Katrina Reid (she/her) is a dancer and choreographer who crafts art projects rooted in improvisation, experimentation, and storytelling. Select presentations of her work include the Queens Museum, ISSUE Project Room, the Knockdown Center, Current Sessions, DoublePlus/Gibney Dance, AUNTS, the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Florida A&M University, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX). As a collaborator, Katrina explores performance across dance, theater, music, ritual, and film. Most recent projects include [siccer] by Will Rawls, and the upcoming Spectral Dances by Jonathan González, as well as past works by David Thomson, Third Rail Projects, Kevin Beasley, Emily Johnson, Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, Marguerite Hemmings, and Megan Byrne, among others. Learn more at katrina-reid.com.

For more, visit Eva Yaa Asantewaa's InfiniteBody blog here.

Petra Kuppers (she/her) is a disability culture activist and a community performance artist. She
grounds herself in disability culture methods, and uses somatics, performance, media work, and
speculative writing to engage audiences toward more socially just and enjoyable futures. In these
pandemic years, she’s been engaged in crip drifts: working with human and more-than-human
others outdoors (or through dream journeys online), exploring interdependence, listening, being-with, and complex joy.

Her latest academic study is Eco Soma: Pain and Joy in Speculative Performance Encounters
(University of Minnesota Press, 2022, open access). Her fourth poetry collection, Diver Beneath
the Street, investigates true crime and ecopoetry at the level of the soil (Wayne State University
Press, February 2024). She teaches at the University of Michigan, and is a 2023 Guggenheim
Fellow.

www.petrakuppers.com

https://wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814351116/diver-beneath-the-street/

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/eco-soma

More on Eva Yaa Asantewaa's InfiniteBody blog here.

In this episode of Body and Soul podcast, dance artist and administrator Rebecca Fitton (she/they) presents insights from her research into the ways current systems of fiscal sponsorship maintain the status quo of power and fail artists.

Watch Fitton's film, ⁠⁠Best Practices⁠⁠ (2022).

⁠⁠Transcript of this episode⁠⁠

InfiniteBody blog post

Rebecca Fitton is from many places and peoples. She nurtures community through movement, conversation, and food, strives to equally prioritize her multifaceted roles as an artist, administrator, and advocate.  Fitton works as Co-Director/Director of Operations and Development for Bridge Live Arts and as the Director of Studio Rawls for artist Will Rawls. She has previously produced multi-disciplinary works for J. Bouey, zavé martohardjono, and FAILSPACE. From 2017-2021, she worked with DELIRIOUS Dances/Edisa Weeks to coordinate community gatherings focused on abolition movements. She was a Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee member from 2018-2020 and participated in Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training in 2021. Their writing has been published by Triskelion Arts, Emergency Index, ⁠⁠In Dance⁠⁠, ⁠⁠The Dancer-Citizen⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Etudes⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Critical Correspondence⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Dance Research Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠ They hold a BFA in Dance from Florida State University and an MA in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin.⁠⁠ rebeccafittonprojects.com⁠⁠

Lynn Neuman, the talented artistic director of Artichoke Dance Company, is currently showing her new work, “If You See Something...,” at Dixon Place. This evening-length piece is wrenching, both visually and aurally, which owes a lot to the physical and emotional courage of its performers–Toby Billowitz, Cary McWilliams, Melissa Riker and Neuman–as well as the intimacy of the space and an uncommon relationship to the audience. BIO Lynn Neuman is Artistic Director and co-founder of Artichoke Dance Company. Her movement style is the outgrowth of a background in gymnastics combined with eclectic dance training, including studies in Balinese dance, tango and contact improvisation. She enjoys meddling in other artistic mediums and treasures her dancers. Lynn has been commissioned by Peculiar Works Projects to create several multimedia works combining video and live performance, by Nexus Arts to choreograph numerous operas and by educational organizations to create works for students and pre-professional dancers. This summer, Lynn will serve as a guest mentor for the Dance Omi International Dance Collective. Ms. Neuman believes in the power of the arts to effect positive change in people’s lives and within communities. To this end, she works with youths and adults to promote cultural literacy and engage people in dance experiences. She has a BFA degree from the University of Michigan and MFA from Temple University. EVENTS “If You See Something...” continues at Dixon Place tonight and tomorrow (March 21-22) and next Thursday through Saturday (March 27-29) at 8pm. For reservations, call 212-219-0736 or email contact@dixonplace.org. May 23-24: Artichoke presents selections from “Vic and Dee: Through the Years” at BRIC Studio as part of the Danspace Project Out of Space Series. June 14-15: Artichoke premieres “UR Here,” a multi-site performance tour along 5th Avenue in Brooklyn. LINKS Artichoke Dance Company http://www.artichokedance.org Dixon Place http://www.dixonplace.org Danspace Project http://www.danspaceproject.org Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

Dancer and Sufi teacher Dunya Dianne McPherson’s new memoir–Skin of Glass: Finding Spirit in the Flesh–tells of her exploration of the multisensory intelligence and wisdom of her body. In our interview, she retraces the path that led her to her embodied spiritual practice and reads from her extraordinary book. BIO Dunya Dianne McPherson is an acclaimed dancer and choreographer, writer, filmmaker, and Master Teacher. As founder and Principal Teacher of the healing movement practice, Dancemeditation, she specializes in techniques that open the wonderment of deep, subtle, peaceful self-perception. She received her BFA in dance from Juilliard and her MA in Writing from Lesley University. She was an Artist Scholar at Columbia University. With the completion of 1,001 days of Sufi training, she was given teaching permission by Sufi Master, Adnan Sarhan (Sufi Foundation of America). Her numerous teaching credits include: Barnard College, Montclair State College, Mark Morris Dance Center, Hunter College, Oberlin College, Swarthmore College, New York Open Center and Kripalu Center. Awards include: National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Choreography Commission, TX & MA Arts Council grants. She is featured in the film ‘Dances of Ecstasy.’ Dunya lives in New York City. UPCOMING EVENT Sunday, April 6 (3pm): “Skin of Glass” book launch, featuring performance by Alembic, saxophonist Premik Tubbs and Ensemble, film and photographs, reading, tea and book signing. Location: Metropolitan Building, 11-04 44th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens. RSVP: info@dancemeditationbooks.com LINK Dunya’s Dancemeditation blog http://blog.dancemeditation.org/ Dervish Society of America http://dancemeditation.org/ "Skin of Glass" http://www.dancemeditationbooks.com/skinofglass/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

