Photo: Gregory Lorenzutti
Hometown: Oceanside, CA
Current city: San Francisco, CA
Age: 34
College and degree: UC Berkeley, B.A. in English Literature and Dance & Performance Studies
Website: www.factsf.org
How you pay the bills: I make some money with my dance work, but my husband earns the bulk of our household income.
All of the dance hats you wear: Choreographer, teacher, performer, grant writer, social media manager, strategic planner, initiative designer, community cultivator, arts activist
Non-dance work you do or have done in the past: Mostly retail and sales, with one awesome gig as an English language editor for the University of Warsaw.
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Describe your dance life….
The first 2 years after college: I was a full-time dancer in Yekaterinburg, Russia for Tatiana Baganova’s Provincial Dances Theatre. We toured all over Russia and Europe performing repertory and developing new works, and I got some amazing opportunities to teach and to choreograph.
5 years after college: I started FACT/SF in 2008, and by 2011 (5 years after college), I started to become tired and a bit frustrated. I had been hustling really, really hard to make FACT/SF a recognized company, and things weren’t moving as fast as I wanted them to. My priorities then were very different than they are now.
10 years after college: 2016 was the busiest professional year I’ve ever had – a month in Canada teaching, a month in Australia training, and five weeks in Bulgaria and Serbia teaching and creating a new work. Back home in San Francisco I produced three premieres, a fundraiser, and an annual workshop. 2016 was a massive year for FACT/SF but also very challenging personally. I realized that I can’t be away from home that much. Oddly enough, it was also the same year that I finally re-discovered my love of dancing.
Now: I love it all. I run FACT/SF full-time, I often perform in my own work alongside the company dancers, and I’ve resumed dancing for other choreographers, too. In addition to making art and teaching a lot, I’ve also started to focus my attention towards inequities and inefficiencies in the contemporary dance field itself. I enjoy everything about my dancing life. I’m still hungry and persistent, but I usually feel pretty quiet and calm inside.
Major influences:
I’m still obsessed with the works of William Forsythe and Pina Bausch. Compositional counterpoint (Forsythe) and repetition with purpose (Bausch) are regular influences on my work.
I’m totally inspired by Margaret Jenkins and her thoughtfulness, curiosity, compassion, rigor, and dedication to the field.
My teachers, mentors, and colleagues continue to influence me all the time. An incomplete list includes: Carol Murota, Lisa Wymore, Ellis Wood, Marni Thomas Wood, Tatiana Baganova, Anouk van Dijk, Amy Raymond, Jill Johnson, Elizabeth Streb, Joy Davis, Emily Woo Zeller, Riley Watts, James Graham, Nicole Peisl, and the FACT/SF dancers.
My husband, though, is probably my most influential collaborator.
FACT/SF in Remains; photo by Gema Galina
What is on your calendar for 2018 (teaching, choreographing, performing)? Is FACT/SF touring?
2018 is, thankfully, a relatively light year. In January, we’ll start rehearsals for my next project, DEATH, which will premiere at CounterPulse from September 27 – October 13. I’ll continue to teach Countertechnique on both sides of the Bay throughout the year. In March, FACT/SF will host our annual fundraiser, and shortly after that I’ll go to Vancouver to teach a week-long workshop. In August, FACT/SF will produce our 6th annual Summer Dance Lab, and there’s a good chance that we’ll tour a 2016 work, (dis)integration, throughout the Balkans in the fall. I’m also doing the Sandbox Series at ODC alongside Hope Mohr and Antoine Hunter.
Current training practices and care of the body:
I teach Countertechnique, and part of that practice includes actually dancing throughout the whole class. So, most of my training practice and body maintenance/care comes from teaching and dancing. When I need to get my stamina up for a show, I take up running for a few weeks just before the premiere.
What does wellness mean to you? How do you support wellness for you, your dancers, and your admin staff?
Wellness, for me, boils down to knowing when to continue and knowing when to stop. This applies to injuries and physical pain, relationships with others, new choreographic sections that aren’t yet working out, etc. Thinking about wellness in this way has been essential for my survival in the field, and it applies to the way I run both the artistic and administrative sides of FACT/SF.
With my entire team, artists and administrators, I strive to create an open environment where people feel comfortable asking questions and sharing concerns. We also do comprehensive 1 on 1 interviews at the end of every contract period to evaluate what worked and what didn’t – both from their perspectives and from mine.
As a team manager, and in addition to keeping lines of communication open, I think wellness is promoted by being consistent, calm, reliable, and honest.
Teaching. What do you love about teaching? What challenges you? Role models and inspiration for your teaching practice and pedagogy….
