Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota

Current city: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Age: 44

College and degree: Sarah Lawrence College, Liberal Studies

Graduate school and degree: University of Milwaukee, MFA in Dance (Graduated in 2002 at age 32)

How you pay the bills: Artistic Director of Young Dance, and freelance dance performance and dance education work

All of the dance hats you wear: dance educator, dancer, choreographer

Describe your dance life in your…..

20s: When I was preparing to graduate from college, I had a conversation with one of my dance teachers about the different places where I was thinking of living. Her advice to me was to find good teachers, and live there. She said the biggest problem she heard from recent graduates was the difficulty in finding good dance classes. Her advice to me was to find good teachers and stay there. I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College when I was 23, and though I was thinking of living in a few different cities, I spent the summer at home (Minneapolis, St. Paul) and met an amazing teacher who was launching a company. So I stayed in Minneapolis, and my first professional job was with 45 Chartreuse, directed by Erin Thompson and Byron Richard. The next several years, my 20s, I danced as much as I could, taking any opportunity that came my way. There is extraordinary support for emerging choreographers in the Twin Cities that in turn, creates opportunities for dancers. I was able to work with many choreographers at different stages in their careers and also to choreograph my own work. I collaborated with one of my peers under the name of RIG, and we produced 3 shows. I also was able to get a few teaching jobs, and by the end of my 20s was making my income solely through dance work.

30s: I began to be more judicious about my work. There were too many weekends I was busy performing in work that I wasn’t excited about. I began to commit myself to fewer projects, ones in which I truly wanted to engage deeply. I also began to realize that teaching was where I was able to most effectively use dance to connect with others and to encourage the same realizations about living that I have found through dance. I was able to participate in several opportunities to offer arts in schools, which helped me to gain a more diverse perspective on teaching – the different ways it can plug into school curriculum, different ways of reaching kids through dance, and teaching kids who were not the typical dance students. I also happened upon Young Dance, initially sharing the artistic directorship with one of my dance colleagues. Young Dance, as I write more about below, has offered amazing opportunities to grow as a dancer, as an artist, as a teacher, and develop skills beyond the studio.

To develop my teaching skills and create more opportunities, I did an MFA program through the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The last summer I was there, we had a one-week workshop with a graduate of the Integrated Movement Studies program (a Laban Movement Analysis program). That workshop gave to me the transformative educational experience that I was seeking through graduate school. So upon finishing my MFA program, I decided to embark on the IMS program.

Life also continued to happen. In my 30s, I was married and had 3 children. By the time I reached my 40s my situation had evolved into something quite different.

40s: I am 44. I have 3 kids, ages 3, 6, and 9. I continue to direct Young Dance. Four years ago, Young Dance started programming for people who live with disabilities. This has provided amazing opportunities to push the boundaries of the practice and art of dance in the Twin Cities and to connect with artists on national and international levels (AXIS Dance, Croi Glan Integrated Dance and The Dance Exchange). I continue to perform occasionally. The projects which I have taken on during the past couple of years are projects that bring physically integrated dance to a professional level. My work at Young Dance has also transitioned to include more administrative work, especially grant writing and fundraising, that allows me to develop new skills and establish a routine that works well with the needs of my family.

Can you talk about your current work with Young Dance? What do you love about it? What does a typical work week look like? How do you juggle doing both the creative and administrative?

I have been the Artistic Director of Young Dance since 2000. In my role of artistic director I do the following: teach dance to ages 1 – adult, choreograph dances, advise students in their own choreography projects, coordinate residencies with guest artists, partner with other professional artists (especially artists in other mediums to create multi-disciplinary work), envision the artistic programming of the performing company and school as well as the development of our organization, create strategic plans, schedule classes and rehearsals, work with a board of directors, fundraise, write grants, produce an annual dance concert, communicate regularly with dancers and families, teach residencies at schools, and represent our organization in artistic conversations in the Twin Cities. In a typical work week, I teach 6 classes Monday – Friday and direct rehearsals on Saturdays. I spend 8 – 20 hours a week working from my home office (though Young Dance is currently looking for an office space). When the hours are closer to 8, I am mostly handling day to day administration. When the hours creep close to 20, it means I am working on grant applications. Writing grants allows me to understand our organization on a deeper level because I am forced to translate what we do and its value to a story that others (funders) can understand. I am able to see more clearly the role Young Dance plays in our community.