Jeff Larson co-curates the enormously popular Catch performance series with Andrew Dinwiddie. He’s also co-curator of Movement Research’s Spring Festival 2008. Jeff called in today to talk about Artists’ Map, his new project for Movement Research. You can submit your address to Artists' Map by emailing Jeff at jeff.larson@mac.com. BIO Jeff Larson is Associate Technical Director for Theatrical Production and Adjunct Faculty for the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Together with Andrew Dinwiddie, he curates the Catch performance series. Jeff is also the co-founder of PHILIFOR & PHILIMOR productions. Current activities include: performing in HUGO with choreographer Chris Yon (DTW, Spring 2008); scenic design for Beth Gill's “Eleanor & Eleanor” (DTW, Fall 2008); “The Principle of Trim,” the second short video of two with longtime collaborator Zach Steel (Spring 2008); co-curating the Movement Research Spring Festival (Spring 08); and a project centered around the life of militant abolitionist John Brown (Fall 2009). LINKS CATCH htpp://www.catchseries.org MOVEMENT RESEARCH FESTIVAL http://www.movementresearch.org Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

My guest, Carrie Ahern, is a dancer and an independent choreographer whose work shows a powerful sense of visual order and psychological depth. We met in the dressing room at St. Mark's Church, home of Danspace Project, to talk about "Red," which premiered there in 2006, and her new piece--"The Unity of Skin"--which will premiere on April 3 and run through April 5. To listen to original music composed for "The Unity of Skin" by cellist Greg Heffernan, visit http://www.carrieahern.com/calendar/calendar.html. BIO Carrie Ahern, a Wisconsin native, is an independent dance and performance artist who has been based in New York City since 1995. She worked primarily as a freelance performer/choreographer for over a dozen dance and theater companies until forming Carrie Ahern Dance in 2005. Her current evening length project, "The Unity of Skin" is commissioned by Danspace Project for performances April 3-5, 2008 and is being presented at Baltimore Theatre Project March 6-9, 2008. Investigations into "The Unity of Skin" were shown at Dance Conversations at the Flea, Danceworks in Milwaukee, Movement Research at Judson Church and at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) as part of their 2007 Space Grant Residency. Her studies of Ancient Greek Philosophy for this piece were funded, in part, by Fractured Atlas' Creative Development Grant. Carrie's first evening length work "Red" (2006) was commissioned both by Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church and the Guggenheim Works-and Process Series. Her shorter works have been seen at over a dozen venues in New York City such as Danspace Project, P.S.122, Dixon Place, the Angel Orensanz Foundation, Dance Space Center (now DNA), Chashama, The Flea and Soundance among others. Nationally and internationally, her work has been presented at Baltimore Theatre Project, Danceworks and Walker's Point Arts Center in Milwaukee, Le Regard du Cygne in Paris and at the Festival D'OFF in Avignon, France. She self-produced two seasons in conjunction with her frequent collaborator, Jennifer A. Cooper: "Alteregomania" at Cunningham in 1999 and "Exploding Plastic Acorns" at the Williamsburg Art Nexus (WAX) in 2003. In 2002, Bessie award winning dancer Carolyn Hall commissioned a solo, with an original score by Grammy award winner Matt Darriau and Ivan Goff. As a performer Carrie has had the pleasure of working with many artists here in New York City including, Pat Cremins/Wyoming, Heather Kravas, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Nina Winthrop, Jeffrey Frace, Ridge Theater, Donna Bouthillier and Jennifer A. Cooper. Upcoming choreographic experiments include a collaborative effort with The Nietzsche Circle -the exciting and daunting task of using Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zaranthustra" as a jumping off point for a dance. She is exploring remounting 2006's "Red" for the crumbling and infamous Eastern State Penitentiary. Ahern is a sought-after teacher of pilates and yoga throughout NYC. She has taught improvisation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and dance technique in the New York City Public Schools. LINKS Carrie Ahern http://www.carrieahern.com Greg Heffernan (composer) http://www.gregheffernan.com Agata Oleksiak (visual designer) http://www.agataolek.com Danspace Project http://www.danspaceproject.org/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

