Hometown: Cherry Hill, NJ
Current city: Champaign, Illinois
Age: 31
College and degree: Temple University, BFA in dance
Graduate school and degree: The Ohio State University, MFA in dance; I started grad school at 25
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AbbyZbikowskitheNewUtility?ref=bookmarks
How you pay the bills: I’m an Assistant Professor in the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Department of Dance
All of the dance hats you wear: Teacher, choreographer
Non-dance work you do or have done in the past: Waitress, home-health aide, lunch prep at Easter Seals Disability Services
———————————————————-
The first five years after college:
This was a rough chunk of time that I would rather not return to, while at the same time it was full of definitive moments for me in my career. For three of the five years in question I was living in Philadelphia, teaching dance part time in a public high school in NJ, working as a home health aide, trying to make work/find places for it to be seen, and lastly trying to be a performer. At the end of those three years, I realized that work (occupation), which has always been a necessity and priority in my life, was not allowing me to really dig deep and seriously pursue choreography. I decided to apply to graduate school to carve out a distinct time and space to really dive into all this information around me I had accrued through the years. The last 2 years of my five years after college graduation were spent at Ohio State University absorbing and exploring and experimenting as much as possible. My first year I was awarded a University Fellowship to attend, then was given a Graduate Associate position teaching major and non-major courses.
Ten years after college:
I graduated with my BFA in 2006, so currently I am only 9 years out of undergrad. I am steadily making work with my company/collaborators and am connecting with people through my choreographic work that I never would have thought was possible 5 years prior. I now know how to put words to the things that I have always been driven to do, but didn’t know how to clearly communicate to people who didn’t know me. My new abilities to articulate my artistic drive through words has given me a new understanding of how I want my work to operate within the context of the dance world, and why it really matters to me.
Now:
This answer dovetails with the one prior…I am a second year Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Dept. of Dance. I am continuing to hone my voice and perspective as a teacher in higher education.
Can you talk about going to Senegal? How has this experience influenced your work?
Going to Senegal was a life milestone for me because I had never traveled before. I went there when I was 27…In my short dance career as a performer in Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to train with a contemporary choreographer from South Africa, Vincent Mantsoe. Working with him was one of the hardest and most exhilarating experiences that I ever had in dance. His training methods and spirit changed who I was, and made me stronger. He also opened me up to the world of Contemporary Dance in Africa, which inspired me to go abroad. In Senegal I trained at Germaine Acogny’s school, where we trained in traditional and contemporary dance; Acogny has her own technique and is considered the Mother of Contemporary Dance in Africa. The context of being abroad and training in dances that I had done in the US was really pivotal for me. Experiencing dance in a global context by witnessing various cultural approaches to dance in conversation with one another was extremely eye-opening. The athleticism and rhythmic drive in my own dancing and choreographic work brought me closer to the dancers there; that in turn helped me really begin to understand the depth of how the Africanist Aesthetic informs the physicality of my work.
What is on your calendar for 2015?
I will be presenting a new work at the Movement Research Fall Festival in December in NYC, which is being curated by Beth Gill and Cori Olinghouse. I will also be teaching at the American Dance Festival week long winter intensive in San Francisco.
How do you find balance having your own company, dancing for others, making work, arts administration, teaching? How do each of these tasks relate and support the other tasks?
As of now, most of my energy goes into teaching and choreographing; I tend to be extremely physical during both of these activities. I have found a symbiotic relationship between those that allows me to dovetail my interests and stay active in my current explorations. I don’t currently dance for others, and I do my administrative work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most of my administrative work is associated with my university job at a Research I institution, meaning my work as a choreographer is supported in various ways by my job.
How do you find dancers? What do you look for in a dancer?
My work is really taxing on the body and takes a certain kind of person to really want to do it. I work consistently with two women that I met in graduate school. They have hardcore work ethics and really particular skill sets as movers. I look for focus, determination and power in the people I work with. When I see people in my classes that possess these attributes I ask them if they would be interested in trying out some choreographic processes with me and my crew.
Three pieces of advice for aspiring choreographers:
- Don’t abandon who you are to fit in.
- Be careful whose advice and criticisms you take to heart.
- Listen to your instincts to find your own bold and unique voice.
Can you talk about one of your current choreographic projects? What are you exploring, grappling with?
My current choreographic work exists in a hypothetical space that questions the playing field of contemporary dance and aggressively asks, how can it be leveled? Its highly physical and driving movement vocabulary is fueled by the energy and ethos of punk and hip-hop. The formal aspects of the work are purposefully blunt and abstract to provide multiple entry points for viewers to connect with the immediacy of the work in the present, with the potential to understand its specifically coded cultural value system after the fact. Dancers fully commit their bodies, minds, and souls to this difficult work as they overcome the odds of failure and self-doubt to discover ways of moving and being in the world that transcend expectations surrounding the dancing body.
You have worked at the American Dance Festival and Bates. What were these experiences like? Advice to young dancers on attending one of the iconic dance festivals here in the US - ADF, Bates, or Jacob’s Pillow….
I am new to the dance festival scene. In 2014 I was an Emerging Choreographer in Residence at the Bates Dance Festival, and I just finished my first summer teaching at ADF. Growing up I could never afford to take that much time off from work to attend any festivals. My advice to any students attending would be to be as open to new things as possible, and use that time to really take a risk and step outside of yourself.
These days, how do you train and care for your body?
I run, lift weights, and dance pretty rigorously on a daily basis in my Contemporary and Hip-Hop classes at the University.
On handling setbacks, sacrifices, and disappointment…….
I’m not sure how well I’ve handled them in my life because I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to outdo myself and constantly be better. I have been very lucky to be surrounded by supportive friends, collaborators, and family members that kept me grounded and my head in the game. I’ve recently learned to start trusting that if I just keep working with integrity, and opportunities are meant to present themselves, they will. If they don’t, then at least I still have my integrity and the community I have built around myself through dance.
Last performance that really inspired you:
It wasn’t dance. When I was in NC for ADF I saw Dinosaur Jr. and Primus play. Both bands were so loud, virtuosic, raw and honest. I also love watching how other people internalize live music at concerts.
Wishes for the future:
I hope to continue making work and taking on larger projects calling for more performers. I’m also interested in ways of making my work more accessible for audiences on a physical level. I have a dream of touring shopping malls, but I’m still trying to figure out the how and why in particular.
Final thoughts - hope/belief/love of the profession:
Dance has been a constant battle in my life. I never had a place that made sense for me, so I have been working towards making one for the past ten years. For some reason, I never gave in or gave up. I knew that dance was what I needed to do, and at this point I feel like it’s all I know how to do. Teaching and making work encompasses how I want to live my life and how I want to support others to find and create their own paths. I’m not sure how many other professions one can do that in. That’s what’s really special about dance to me.
—————————————
Comments