Hometown: Miami, Florida
Current city: New York, New York
Age: 28
College and degree: University of South Florida, BFA - Dance Performance
How you pay the bills: Kate Weare Company, and an event company, to supplement.
All of the dance hats you wear: Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher, Dance Filmmaker/Editor
Non-dance work you do or have done in the past: As a teenager I was cast in a professional musical theater company in South Florida, as a singer/actor, facing fears and playing smaller roles in productions including West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, and South Pacific. These were formative years that assisted my initial understanding that much can be achieved when risk is involved.
Describe your dance life…
High school: I was a true novice that had been riding out my dance experiences on pure observation and trial and error. I had only ever discerned the art form through a public school lens and mainstream media. All I knew was that the body fascinated me and I had much catching up to do. I joined everything I could --- dance classes and teams, adopting leadership roles and involving myself as much as possible. Teachers were charmed by thirst for growth and understanding, and they believed in me in ways I had yet to trust.
College: My educational experience was one encounter after another in which dance professors urged me to fully invest myself in the field and choose to major at a university level. Through heavy suggestions, I took the leap and wound up at the University of South Florida. Till this day, I continue to affirm these were the greatest years of my growth, both as a human being and as an artist. My days were filled with classes, rehearsals, and personal choreographic journeys. Risk was demanded of us, and safety in these ventures was both promised and delivered. Through the intensity with which they led the program I was able to work with artists such as Doug Varone and Rosie Herrera, as well as Colleen Thomas during a study abroad semester in Paris, France.
The first 2 years after college: Because of my steadfast dedication to the program, I was able to gain mentors I had never anticipated. Through recommendation, I was given the opportunity to audition for Kate Weare Company. Immediately following graduation, I apprenticed with the company for a short while, swiftly jumping into the roles of fallen dancers, until I was eventually offered a full company position less than a year later. Under two years after graduation, I made my debut in KWCo's premiere of Unstruck, originating my role in the trio with two other male dancers.
Now: My allegiance to Kate remains. Her work continues to evoke something in me I am still grappling with, and I find my artistic voice is the closest to what I have come to understand about myself as a mover and where I am interested in going.
Photo courtesy of Kate Weare Company; photo by Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang
Major influences:
Despite being entirely enamored of female powers, including Pina Bausch and Crystal Pite, my major influences have come from the immediate figures that have had a direct impact on my career.
Andee Scott, of USF, introduced me to the gravitational force and impact our forms have with the floor, and the understanding that too many questions might impede the body's innate wisdom and understanding of its own limitations.
Kate Weare is undoubtedly one of my greatest influences. The androgynous nature of her work has allowed me the ability to explore and meditate on sole human power and fight. I have come to rediscover my femininity through sheer strength and animalistic desire that is described by nothing more than pure human kinesthetics.
Michael Foley, my beloved mentor, will forever be an influence I am indebted to. He is the person that helped me navigate this field and solidify my presence and career in dance, which up until him I was unsure I could penetrate or belong to. Movement-wise, there is a constant flow, shift of weight, and use of descending/ascending momentum that can be felt in his work, and this is where I was introduced to the organic wisdom movement could adopt, if desired. Without the drama, without being literal, his work was the first that let me vividly feel my humanity through movement. For all of this, I will forever cherish my time under his wing.
What is on your calendar for the 2017-18 academic year (teaching, choreographing, performing)?
With KWCo, I will be performing in the premiere of our newest collaborative work, Sin Salida, in Paris, France, which will later have a U.S. and European tour. I will also be involved in the creation of Kate's newest piece, which will begin in the Spring of 2018. Teaching and setting work under the company's name will also continue.
Personally, I have begun my journey in dance film, which has been a fascination of mine for several years. I hope to premiere two short films by the end of 2018. Both are solo journeys, as I continue to investigate and solidify how I wish to voice my art. My intention with these films has yet to be determined, but submitting them to festivals is just the tip of the iceberg.
Can you share a little about getting into Kate Weare Co? Did you audition, attend a workshop, etc? What do you love about the work and the artistic process?
My college professor reached out to Kate during my last semester and expressed his fervent opinion that he had a graduating student who may potentially be a nice fit for the company. Kate perused my website at the time and invited me to a workshop she was having the following week. A short time after the audition, Kate contacted me with an apprenticeship offer. Just weeks after graduation, I landed in New York City with one bag and no place to live. This is my fourth season with the company.
As previously mentioned, Kate's work grounds me by way of pure human mechanics attached to the power or insistence of our nature. Her work is intelligent and intentional. It's expressive of the many layers of our animal desires, without leaning too heavily on human sentiment. She cuts the gratuitousness from movement that may be overly influenced by our training as dancers. And in this way, there is a rawness I am able to reach in her work that connects me to the very reason I started dancing.
What are you exploring and focusing on as a performer right now?
Currently, I am focused on the concentration of the human experience via movement through the lens of film. Whereas there are copious reasons why live dance is insurmountable, I believe significant micro-movements and expressions can be lost in translation due to the fleeting nature of live performance and physical distance from its viewers. Placing dance under the microscope can help bring audiences closer to the dancer as a means of connecting them on a human level by exposing their faces and individual complexities. I believe the collaborative efforts of technology and dance can exhibit the artform in new ways, and hopefully dismantle the feeling of "aloofness" we are sometimes known for.
Current training practices and care of the body:
I'm simply interested in keeping my form open to new direction and staying limber. I find yoga to be a tremendous help in maintaining the connection to all that makes up my being. And as of recently, I have begun to poke at the intrigue of ridding my fear of backspace through ventures into gymnastics.
What does collaboration mean to you in your art making?
Collaboration means a constant flow of influence, openness, and malleability to such inputs. There is little in this world that is not a form of collaborative effort. In my work, collaboration can be as commonplace as the inclusion of music, or even having a dialogue with a friend or colleague about their suggestions regarding the direction I may be going with an idea.
Last show you saw that inspired you:
A piece Crystal Pite set on NDT, titled The Statement.
Non-dance activities, hobbies, service work important to you:
Music is an expression that runs in my family, either instrumentally or vocally; I happen to do both. Although I have succeeded in keeping this outlet to myself for most of my life, the desire to share it with others is starting to surface. I am open to the unfolding of its potential.
Advice to dancers moving to New York City:
Get back to the real reason you started dancing; this may mean redefining your assumption of success and happiness. Rejection is inevitable and sometimes has little to do with talent. And as timeworn as the reminder may be, truth will always remain in remembering to never forget your worth... so don't forget it.
Final thoughts: Hope/belief/love of the profession:
My hope for the field is that it may one day fully re-immerse itself into mainstream culture as an essential reminder of our connectedness as humans.
There is something about dance as an art form that has consistently lured me to its home. It simply makes sense to me; it is my celebration. And I feel honored to be part of a small collective of people fighting to share it.
Photo courtesy of Kate Weare Company; photo by Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang
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