Choreographer Makeda Thomas (of Roots and Wings Movement!) called from Trinidad to speak with me about the tragic killing of her colleague, Augusto Cuvilas, one of Mozambique's most celebrated dance artists. Although the sound quality of this phone interview is not ideal, the information she presents is very important, and time is of the essence. Makeda has been invited to join with South African choreographer Boyzie Cekwana to complete a project that the three were working on at the time of Cuvilas's death. For more information on how you can help, visit Makeda's site at www.makedathomas.org. Makeda Thomas is from Trinidad & Tobago and has presented work at HARLEM Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, Dance Theater Workshop, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Chicago Women's Performance Arts Festival, Maputo's Teatro Africa, Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA7), and as a Cultural Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. Her choreography has been commissioned by 651 ARTS Black Dance: Tradition & Transformation (2007) and received awards from the United States Embassy (2006 & 2005), Puffin Foundation (2005), New York State Council on the Arts (2005), Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation (2005), Arts International (2003), Yellowfox Foundation (2006), and the National AIDS Council of Moçambique (2005). In 2004, during its 25th Anniversary season, she was named Resident Choreographer of Companhia Nacional De Canto e Dança. Graça Machel (Former First Lady of South Africa and Moçambique) serves as the Honorary Patron of her internationally acclaimed work, "A Sense of Place" (2005), on which she presented at the 1st Conference on New Perspectives in African Performing & Visual Arts. In 2007, she became a featured choreographer in ‘This Woman’s Work: Choreographic Development Project Representing Women of Color’ - joining Camille A. Brown, Bridget Moore, Shani Collins, Princess Mhoon Cooper, Francine Ott, & Ursula Payne. As a dancer, Makeda Thomas has toured internationally in the companies of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, and Rennie Harris/ Puremovement, and independently with Robin Becker Dance, Lula Washington Dance Theater, and Stephen Koplowitz. She began her study in Brooklyn, New York with Michael Goring, continuing on scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, The Paul Taylor School and Hofstra University where she earned a B.A. in Dance and English. Ms. Thomas has conducted research projects in South Africa and The Netherlands, artistic residencies in Hawaii and Florida; and arts in education projects with The Dalton School, Arts in Ed. Institute of Western NY, and NYC Dept. of Education. She continues to create dance works and perform internationally, while living in New York City & Port of Spain. Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

The talented Trajal Harrell is one of dance's versatile, committed workers. He has learned to balance various roles including performer, choreographer, curator, journal editor and instructor. His innovative art, in concept and execution, investigates the links between postmodern and popular aesthetics. Dance Theater Workshop will host the premiere of Harrell's "Quartet for the End of Time," October 15-18, 2008. This full-evening work for four dancers takes the story of Olivier Messiaen's famous music of the same name (composed and first performed by Jewish and Christian musicians in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp) as a foundation for investigating the antagonism between sincerity and irony in our contemporary time. BIO Trajal Harrell was born in Douglas, Georgia. He graduated from Yale University, majoring in American Studies with a concentration in creative processes--researching theater, literary theory and art history. He has also studied dance and choreography at Brown University, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, The San Francisco Institute of Choreography, City College of San Francisco, Movement Research and the Trisha Brown School. His work has been performed in various venues in the US and Europe. In 1998, he was selected as an artist-in-residence at Movement Research and has been active in the development of research projects and curation, including curating an initiative to diversify Movement Research's programming through selection of artists of color for performance opportunities. He has served in editorial capacities for the Movement Research Performance Journal and was appointed editor-in-chief in 2006. LINKS Movement Research: http://www.movementresearch.org/ Dance Theater Workshop: http://www.dtw.org Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

What happens when dance artists project their inner/alter selves into the vast reaches of cyberspace? I sat down with freelance dance critic and media scholar Brian McCormick to talk about what's happening with dance in Second Life. Brian McCormick is a dance writer and member of the NY Dance & Performance Awards (Bessies) Committee, and part-time faculty in the New School University Media Studies MA program. He has written for Dance Magazine, The New York Times, and The Advocate, and is a long-time contributing editor at Gay City News. Since 2003, he has been the teaching dance-writing to New York City area high school students through a program created by Dance Theater Workshop and High 5 Tickets to the Arts, called Dance TRaC (Teen Reviewers and Critics). LINK Second Life http://www.secondlife.com/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

Estelle Woodward Arnal (Director of Artist Services, Dance Theater Workshop) and Levi Gonzalez (dancer-choreographer) join me today to talk about DTW's Outer/Space Creative Residency Program. Levi Gonzalez is an independent choreographer living and working in New York City who has created a body of solo and group choreographic projects. He is interested in presenting work in a variety of venues and contexts, from small and intimate spaces to more traditional stages. Often the placement of the work in a certain environment shapes the content. Gonzalez is interested in furthering a dialogue of ideas about the body in society-at-large and about how we experience physical presence. He has gradually distanced himself from dance that concerns itself with the abstract designing of movement as an end in itself and towards work that addresses performance and the power and meaning of embodiment in daily life. His work and his choreographic collaborations with Luciana Achugar have been presented by Movement Research at Judson Church, Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, PS122, Dixon Place, and PS1 Contemporary Art Center. He has performed extensively with Donna Uchizono Company and John Jasperse Company, as well as ChameckiLerner, Jeremy Nelson and Dennis O’Connor. Additionally, he has worked for Michael Laub’s Remote Control Productions in Europe. Levi teaches technique and composition at Movement Research and with Dean Moss at The Kitchen. He was a Movement Research Artist in Residence from 2003-2004 and a 2006 NYFA Fellow in Choreography. He is an editor of Critical Correspondence, an online publication, and facilitates artist dialogues through Dance Theater Workshop’s Fresh Tracks Residency. LINKS: Dance Theater Workshop http://www.dancetheaterworkshop.org Movement Research (for Levi Gonzalez' upcoming workshop, "The Practice of Presence") http://www.movementresearch.org Critical Correspondence http://www.movementresearch.org/publishing/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

