Risk, balance, love, perspective……….artists in their 50s in their own words…..

What does it mean to take risks at this particular moment in time? -Jennifer Monson

 

Randee Paufve; photo by Kegan Marling

From Peter DiMuro:

Current passions and curiosities:

Passion is a strong word: if I took everything at the same passionate speed I did 20 years ago, I’d really burn out…. so I try to work on “simmer”- keep it bubbling, catalyze those around me as much as possible. This may be a result of getting back up to speed post my Dance Exchange days and a mode of self-protection.

I do have a passion for seeing how the administering of a place like the Dance Complex- with all its multiple intentions to dance expressed in the variety of people who work, study, create and teach here – is in itself a creative act.

Artistically: The fusion/evolution of different genres and dance forms, reconstructing with a post modern sensibility the combinations of multiple dance genres – my recent “Future Preludes” is an example (10 genres go artistic speed dating and borrow from each other; then create new preludes to Rachmaninoff, informed by the speed dating process).

From Jennifer Monson:

Can you talk about splitting your time between Illinois, New York, and Vermont? What does this provide for you and your work? 

This is a challenge. It isn’t easy, but being away from NYC gives me a bigger perspective. I am understanding something about the aesthetics and values of the US from being in the Midwest that I might not otherwise have had the opportunity to see.

From Keith Johnson:

50s: My 50s have been the best. I still dance/perform every once in a while.  I worked with Victoria Marks for a bit. I choreograph a lot on my students and my company. I still do residencies. I make dance films with my friend Gregory R. R. Crosby. I’m a Full Professor now so I have the tenure promotion process behind me. I love to garden, am obsessed with goldfish, have two cats, am happily single (most of the time!). 

Mentors/someone who believed in you:

Abby Fiat’s guidance and support for me has never waivered. I think she believed in me when I couldn’t see myself being able to accomplish things. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of something she told me in the classroom or in a private conversation. She anchored me and allowed the rope to be long so I could really drift and see the world.

On injuries and care for the dancing body:

LOL…..The body doesn’t last!! I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m beat up, can barely walk some mornings, hurt in weird places, but I respect and love my body for the journey we have been on. It’s been a wild ride —- from my gymnastics career, to diving into Bill T. Jones's arms in "D-Man In The Waters," to dancing with Doug Varone in "Rise," to wondering how I would get from one day to the next. I also have eaten great food, had great sex, drank, did drugs, smoked, laid out in the sun for hours, and pushed my limits physically. I have no regrets….not one! It’s been hard to watch it break down. I get frustrated and sad but also have a deep-rooted joy about what I’ve accomplished. It’s a gift to move, and even on the days when it’s a struggle to put one foot in front of the other, I am still overjoyed by it. 

From Randee Paufve:

What’s the key to being a dancer and balancing all of the hats you wear – as dancer, teacher, choreographer, artistic director, and lifelong student?

If there is a key it is different for everyone. For me it is love. With all the challenges of being a dance artist in this culture, it always comes back to love, the love of moving and being moved, the need to make stuff or I don’t feel alive, that is all.  

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