For the next few days, we are excited to share several previews leading up to opening night for BIG SALT with The Anata Project. Performances run May 30 and 31 and June 1, 7, and 8 at the Joe Goode Annex in San Francisco (401 Alabama Street). 

Purchase your tickets here, and also check out the video preview on Vimeo.

Emily Hansel, Mallory Markham, Katie Meyers, and Jessie Egbert. Photo by Summer Wilson.

Today we hear from 3 of the dancers in the project. We asked:

What do you love about this project, BIG SALT? Please describe a little bit about working with Claudia – whether this is your first project with her, or you have worked together on several projects. And, risk and vulnerability with the work….

From Jessie Egbert: 

BIG SALT is an incredibly fulfilling culmination of research, exploration, and development over the last year and a half. What I love about this work is that it encompasses the experiences that all 6 of us have had in that time: the good, the bad, the challenging, the rewarding. This is my third home season working with Claudia, and one of things that I admire most about working with her is that she creates a space for us to be openly honest about our experience within the work. We get to live inside it, rather than simply putting movement onto our bodies. I am excited to share this work with an audience and continue to push the boundaries of comfort inside the choreography.

From Emily Hansel: 

The past couple years of working with Claudia have been so fruitful for me. She is constantly pushing me to do things that I would never try on my own. At the same time, I know she is interested in my suggestions, which are often very different from her initial instincts. Performing Claudia's choreography is always an exciting, sensual experience. Whether we are in the studio or onstage, I feel alive, spontaneous, and receptive when I dance what we've created together. The process for BIG SALT has been especially lengthy and thorough, since we were participating in CHIME for all of 2018. I am ready to get onstage and share this work with everyone!

From Katie Meyers:

What do you love about this project, BIG SALT?

I love the amount of time we've had to create BIG SALT. The space has allowed me to dig and find so much richness from the inside first, outside second. Researching volatility has encouraged me, discouraged me, challenged me, opened me, and I am as sore as I am grateful.

Please describe a little bit about working with Claudia – whether this is your first project with her, or you have worked together on several projects.

This was my first season with Claudia, and the whole experience was an honor. Being involved with Margaret Jenkins' CHIME was unforgettable – receiving consistent feedback from Margy herself, having a weekend workshop with her & Kate Weare, and getting regular sneak peaks of Amy Foley & James Graham's work – surreal. This was also my first experience working with the same group of dancers for as long as we did! The trust and the dynamic of this consistency was very special, and I will always hold that part of this experience close to my heart. But my favorite piece of working with Claudia was the meditation. Meditation has been something I've wanted to incorporate into my life for years; it wasn't until I started practicing it with The Anata Project weekly that I actually began to incorporate it into my daily life. Over this past year working on BIG SALT, I've gained formal technique, improvisational tools & partnering skills, but there's nothing quite like watching the transformation of yourself after your first year fiercely committed to meditation. I will never be the same. 

Risk and vulnerability with the work….

Claudia encouraged risk and vulnerability throughout. These are also values I appreciate and do my best to bring to my personal life. Every time I dance in this piece I feel exposed in a new way. 

Your excitement to bring it in front of an audience….

Uncontainable. COME. 

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