Presenting site-specific dance in the bustling financial, commercial and historic environment of downtown Manhattan is not without risk but can yield considerable excitement and rewards. Producer-curator Nolini Barretto and the artists she selects for her annual Sitelines series bring imagination and vision to this challenge and opportunity. In summer 2007, I spoke with Nolini about past productions and current highlights of this well-regarded festival, a project of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (http://www.lmcc.net/). GUEST BIO Nolini Barretto has long been part of the New York arts community. She worked for the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance for thirteen years, the last few years as Administrative Director of the school. She was a founding Director of the Emergency Fund for Student Dancers and continues to serve on its Board and the advisory Board of Buglisi Dance Company. She was the Director of Marketing for Dance Theater Workshop in Chelsea, helping it transition into its new building, managing its rebranding efforts and launching its Inaugural season. At DTW she received the National Arts Marketing Project's Advanced Audience Development Training. Nolini was originally a classical dancer in India and received a Masters degree in Arts Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University. In 2005 CEC Artslink sent her to lecture on Public Art in St. Petersburg, Russia and Novosibirsk, Siberia. Nolini began working at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2003, where she founded the site-specific performance series, Sitelines, which she continues to curate and produce. She is in her first year as a member of the Bessies (New York Dance and Performance) Awards committee. LINK http://www.lmcc.net/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

My interview with dancer-choreographer Ashleigh Leite, conducted in the fall of 2007, is a reminder of how critically important it is for emerging creative artists here in New York to have the support of organizations like Joyce SoHo. As an artist-in-residence at Joyce SoHo's Mercer Street studios, Ashleigh was provided with ample time, rehearsal space, guidance and helpful feedback as she developed Crawl Space, her evening-length, multi-media ensemble which received its premiere at Danspace Project in November 2007--a major step forward in her career. I hope you'll enjoy my talk with this interesting, thoughtful artist and look for the next opportunity to see her work. GUEST BIO Ashleigh Leite, originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, graduated (cum laude) from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance Performance in 1997. Upon graduation, Ashleigh joined Stephen Petronio Company, where she served as Assistant Director/Rehearsal Director and a dancer for over eight years (1997-2005). While maintaining a full schedule with Stephen Petronio Company, Ashleigh began to pursue her own work as a freelance choreographer. In March 2006, at Joyce SoHo in New York City, she premiered Autopsy for which she received a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Award. During the fall of 2006, Ashleigh was an Artist-in-Residence at Dance New Amsterdam and premiered flawed in December; this year, she has been an Artist-in-Residence at Joyce SoHo. She is a current member of Pavel Zustiak's Palissimo and has performed in works by Jamie Bishton, David Allen Harris and Jeremy Nelson. She has taught technique and repertory at conservatories all over the world and guest teaches regularly at Dance New Amsterdam in New York City. Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

In this episode of Body and Soul podcast, the respected, award-winning artist and educator Vicky Shick discusses the challenge and "universal necessity" of trust in a time of widespread distrust and anxiety. As an artist, she sources trust in "the innate intelligence in our bodies" and "in the vulnerable practice of creation."

Vicky Shick has been involved in the New York dance community for four decades--teaching, performing, and making pieces. She feels grateful to all the incredible people with whom she has worked. She was a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company and staged several of Brown’s dances, including in her hometown, Budapest. Previously, she was a member of the Sara Rudner Performance Ensemble. Vicky has developed student pieces at Barnard, The New School and Yale, among other institutions. Her last two works were at Arts on Site, and a collaborative performance at Roulette with choreographer/artist Jon Kinzel. In New York City, she teaches at Movement Research, for the Trisha Brown Dance Company and has taught for 15 years at Hunter College. She was a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence (twice), a Bessie recipient (twice), a grant recipient from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, a Gibney DiP grantee, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Nadine Helstroffer is one of dance's treasures--a poetic, luminous performer whose choreography reflects her insight into life, nature and spirituality. She has been a good friend for many years, and I'm pleased to present an interview we recorded in the summer of 2007 in the home she shares with filmmaker John Bush. Among other things, Nadine and I talked about their experiences filming in Tibet, and I urge you to follow the links for more information about all of John and Nadine's projects. GUEST BIO Nadine Helstroffer, French-born, has been presenting her choreography in the U.S., Canada and France since 1981. Her work includes “Clock Lock,” “Threshold” and “Earthbound.” She has taught dance and directed workshops in France, Korea and the U.S. Since 1998 she has been leading the BodyResonance Workshop which explores the link between meditation and movement. She has been presenting her workshop at the Zen Center of NYC, the New School University, New York Insight Meditation Society and Bowling Green State University. Ms. Helstroffer obtained a doctorate in philosophy under the direction of Daniel Charles of the Sorbonne (Subject: An Innovative Approach to Dance) at Nanterre University/Paris-X, France, in 1980. Her academic interests in Eastern philosophies and her exposure to the East through her dance career have guided her toward an integration of Eastern philosophies and Western movements. She collaborated with composers Yas Jaz from Sankai Juku Company, Philip Fraser (devotee of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar) and David Hykes, founder of the Harmonic Choir. In New York, the Rubin Museum of Art commissioned her 30-minute solo piece, “Absence Presence,” performed in the gallery of the exhibition "Handprints and Footprints of Buddhist Art" in 2005 and filmed by John Bush. She was also invited by the museum to dance her choreography as part of a performance by Hykes's Harmonic Choir. She has worked in collaboration with filmmaker John Bush on a 40-minute dance film-- “Shimmer”--shot entirely outdoors in New York City. An excerpt--"Portal"--has been screened at Galapagos Art Space, curated by the experimental film group Ocularis, and has had a special screening at the 2006 High Falls Film Festival. “Vajra Realm,” a dance pilgrimage with Nadine Helstroffer filmed in Central Tibet, was released in January 2007 as a special feature on the DVD “Vajra Sky Over Tibet,” the third film of the “Yatra Trilogy” by John Bush. It is distributed by WGBH Boston. For additional information on “Vajra Realm” and all of Ms. Helstroffer's work, visit Direct Pictures at http://www.directpictures.com/. LINK: http://www.directpictures.com/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Dalia Carella is one of those bold, glamorous, old-school entertainers clearly born to rule the stage. And she's a serious creative artist whose painstaking approach to the dances of diverse cultures has been shaped by mentors of notable integrity. I interviewed her in October 2007. She was then a new member of the faculty of Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), and we spoke about her career and her pioneering involvement in DNA's Performance Project where she introduced students to the rich music and dance traditions of the Near and Middle East and the Maghreb. GUEST BIO Dalia Carella is a world-renowned Near/Middle Eastern contemporary dancer, choreographer, instructress and global fusion artist. Audiences from around the world have applauded her mystical and innovative dances and choreographies that are taken from the tradition of the countries she is representing. Carella has delved deeply in the studies of dances from the Near and Middle East including Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, as well as North Africa including Morocco and Algeria. Her dances are both traditional and contemporary with a spiritual essence behind each and every movement that she creates. Some of Carella's new works represent both traditional and contemporary movement and range from sacred rituals to ethnic contemporary theater pieces and cabaret macabre inspired by the 1920s and '30s. Her dance background also includes studies in Flamenco, Indian/Bollywood/Bhangra, African, Samba, Salsa, Bomba and Plena from Puerto Rico as well as jazz and ballet. Carella also created her signature dance form in 1985, "Dunyavi Gypsy (Roma) Dance," for which she is known throughout the world. The core of Dalia's Dunyavi work is extensive research of the Romany trail, focusing primarily on the Roma dances of Spain, India, Turkey and most recently, movements from North Africa. Dalia has also been performing and teaching a second style of Gypsy Rom dance, "El Mundo," that is evolving from her continuing studies of Middle Eastern, Andalusia and Latin dance influences. For more information, visit http://www.daliacarella.com/bio.html. LINK http://www.daliacarella.com Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