What do I love about my work with Young Dance? It’s a privilege to share what I value in living with young people through movement education. This happens at all levels throughout the week. An exploration of kinesphere in a class of 7-10 year olds allows the dancers to feel a sense of how big they are, how much space they can take up, and then they maintain that sense of size as they learn a movement phrase, even the shy ones speak up. A group of 11-13 year olds have a discussion about how they are learning to “relax” their minds, “I don’t think as hard, and then my mind opens up and I can understand the movement in an instinctual way, and that connects me to the others I am dancing with.” In a class of dancers with and without disabilities, one of the participants observes how much more interesting it is for her to watch the movement when the individuals with different abilities do it together, and the difference between one and another becomes the rich choreography itself. In a class of high schools students, they reflect upon the impact that inconsistent attendance has made in their ability to complete a project, and without it being dictated from above, come to an agreement to commit to each other to complete the project.

I get to watch young people grow – many students I have known throughout their childhood. I remember one student came to Young Dance as a 7 year old, stood in the corner for every class for 2 years, now is a senior, a leader in the group, has a very special ability to draw out the personalities of dancers of all ages, and integrates all into her choreography. The friendships that I have formed with dancers and families have given me role models in raising my own children.

I get to work with amazing artists in the Twin Cities. As the dancers learn, I learn – whether it is another perspective on dance, a different art form, or the work of organizing community through the arts. The professionals I work with at Young Dance inspire me every day.

I am continually growing in my work – as a dancer, as an educator, as a thinker, as a writer, and as a member of the Twin Cities community.

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

For me, teaching has been a way in which I have been able to effectively and powerfully connect with others through dance. It was an insight I had, when I was performing a lot, choreographing a lot, and teaching. I was trying to communicate through dance, and it was when I was teaching that I felt the communication was most effective and powerful. I could share with others my message, my values, my insights, and I could help them to experience it. So, for me, teaching has been essential. To that end, my advice to young dancers is to take teaching seriously. Some of the best advice I received as a teacher was in an article I read (maybe in JODE). Are you teaching your values? Identify what you value and look at how you are communicating that through your dance teaching.

That said, teaching might not be the answer for everyone.

I feel lucky that it is for me, because it has meant that I have been able to make my living solely through dance, and not supplement with other jobs.

Balancing working with young children and working on your own professional level work……and the interplay of the two……

Hmmm….balancing. It doesn’t seem like it is exactly balancing. It is more like a seesaw, that goes up and down, and perhaps it is a seesaw that has more than one branch, so it’s not just back and forth but kind of a topsy-turvy action.  

My kids inspire my teaching. Constantly. When I am teaching more advanced dancers, and I am planning classes, I find myself thinking of movement my children have done. The freedom, the inhibition with which they move. How can we harness that energy, even as we form the movement? How can we learn to fold so freely in our joints? How can we commit so completely to our movement? I often try to model phrases after the ways I see my children moving. And I am constantly learning more and more about teaching children, different ages of children, as my kids pass through those ages.

But, to be honest, I love spending time with my children, and when I have a day off, I am thrilled to be able to spend that time with my kids. I mourn the end of breaks, when I have to go back to a schedule.

But, when I am teaching, I also really enjoy teaching, and each class feeds me. So the more I teach, the more excited I am about teaching.

Performing, choreographing – It has felt important for my children to see my work as a dance artist and as a person. It has been equally important for me to keep that part of myself breathing. However, in order for me to commit to a project, it has to be really important to me, something I am very passionate about. Otherwise it is just not worth it for me to take the time away from my family.

It has also seemed important for my students to see me as a mother, balancing work and family, and integrating the two at times.

Current passions:

I am right now really excited about my work when it is pushing the boundaries of who can dance and what dance is, whether it is through performing, teaching, choreographing. I want to do work that recognizes that different abilities are just that, different abilities, unique abilities, and I find such richness in exploring muscles that work differently than mine, a mind that perceives differently than mine, a body that locomotes different than mine. This is the work that I am willing to schedule extra rehearsals, find childcare, etc. It’s also given me some unique opportunities. I collaborated on a project with the Dance Exchange (based in D.C.) and Minnesota Chorale, one of our region's top choral organizations. We created an evening of dance with a physically integrated group of dancers to live choral music. I spent a week at the AXIS Dance Summer Intensive in 2012, working with amazing dancers from all over the country. I have continued to work with one dancer I met there, Dwayne Schueneman, who is based in Florida. Next week Young Dance is presenting a pre-show demonstration at the Ordway Theater prior to the AXIS Dance Company’s performance.  

Recent performances, books, websites, etc. that have inspired you:

The Wooden Floor website

Making an Entrance: Theory and Practice for Disabled and Non-Disabled Dancers

by Adam Benjamin and Christopher Bannerman

 

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