Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Uncategorized

  • Remembering Trisha Brown

    With Trisha Brown's recent passing, we have lost a key figure in contemporary dance in the United States, who made a wide and lasting impact over six decades. Personally, I think I got into the work of Trisha Brown after getting to know dancer Shelley Senter, when Shelley lived in the Bay Area for a…

  • Coming Up Next: The Austin Dance Festival

    AUSTIN DANCE FESTIVAL 2017 March 31-April 2, 2017 AustinVentures Studio Theater 23 modern dance companies from across the country perform in 3 different concerts 15 pre-professional student groups from across the state perform in the Youth Edition Master classes for the dance community Pop-up community dance for everyone! Site-specific performance by Body Shift, a mixed-ability…

  • Recap on the Blog: Posts During the Month of February

    Heidi Henderson; photo by Nikki Carrera   Artist Profile #154: Molly Lieber Artist Profile #155: Heidi Henderson   Somatic Education/Somatic Influence: Six Perspectives   My Arts Admin Week: Lucia Scheckner, Education Director at BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: The Letter C The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: The Letter D   Speaking as…

  • Somatic Education/Somatic Influence: Six Perspectives

    Heidi Henderson; photo by Nikki Carrera As of late, I have been asking, "What is the influence of somatics on your training, teaching, and artmaking?" Heidi Henderson: Things that I think about that relate to somatics: feeling my feet softening and yielding to the floor, the meaning of touch, the shifts in “the small dance”…

  • Exploring Parent/Child Dance Classes: 5 Questions for Joni Wilson of Tanner Dance

    What do you love about teaching parent/child classes? In general, teaching young children is both a lesson in creativity and an adventure in joy. For the very young child, movement is so natural that it is a seemingly normal extension for them to move freely, jump for joy or twirl until they fall down breathlessly…

  • Recap on the Blog: Posts in January 2017

    Dance + Change 2017: January's Question Artist Profile #151: Jess Humphrey (San Diego, CA) Artist Profile #152: Jan Erkert (Champaign, IL) Artist Profile #153: Becky Radway (Brooklyn, NY) My Dance Week: Daniel Charon, Artistic Director of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Dancing and Reflecting: Dancers in Their 40s (Gesel Mason, Pamela Geber Handman, and Jess Humphrey) What…

  • What are the Skills a Modern Dancer Needs in 2017?

    more UNICORN by Leslie Seiters (Jess Humphrey, Eric Geiger, and Leslie Seiters; Anya Cloud to the side). Photo by TEO. What are the skills a contemporary dancer needs in 2017? Jess Humphrey (San Diego, CA): A deep and wide love of the art form…so much love that you learn as much from a performance you…

  • Dancing and Reflecting: Dancers in Their 40s (Gesel Mason, Pamela Geber Handman, and Jess Humphrey)

    Gesel Mason. Photo by Daniel Beahm. Gesel Mason (Boulder, CO): Your growth as a performer over the years: I trained many years in traditional ballet and modern dance techniques. Now I often perform dances with no recognizable steps in them, yet I believe I‘m a better “dancer” now than I was then. I had to…

  • What I Look for in a Dancer: Four Perspectives from Donna Uchizono, Risa Jaroslow, Marc Brew, and Christy Funsch

    Photo courtesy of Christy Funsch How do you find dancers? What do you look for in a dancer? From Donna Uchizono (New York, NY): I normally like to work with a dancer over several projects. I do see a lot of performances, so when I see a dancer I think might be right for a…

  • Recap on the Blog: Posts in December

    Dante Brown    Photo: Corey Melton In case you missed some of the postings…. Artist Profiles Artist Profile #148: Marc Brew (Glasgow, UK) Artist Profile #149: Dante Brown (Brooklyn, NY) Artist Profile #150: Gesel Mason (Boulder, CO) 2016 Wrap Ups 2016 in Review: The Blog Series "My Dance Week" 2016 in Review: The Blog Series "Building…