When you need to look at the arts from a lot of different angles, it's helpful to have someone like the versatile Fran Kirmser in your corner. Here’s an interview I conducted with Fran in the fall of 2007 as she was preparing to facilitate a series of workshops for performing artists, sponsored by The Field. We chatted about the many roles she has played in her distinguished career as a performer, choreographer, theater producer, master fundraiser, a consultant to dance and theater companies, and a founder of Manhattan Theatre Source. This radiant, seemingly tireless advocate of dance and theater has a grand vision and the practical tools to back it up. Guest Bio Fran Kirmser has worked for over twelve years, producing, promoting and fundraising for dance and theater. Collectively she has raised millions of dollars in institutional funding and corporate sponsorships for hundreds of companies. She has held positions in Development, Public Relations, Management, or Booking and Representation with the following organizations: Lincoln Center Avery Fisher Hall, Doug Varone and Dancers, Sandra Cameron Dance Center, Pentacle. She is a founder of Manhattan Theatre Source where she served as Producing Artistic Director. Fran produced August Wilson's Radio Golf on Broadway, nominated for four Tony Awards. Recently she founded Made to Move, Inc.--a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of public knowledge of the art of dance and theater and co-created and produced the commercial musical SIDD based on the novel "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse. Additionally Fran has worked on the development of new theatrical works with Circle in the Square Repertory Theater and Musical Theatre Works among others. Fran is a graduate of Skidmore College with continuing education at NYU Tisch Dance Residency Program, Laban Institute of Movement, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the New School University and Columbia University Graduate School of Psychology. She has served on the New York Foundation for the Arts (www.nyfa.org) funding panel and teaches numerous development and promotional workshops with The Field (www.thefield.org) and throughout the city. Trained in dance and choreography, favorite past projects include choreography for Only Heaven composer Ricki Ian Gordon, and performing the repertory of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Co., American Dance Machine, Susan Marshall, Ralph Lemon, Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, and Jack Cole. LINK: http://www.frankirmser.com/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