I most love teaching because it’s a direct way for me to share my enthusiasm for dance with other people. I start with a series of proposals, witness how the dancers in the room are taking in the information, observe what’s going on with my own dancing, and go from there. Every class is an amazing combination of physical effort, intellectual problem solving, community activation, and hopefully, joy.
I am currently working on two things: 1.) using more direct language and, 2.) becoming more sophisticated in my ability to sense when, in class, it’s time to say more and when it’s time to just shut up and let people dance.
I have been teaching Countertechnique since 2012, and it has an organized pedagogical framework. Within this framework, though, the teachers are encouraged to let their personalities, strengths, and interests inform the class. I continue to be profoundly inspired by my Countertechnique colleagues and my teaching mentor, Anouk van Dijk. James Graham is also an inspiring teacher. He and I started dancing together in 2003, and it has been amazing to grow into our respective practices alongside one another over the last 15 years.
What was the inspiration for you to start your own company?
I wanted to create an on-going structure to help me, through creating choreography, to gain a better understanding of my own perspective on the world. I wanted to create a community around a particular set of values, and build a space where everyone felt valued and respected. In 2006, Bill T. Jones gave a lecture at UC Berkeley. He talked about starting his company as a way to create the world he wanted to live in. I still think about that a lot.
Advice to other choreographers on getting 501c3 status and forming a board of directors:
FACT/SF incorporated as a nonprofit right away. For me, this was great because it lent an early legitimacy to the company and allowed me to begin soliciting donations from individuals without going through a fiscal sponsor. I adore my board; they’ve been with me for a long time and provide guidance, oversight, and encouragement. I think all choreographers should have at least an advisory board helping them to make programming decisions. It’s hard to do that sort of strategic thinking on your own. But, being a 501c3 also comes with its own set of responsibilities and obligations, so it is a bit of extra work. On balance, though, I think the effort is worth it.
Do you have any “training requirements” for your dancers? Do you have a company class? Do you pay for their classes?
I don’t have any training requirements for the dancers, but all members of FACT/SF have (and have always had) a basic level of technical proficiency in contemporary dance and some level of professional experience before joining the company. I realized recently that beyond this, though, dancers must be willing to wipe out on stage – to go big and mess up. To be brave and courageous and not worry about "being wrong." I value dancers who come into the company with a rigorous curiosity and a robust set of critical thinking skills, too.
Every FACT/SF rehearsal begins with a 90-minute Countertechnique class, for which the dancers are paid their normal hourly rate. Company class decreases the chance of injury (because everyone’s actually warm), helps us all get on the same page, and gives me a chance to prepare them for the physical demands of rehearsal.
FACT/SF in (dis)integration; photo by Kegan Marling
What does collaboration mean to you in your artmaking?
Collaboration for me means an on-going series of proposals, interpretations, and counter-proposals. I rely on my dancers’ brains as much as their bodies to help me make the work and understand what we’re creating. The dancers must feel confident in their abilities to object to or question what I propose, while simultaneously being willing to dive right in. Balancing that push and pull takes a lot of discussion, patience, and sensitivity.
Artistic/mission/vision advice and wisdom to pass onto dancers building a dance company:
If you want to have a company, just start one. I personally value equity and respect in all circumstances, so I’d offer that choreographers should always be asking themselves, “Am I treating people equitably? Am I treating them with respect? What do I care about in the world? Are those values present in how I work?” I think this can help people get beyond focusing only on what they’re making, and to begin to consider how they’re making it.
Financial advice and suggestions to pass onto dancers building a dance company:
Pay your dancers as much as you can, and pay them on time. Diversify your income streams. Know why your vision, in particular, is worth supporting and don’t shy away from telling people about it.
A show that still lingers with you:
So many, but I’ll pick one: Stella by Ellis Wood. It’s a 5-minute solo danced by the choreographer. I saw it in 2005. She was magic. It was the 2nd time in my life I thought, “I want to move like her.”
Advice to dancers moving to the SF Bay Area:
Come! I stay in the Bay because of the people. I find our region to be full of kind, generous people, who are both interesting and interested. It’s expensive, but the food is excellent and great nature is nearby (and free). Also, there are basically no full-time contemporary dance jobs in the Bay…so, if that’s what you want for your career, it’s probably best to go somewhere else.
Final thoughts: Hope/love/belief in the profession:
More than ever, I’m convinced that dance is humanity’s most fundamental art form and an amazing catalyst for community, learning, and sharing. My favorite quote, from William Forsythe, is, “A career in dance is a career in becoming sensitive to difference.” I appreciate the assertion that, through our practice, we can become more and more sensitive towards ourselves and the world around us.
FACT/SF in Remains; photo by Robbie Sweeny
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