Artist Profile #130: Gerri Houlihan (Durham, NC)

Hometown: Born in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Current city: Soon to be - Durham, NC

Age: 70

Attended an arts high school? No, but I got out of taking phys. ed by teaching a modern dance component in my high school and choreographing the junior musical so that I could leave school early every day and go to dance class. I finished high school in three years and started Juilliard in what would have been my senior year.

College and graduate school: This is complicated! I attended Juilliard but didn’t finish because I joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company at 20. I went back and finished my BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University while teaching there as a guest artist in 2005 and 2006. Then I realized how much I loved being in school, and went on to get my MFA in the Hollins/ADF MFA program. I danced a solo by Dan Wagoner for my thesis concert at the age of 62.

How you pay the bills: I have been teaching since I can remember - in my studio as a young dancer, during lay off periods dancing for Lar Lubovitch, and then in academia beginning in 1977 at Beloit College. I also work as a choreographer and as an arts administrator….particularly as dean of the American Dance Festival.

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My dance life in my 20s:

Lots of searching to find myself as a dancer. Starting as a ballet dancer at Juilliard, becoming discouraged when I wasn’t accepted into ABT (I desperately wanted to dance Tudor’s “Dark Elegies” and “Pillar of Fire”). During this period, I stopped dancing twice because I didn’t think I had the talent to achieve my professional goals. I eventually found my dance home working with Lar Lubovitch.

30s: I felt that at 30 I really came into my own as a dancer. It was a long, slow process but definitely worth the effort. I was able to leave performing with a sense of accomplishment, and I began my investment in teaching in academia.

40s: I joined the faculty at New World School of the Arts and, with Danny Lewis’s encouragement, formed my own dance company. This was a period of serious investigation choreographically, and I was fortunate to have an inspiring group of incredible dancers with whom to collaborate. My work, choreographically, at Juilliard had been less than stellar, so this development came as quite a surprise. I also delighted in teaching the NWSA students. This is where Robert Battle and I first worked together, and we have remained close ever since.

50s: This was a period of huge transition. I felt the need to make changes, left New World, folded my company, lost my mother to cancer, and began to feel the reality of being an adult and on my own. With that realization, I also became more aware of my responsibilities to this dance world that had provided so many extraordinary opportunities for me as an artist. I wanted to give back in ways that felt worthwhile. I went back to school and joined the faculty at Florida State University. I took on greater positions of responsibility, both within my academic institution and outside. And my focus shifted from choreography back to teaching.

60s: I began to feel my ability to affect positive change in my dance and academic environment, and to make important connections for people because of my longevity in the field. I was persuaded to become co-dean and then dean at ADF, a position I thought would overwhelm me in terms of administrative responsibilities. Instead, I found it exciting to be able to envision new possibilities for the program and to create interesting opportunities for other dance artists.

70: Ta-dah! Again, I feel that this is a huge period of transition. But one that I am very excited about. Having stepped down from the position of dean at ADF, I have also decided to retire from teaching at Florida State. I will be continuing my involvement with ADF, teaching in our year-round studios and developing a program for talented high school students. I will also be guest teaching at several academic institutions in the area. I have begun a serious study of T’ai Chi, and look forward to delving into that practice more consistently. I’m also an avid reader and filmgoer, and look forward to more time to indulge those interests. And I hope to continue mentoring young artists in as many ways as possible.

Photo courtesy of ADF (American Dance Festival)

Financial wisdom:

I always supplemented my income as a dancer by teaching. Fortunately, I loved it from the very beginning and was able to teach both ballet and modern, which gave me a lot of flexibility. I would advise dancers now to make sure they have other skills…..teaching Pilates or yoga or Gyrotonics, learning arts administration skills, dance photography or videography, knowing how to work on websites, bookkeeping, working as a personal trainer, etc. Jobs that offer more time flexibility are always preferable.

Three questions for choreographers to consider:

These are some of the questions I ask myself. Why am I making this particular dance? Who am I making it for? Have I developed a specific vocabulary for this work that gives it an identity and helps answer the first two questions?

On teaching technique and the care of the body:

I was fortunate in that I was never injured during my performing career. I think that was due, in part, to the fact that the training I received and the kind of dancing I did was based in movement that was extremely musical and very organic. These are two things that I stress in my own teaching.