I admire Yanira Castro's darkly poetic and mysterious artistry. Her sense-laden works have the capacity to take watchers deep into experience and to change our habits of seeing, listening and thinking. I hope you will enjoy my interview with Yanira and find yourself similarly immersed in her newest work, "Center of Sleep." GUEST BIO Yanira Castro+Company is a New York City-based ensemble of dancers and designers that fuses experiments in movement with original music and visual elements such as video and installations to create vivid, contemporary scenarios for their audiences that transform and engage their experience of the work. Award-winning choreographer Yanira Castro was born in Puerto Rico and received her B.A. in Theater & Dance and Literature at Amherst College. She has been making work with a core group of performers and designers since 1997, presenting this work widely, including at Dance Theater Workshop, The Chocolate Factory, Danspace Project and numerous other venues. Most recently, she has been working on site-based installations. UPCOMING EVENTS Yanira Castro+Dancers will present the world premiere of "Center of Sleep" at Dance Theater Workshop (February 27-March 1, 2008) with two shows per night at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. On opening night, DTW will host a free pre-show talk at 6:30 and post-show talk after the 7:30 show only. For further information and tickets, visit DTW at www.dancetheaterworkshop.org or call 212-924-0077. LINK: www.yaniracastrocompany.org Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Gina Gibney's choreography always reminds me of what's most important to me about art: serious attention to craft and an equally serious concern about human connection and communication. Gina is a thoughtful spokesperson for the art of dance. I've always enjoyed our encounters and usually go away feeling a little more focused and motivated as a result. I hope you'll be similarly inspired by our discussion about her work, including her development of The Distance Between Us, which premiered at the Ailey Citicorp Theater in November 2007. This year, Gina’s company celebrates its 10th Anniversary as an all-female troupe. See below for updated information on Gibney’s projects. GUEST BIO Gina Gibney’s choreography has been widely presented and commissioned in the United States and abroad at such venues as Danspace Project, White Bird Dance, Yale Repertory Theater, The Duke on 42nd Street Theater, WORKS & PROCESS at the Guggenheim Museum and elsewhere. In response to her growing concern about the status of women in the professional dance world, she reorganized her company as an all-female ensemble in 1997. Since that time, she has created six evening-length works exploring the humanity and physicality of women. In 2000, she launched the Domestic Violence Project, a groundbreaking project that offers dance and creative expression to women who are survivors of domestic abuse. She is the founder of Studio 5-2, an officer of Danspace Project's Board of Directors, and a trustee of Dance/USA. Gibney graduated with honors and received an MFA in Dance from Case Western Reserve University. UPCOMING EVENTS Catch a sample of Gina Gibney’s work at the dancemOpolitan group show at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, March 14-15, 9:30 pm. For reservations, call 212-967-7555 or visit www.joespub.com. Celebrating its 10th anniversary as an all-female troupe, Gina Gibney Dance holds its annual Women at Work gala on June 2 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. The gala will feature a mini-retrospective performance, including excerpts from Coming from Quiet (1998), Time Remaining (2002) and unbounded (2005), and a new work developed in collaboration with survivors of domestic violence. This program will be repeated for the public on June 5 (7:30pm) as part of the Tisch Summer Dance Residency Festival. LINK Gina Gibney Dance at http://www.ginagibneydance.org/ Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Today, we’ll hear from Mary Cochran (Chair of the Dance Department, Barnard College of Columbia University) and Luciana Achugar (2007 Bessie Award-winning choreographer) about Sugar Salon, a program dedicated to mentoring, commissioning and presenting women at the forefront of contemporary choreography. GUEST BIOS: Luciana Achugar Luciana Achugar is a Brooklyn-based Uruguayan choreographer. After moving to New York upon graduation from Cal Arts in 1995, Achugar danced with several choreographers, including Chameckilerner and John Jasperse. From 1999 to 2003, she worked in a close collaborative relationship with choreographer Levi Gonzalez. Their work was presented in New York by Dixon Place, Movement Research at Judson Church, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Dance-in-Progress at The Kitchen, and at Dance Theater. Achugar has also worked collaboratively with visual artists Marcos Rosales and Michael Mahalchick. Mary Cochran Department of Dance Chair and Associate Professor of Professional Practice at Barnard College of Columbia University, Mary Cochran has performed and taught on every continent except Antarctica. A renowned soloist with Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1984-1996, Cochran continues her association with Taylor to this day having completed 19 restagings of his masterworks and as Director of the Paul Taylor School’s Summer and Winter Intensives. Cochran has taught at numerous colleges and conservatories including Mills College, the Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Harvard University, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee in May of 2005. UPCOMING EVENT: See Sugar Salon's performances at Abrons Arts Center (February 15-16), featuring works by the 2007-08 residents: Luciana Achugar ("Franny and Zooey"), Renée Archibald ("Curtain Wall") and Heather McArdle/BLUEPRINTVIOLATION (excerpt from "Ballad of Arrivals & Departures"). Choreographer mentor Donna Uchizono will moderate a post-performance discussion with the artists on Friday, February 15. For full schedule and ticketing details, call 212-352-3101 or visit http://www.theatermania.com. INFORMATION LINKS: Department of Dance, Barnard College: http://www.barnard.edu/dance Williamsburg Art NeXus (WAX): http://www.wax205.com Abrons Arts Center: http://www.henrystreet.org/arts Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

One of the interviews I’m most proud of was conducted in late 2007 with dancer-choreographer Jen Abrams. I’m delighted to bring this episode out of the archives and present it in Body and Soul’s new home. When our "half-hour" interview concluded, we were amused to see that it had actually lasted a full hour! But that's what it takes to tell even part of the story of her work with the WOW Cafe Theater collective, an historic and essential part of the still-hearty cultural abundance of Manhattan's rapidly-changing East Village. Listening to Jen talk about her background in contact improvisation, I discovered a fascinating connection between contact improvisation and the "open source," grassroots nature of WOW. Her intensity and strength as an artist working in dance, theater and poetry are more than matched by the tenacity of this theater collective and space that she so clearly loves. And here’s her bio: Jen Abrams’ work has been presented at BAX, HERE, Dixon Place, the Nuyorican Poets Café, and the Bowery Poetry Club, as well as at WOW Café Theater, where she has been an active member for seven years. She has produced three full-length concerts of her own work at WOW: Itch (2000), Saturn Return (2001), and Surfacing (2002), as well as two shared bill evenings: As I Was Saying (2004, with Risa Jaroslow and Eva Lawrence) and Asunder (2006 with Clarinda Mac Low and Tara O’Con.). She was a 2005 BAX space grantee, and is co-curator and co-producer with Sally Silvers of TalkTalk WalkWalk, an annual poetry and dance festival. Her choreographic work has also been seen at WOW in the stage plays The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, All Eyes, All Sides – Beckett One Acts, Naomi Wallace’s Slaughter City, and Moira Cutler’s MetaMeshugenaMorphosis and Sonofabitch Stew, all with Dogsbody Theater. The Village Voice has called her work “quintessentially New York,” and her performances “convincing no matter what [she chooses] to do.” Jen has studied the form of Contact Improvisation for twelve years, beginning at Oberlin College, the birthplace of the form. She relocated to New York City from Chicago, where she presented and performed in five full-length concerts with the contact improv-based company she co-founded, Limbic Fix. She is classically trained as an actor, and performed in plays throughout Chicago before moving to New York City to focus on movement-based performance. She is also a writer, and has given readings of her work at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Halcyon, and Bar 13. By day, Jen works as a fundraiser for a small poetry press, and serves as Managing Director for Risa Jaroslow & Dancers. She also teaches Contact Improv through Movement Research. Her roots in theater and immersion in literature inform her dances. Visit Jen Abram's Web site at http://www.jenabrams.org. Visit Eva Yaa Asantewaa's dance blog--InfiniteBody--at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com.

