasn't taking class. I wasn't thinking about dance and didn't feel connected to it anymore and I was starting to become ok with that. I am so lucky David called; I told him he saved me.
How you have paid the bills over the years:
In my 20s I worked at the dance studio I grew up in, behind the desk and teaching kids. In NYC I was a bartender, and eventually made money from teaching and dancing.
What are the skills a modern dancer needs in 2013?
A dancer needs to know, be able to tap into all styles, be versatile, be open to new ideas. A dancer needs to know their body and form a relationship with it. Acquiring a sense of joy and desire to be challenged, letting ideas of perfection take on new meanings, are big ones. Big healthy doses of passion and drive always serve well!
How did you land your gigs with David Dorfman, Bill Young, Colleen Thomas, Kate Weare, and Bill T. Jones?
I met David at ADF and took his technique class for 3 summers and his rep class the 3rd summer. I had auditioned for David Dorfman Dance before moving to NYC. A year after I moved to NYC David asked me to understudy and I joined the company shortly after. I met Bill and Colleen while teaching. Colleen and I were fans of each other. I took her class, and Colleen and Bill took mine. We both had daughters, 1 year apart. They asked me to be part of the project LIFE, mostly so we could work together in the studio, a dance family sort of thing. I had a blast doing their work, ideas, and plans. It went so well it had 3 lives. I was a part of 2. I auditioned for Kate Weare. We both had so much respect for each other's artistry and I enjoyed performing in one season with her company at Danspace Project in NYC. Janet Wong asked if I would be interested in replacing a dancer; I did not have to audition. Janet had seen me dance on many occasions and thought it would be a good fit for the present and upcoming pieces being made and re-worked.
On teaching….
Teaching is a passion for me. I love being in the studio with my students. I learn what to teach from them. I also feel that my life in rehearsal guides my teaching. I hope to give students a base of curiosity and love of what they are capable of as movers. Whether it be moving a hand or flying through space.
Taking classes, training and care for your body:
I take mostly yoga these days as well as company class with Janet. Sometimes I like to take a modern dance class when my schedule allows. In the past 3 years stretching has become a larger part of my warming up. I tend to get acupuncture for small injuries. What makes my body feel good and feel healthy is what guides me.
Setbacks:
I had a self-induced setback. A block. A time where I felt nothing I did was enough or on point. I felt as though I experienced several mini-failures making work, trying to find my voice too much so, too precious. I lost confidence, looking for it from everyone else but myself. I had just left David's company and was going to "Be an Artist" committed to studio time and process. I wasn't ready for that, by myself; I needed to give myself more time and be more thoughtful Let myself have a process of transition and following my interests rather than trying to be what I thought I should be next. I learned so much from that time, as though the setback was a gift, which it probably was. Turns out it has helped be immensely.
Can you talk about a recent project (or current project) in which you could really sink your teeth?
While dancing for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, I performed 2 duets choreographed by Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane. "Blauvelt Mountain" and "Valley Cottage." I performed these duets with Paul Matteson. I felt like I had worked on dance my whole life just for this. The duets are post-modern duets dealing with relationship, time, space, phrasing, rhythm, pause, and partnering. I worked one on one with Janet Wong and Bill T. Jones. Snippets of these duets where also performed in Storytime and Story, two other inspiring, fulfilling works I did with the company.
Future career goals:
Teaching, I hope to continue learning about my teaching and finding new ways to teach what I believe in. Maybe a MFA. Hopefully performing.
Advice to young dancers in general:
Follow what interests you and think of challenges and feedback as gifts. Don't be afraid to be wrong; it is inevitable and at times where the most is learned. Go, go, go you have nothing to lose!
Advice to young dancers wanting to move to NYC:
NYC can be intimidating. It takes some time to feel settled, sometimes longer than you thought. Think about your expectations and hold them loosely. There is a lot of different work happening, so many projects, and people wanting to make and share. The idea of moving to NYC and auditioning to get in a company is quickly changing. There are companies and choreographers making work, but keeping an open mind and heart is helpful. You can find a job doing Pilates or body work, a box office, childcare, restaurant work, catering. It is easier to find a job than you might think, but you have to be creative with your dance/class taking schedule. NYC is a fun place with so much energy. I have loved all 15 years of it!
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