As a choreographer, questions on your mind right now:

• Who gets to dance
• How my personal politics reside in the choices I make in my work – as subtext not as content
• Unearthing vocabularies that are stripped of classroom phrase defaults
• Why so much work seems to value physically punishing its performers
• Resisting beauty as a dominant paradigm
• What is the right structure for each work
• How amazing it is that we can pay attention to so many disparate things at once

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

I usually see dancers perform, or I see them in class and am drawn to them. I can't stand auditions. I work with people who can stand a high level of “unknowingness” and precariousness. I rely on my performers to be able to shed control and let go of material and even habituated skills if that is what the work is calling for. I need to work with people who can also leave everything outside what Sarah Michelson calls the “working room.” I'm really sensitive to the subtle ways that the collective attention in rehearsal can be derailed.

How do you find a balance with the administrative and creative needs/projects for your company?

I just power through, interminably intern-less! I wouldn't say I have a balance in the sense that things even out. But the administrative work does tend to keep me focused on the creative work – excessive writing about the work for example. I wouldn't recommend the way I take it all on. I think if you find the right people to delegate to, which is its own skill and practice, that can support your longevity.

Financial advice to pass onto dancers just embarking on starting their own company:

Gather an advisory board soon, and let them nurture your growth. Usher and do favors for people in order to see lots of performances for free. Bring people into your work as support staff who are not fellow artists.

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To read Christy's full artist profile, click here.

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