I asked my friend, Tom Pearson, to help me introduce my interviewee, Louis Mofsie, who will once again MC the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers' annual concert and pow-wow at Theater for the New City, February 8-17. Tom responded with this lovely reflection. "Louis Mofsie is a community builder, in the truest sense. A respected elder and member of the Hopi and Winnebago tribes, and a Brooklyn native, Louis draws together urban Indians of all ages by teaching traditional dances and music, collaborating with contemporary artists, and creating opportunities for people of myriad backgrounds to gather and express cultural heritage. The dance troupe he directs, the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, has been holding monthly socials for years at the American Indian Community House (where he serves as Chairperson of the Board of Directors) and more recently at the Museum of the American Indian, as well as annual summer powwows at the Queens County Farm for 28 years. And for 33 years, in the thick of winter, his dancers have been bringing their passionate fires to Theater for the New City. "Events like these anchor many urban Indians to their heritage and help them redefine for themselves notions of identity, cultural inheritance, and a sense of belonging to a thriving and diverse urban American Indian community. Most native people in NYC can trace a connection to Louis in one way or another, myself included. And aside from being a brilliant musician (he has recorded several albums), an accomplished artist (he has illustrated several books), and a consummate choreographer and director--his humor, flair for the dramatic, and stage presence also make him an engaging speaker. What the camera was to Greta Garbo, the microphone is to Louis Mofsie! Always an educator, he imparts his wisdom and cultural knowledge every time he MCs a powwow or introduces a performance at a school showing or in the theater by explaning a dance's origin or a song's meaning. And, all of the proceeds from Thunderbird events support native scholarships. It is his generous spirit, sense of community, and educational agenda that allows audiences and participants to glean a deeper understanding when they experience native culture and to walk away fortified by the power of indigenous music and dance. "Louis loaned me an outfit and taught me my first steps for the Grass Dance a few years back, setting me on the powwow trail, and he has been my collaborator on several contemporary dance projects, at The Museum of the American Indian and Lincoln Center. This year, I am thrilled to be performing the Grass Dance with Louis and the Thunderbird Dancers at TNC." --Tom Pearson, Co-Artistic Director, Third Rail Projects BACKGROUND Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, officially incorporated in 1963, traces its roots further back, to a group of teenagers called the Little Eagles. From the beginning, keenly aware of the great diversity of tribal groups living in and around the metropolitan area--each with a very distinct cultural background--its members were determined to learn and preserve the songs and dances of their own tribes, then to branch out and include other tribes. Their teachers were their fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Since its formation, Louis Mofsie and the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers have visited and performed in almost all fifty states, where they have learned from a wide variety of Indian peoples. Louis Mofsie (Hopi/Winnebago) received his M.A. from Hofstra University and taught art for 35 years at the Meadowbrook School in East Meadow, New York. Mofsie has curated exhibits at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and other venues. He has been a guest artist at the Walker Art Center and has shown his own work at the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Woodards Museum and the Gallup Ceremonials, both in Gallup, New Mexico. Mofsie has illustrated the books "The Hopi Way," "Coyote Tales," and "Teepee T

Tamango's revolutionary approach to tap transforms his dance into music with a sharpened sense of style and awe-inspiring fluidity. Born in Cayenne, French Guiana, Tamango moved to Paris at age eight and began a formal education in art. He started tap dancing in his early 20's at the American Center in Paris and the Beaux Arts de Paris, which he left to join the university of the streets before moving to New York City. Bringing together a global mix of dancers, musicians and artists, Tamango's Urban Tap crosses and blends the cultures and rhythms of jazz, tap, hip hop, capoeira, stilt, world, free-style and more. Tamango has been hailed worldwide for the electrifying skill and elegant beauty of his dancing. The New York Times declared, "One is tempted to call him the best dancer of any kind around." He is also a painter, drummer, didjeridoo player and spoken word artist. Currently, he is acting, singing and dancing in "In Search of Josephine," a French production that draws together stories of the sensational Josephine Baker and modern-day, flood-ravaged New Orleans. Urban Tap performs on March 7, 2008 at New York City's Town Hall. In April, Tamango's collaborative project with jazz funk guitarist Charlie Hunter will be presented as a work-in-progress at Harlem Stage. For more information about Tamango's Urban Tap, visit www.urbantap.net/. For ticket information for the March 7 performance at Town Hall, visit http://www.the-townhall-nyc.org/pages/calendar/march.html. Visit Eva Yaa Asantewaa's dance blog--InfiniteBody--at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe to Body and Soul, the podcast of InfiniteBody, at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml and through iTunes. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Last summer, as Japan Society celebrated its centennial, I spoke with artistic director, Yoko Shioya, at the Society’s beautiful center on East 47th Street in Manhattan. She shared her thoughts on the far-ranging influence of contemporary Japanese performing arts and on the origins and significance of butoh. Update: Japan Society will present its annual Contemporary Dance Showcase (January 11-12, 2008), featuring cutting-edge dance from Japan and, for the first time, East Asia. For more information, visit http://www.japansociety.org/dance_topic. Subscribe to Body and Soul podcast at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2007, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Heather Robles gently beckons us out of the numbness we might have slipped into as the world feels so hard right now. What do we desire and how can desire and curiosity awaken and guide us forward towards joy?

You'll notice this episode has no background music. I didn't need or want that sound to cover Frijolito's snoring!

