Photo courtesy of Jennifer Monson         Photo by Ian Douglas

What do you look for in a dancer? How do you find dancers?

From Nina Haft:

Trust, candor and humor. An insatiable appetite for inquiry. Patience and kindness. Movement-wise, I am drawn to dancers with clear, fluid and sensual head-tail connections and spatial intelligence. I work best with dancers who enjoy improvisation as a significant part of the rehearsal (and at times, performance) process. As a director I work a lot more from the questions than the answers.  Technical ease and strong partnering skills are very important to me too. 

From Jennifer Monson:

It is a very intuitive process. I get a sense of whether or not someone is interested in working with me. I have an openended process so I look for dancers who enjoy that. I think I am drawn to complicated people whose physicality strikes me as unusual.

From Randee Paufve:

Humanity, hunger, strong character, oddities, groundedness, deep intelligence, ethics, passion, compassion, a pinch of crazy, dancer chops, a wild mind. 

From Anna Sperber:

I am most often find dancers I’m interested in working with after seeing them perform, and through getting to know people in the dance community. I have also had invited auditions in the past. 

I am drawn to working with dancers who have a clear, grounded, and articulate physicality. A sense of vibrancy,  a visceral intention of focus, an emotional expression through the experience of the physicality. I look for an openness to risk taking, and unaffected vulnerability in performance. We improvise a lot in my process as well as working with a lot of repetition of set choreography and attention to detail, so working with dancers who enjoy all of those ways of working is important. I value working with dancers who are engaged and curious about the ideas, and who are interested in engaging in dialogue about the work.

From Stephen Koester:

Certainly more than technical ability though I honor this.  I want someone who will allow me to see my ideas in new ways.  I want a team-player, someone who is committed to process and willing to give of themselves in rehearsal. Someone who will be an integral part in the development of the movement.  I want someone who is interesting both in the way they move and also in the life experiences they have had and their outlook on life.  I want someone who isn’t afraid of dance and has fun.  I look for abandon and risk in one’s dancing.  I look for someone who is able to transcend in dance, who can fully live in the moment by losing themselves in the moment.

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