Advice to dancers on teaching, learning how to teach, and the role that teaching most likely will play within their careers:

As I’ve said, teaching was part of my dance life from a very early age. I found myself teaching often during residencies with the Lar Lubovitch Company, and because of that I developed a wide network that provided numerous opportunities after I left the company. Because I was often so critical of myself as a young dancer, I spent a lot of time creating a positive and supportive environment in my class. I believe in celebrating my students' successes and making the classroom a safe place to explore and experiment. I have had the great good fortune to participate in about 18 international teaching residences for the American Dance Festival, where I’ve been able to serve as an ambassador for ADF. I have learned volumes about different cultures through my eight residencies in Korea, as well as shorter connections with dancers in such countries as Chile, Estonia and Mongolia. Each experience is unique and memorable. Teaching has been my passport to numerous extraordinary adventures.

Can you describe a few of the biggest changes in modern dance over the span of your career? What has really surprised you? Impressed you?

Even though Juilliard was considered pioneering in its formation of a dance department that gave equal value to both ballet and modern dance back in the 60s, I think we are just now beginning to fully realize the ways that these two styles can inform and enhance each other. The expectation now is that dancers have at least a familiarity with a number of styles. There was a time when “release technique," for lack of a better phrase, was all the rage. Now Gaga seems to be the latest new approach. And yet, I still believe that traditional training, in conversation with these newer styles, will continue to provide the foundation for well trained, well rounded and intelligent dancers.

What are the skills a modern dancer needs in 2016?  

You name it, they need it. Beyond a solid technique, they need to be well read and well educated, they need to be savvy, persistent, courageous, tenacious and inquisitive, they need to be able to multi-task, they need to be able to live with uncertainty, and they need to be able to find joy in the every day tasks and challenges and achievements embedded in creating a life as an artist.

Last performance you saw that really inspired you:

I see performances every summer at ADF that inspire me. But the performance that I saw that brought me back to dancing after I was ready to give up was a performance by Meredith Monk. It was in London, in a small and very intimate theater. She performed “Education of a Girl Child." I walked into the theater thinking my dance career was over. I walked out of the theater thinking it was foolish to imagine that I could really exist doing anything else because dance is such a mysterious, magical and transformative art form.

Final thoughts:

I started dancing when I was three…..swooping through a room with silk scarves while Chopin played on a record player. I was enchanted with dancing then, and I am still enchanted with dancing now. Not every day. Not every class. But often enough that I find myself extremely grateful to have found something so early that has continued to be so meaningful. I hope to be able to share my passion for dance with other artists for a long time, and to continue being amazed by the ephemeral and yet enduring ability of dance to offer infinite possibilities for inspiration.

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Related posts:

A Modern Dancer's Guide to....Durham, NC

Featured Artist on the Blog: Leah Cox (Dean of ADF)

Dancers in Their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s

Low Residency Masters Programs in the United States

Artist Profile #91: Abby Fiat (Salt Lake City, UT)

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Comments

[Karen Mathews]

We were so lucky to have her at New World School of the Arts!

[Phyllis Haskell Tims]

Wise, honest, inspirational, and insightful...well written. Thank you.

[Peter DiMuro]

Gerri is the shared inspiration of thousands who took their next steps in her classes, in her works. But that she made so many of us feel that we were uniquely special - to her, to the dance world- is part of her magic. I wasn't the most likely candidate to succeed in the dance world but felt her gifts of solid technique and approach to a dance life, as well as her example of contributing to this world in ways uniquely one's own, allowed me my next and then next and then next steps there after....She is pretty much a goddess.

[Devon Kelly]

I was fortunate enough to be taught by the fabulous Gerri Houlihan at Florida State University. She has an incredible spirit and zest for life unlike anyone I have ever met. She made dance a true joy for her students. We all looked forward to every class and rehearsal with Gerri because we knew how rewarding it would be. I am so happy to hear about Gerri's next endeavors and love to know she is being guided by her passion for the arts and movement! What an inspiration she is and a wonderful reminder to follow your heart and KEEP DANCING!

With love,
Devon Kelly