******

Heather Robles is a nondisabled queer Latinx cis woman of Indigenous Mexican descent who lives on the stolen land of the Lenape and Canarsie peoples in what is colonially called Brooklyn. She is Founder and Artistic Executive Director of Alma Dance Company. As a choreographer and performer, she has worked with many artists including Yvonne Rainer, Sidra Bell, Pavel Zuštiak, Nathan Trice, DANCENOISE, André M. Zachery, Buglisi Dance Theater, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Suzzanne Ponomarenko Dance, The Equus Projects. She is also the Executive Director of the New York Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies, and a certified birth doula at Our Birth Doula. Heather is also a dance educator, teaching artist, producer, and advocate for mental health in the dance field. https://www.almadanceco.com

Chris Elam, the first recipient of the new Summer Stages Dance/Baryshnikov Arts Center residency, is truly a dance artist for the 21st Century--a brilliant, probing maker of dance that expresses the protean nature of the human body, mind, and spirit; an explorer of the myriad ways in which people communicate; and an innovator of Internet community-building and artistic marketing. In September 2007, I had a wide-ranging talk with Elam, founder and artistic director of Misnomer Dance Theater, about the origins and intent of his unusually powerful choreography and about his latest and upcoming projects. Update: Chris invites you to vote for Misnomer Dance Theater, a finalist in the IdeaBlob contest with a proposal to build online tools for the dance world. For more information and to cast your vote, see http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/ 906-Impact-the-arts-Enable-perform. Subscribe to Body and Soul podcast at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml. (c)2007, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

In September, I visited with Camille A. Brown, who had recently made a huge impression as the choreographer and performer of her solo, The Evolution of A Secured Feminine, on a program of choreography by Black women called This Woman's Work. We talked about the steady evolution of her remarkable career. She has won rave reviews for her appearances with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, and now she has premiered a delightful and well-received ensemble piece with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world's most celebrated dance troupes, during its 2007 season at City Center. Camille is a young artistic star on the rise. For information on the Ailey season at City Center, visit www.alvinailey.org. Subscribe to Body and Soul podcast at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.

Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People will reprise "Everyone" at Dance Theater Workshop, Jan 14 -15. Here's an interview I conducted with Bessie Award-winning choreographer Miguel Gutierrez last summer. Somewhere in the middle of my interview with Miguel, I realized that I could listen to him talk forever. (I've had that feeling about watching his dances, too!) Even after we wrapped up our recording, we kept talking, and he never ran out of interesting and vital things to say about art, community and the often sorry state of discourse on dance. I definitely want to talk with Miguel again, and I'm delighted to share with you today some insight into his life and work. For more information and tickets to the January performances at DTW, visit http://www.dancetheaterworkshop.org/Gutierrez. Subscribe to Body and Soul podcast at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.

I'm convinced that Tony Waag is one of those people put on earth to help me find my smile when I most need it, and I'm not alone in this feeling. Everyone who has ever seen Tap City loves Tony, its producer, director and often goofily-charming MC. As artistic and executive director of the American Tap Dance Foundation, Tony has a broad perspective on all facets of this art--from its rich history to its modern revival, dynamic present and future possibilities. In August 2007, I ran into Tony at a Lincoln Center Out of Doors show where we watched Roxane Butterfly and her tap company, Worldbeats. We agreed to meet again and talk tap. For more information about ATDF and its programs, visit http://www.atdf.org.

Eva Yaa Asantewaa interviews tap superstars, producers and educators Ayodele Casel and Jason Samuels-Smith (July 2007)

Last night, a buddy and I went to the “Tappy Holidays” show at Symphony Space. We were both a little leery about it because neither one of us is particularly into Christmas music, and this was going to be a tap dance show featuring nothing but Christmas music. Here's how things turned out! For more on "Tappy Holidays" and its co-producers--Ayodele Casel and Sarah Savelli--visit http://tandemact.homestead.com, http://www.ayodelecasel.com and http://www.sarahsavelli.com.

I conducted this interview in July with Alessandra Belloni about her work with the tarantella and other ritual folk dance and music of Southern Italy. See her "Spider Dance" show at Theater for the New City, December 21-23, 2007. Visit http://www.alessandrabelloni.com.

Welcome! You're in the new home of the newly independent Body and Soul dance podcast!

Award-winning choreographer and writer Stephan Koplowitz discusses the importance of thorough research into the history of a place--and knowledge of one's own relationship to history--in the making of site-specific performance. He describes site work as disruptive and all performance as political.

Learn more about Stephan's own history and his work on InfiniteBody blog here.

Thomas Ford is a dance artist, writer and scholar whose research examines the mechanisms of identity and culture through an exploration of embodiment, choreography, and Black, queer, critical and performance studies. In today's episode, Ford reflects on the violent colonial history at the root of homophobia in Black families and community. https://www.thomasfordnyc.com/

Visit InfiniteBody blog.

This Spring, author Kate Mattingly published Shaping Dance Canons: Criticism, Aesthetics, Equity, an analysis of many decades of dance criticism in the US (University of Florida Press). As a white woman, she accepts responsibility to speak out on white supremacy. In her talk today, she shares thoughts on how white supremacy has historically defined and dominated dance criticism and continues to silence women in academia.

Dr. Mattingly has written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Dance Magazine, and Pointe Magazine and is associate editor of Dance Chronicle. She is assistant professor of dance at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Learn more about Dr. Mattingly on InfiniteBody blog here.

"My life is a dance," says dancer-healer-teacher Italy Bianca, "How am I going to stage it, each and every day?"

Body and soul are connected, she knows from personal experience of trauma, healing, and creativity. In this talk to inspire other artists, teachers, caregivers, and anyone, Italy invokes what she has learned through modalities such as massage, acupuncture, herbalism, spiritual practice, and the use of sensory deprivation tanks.

Listen here and also learn more about Italy Bianca on InfiniteBody blog.

https://www.italybianca.com/

Like her bestie Tamisha A. Guy, who spoke in our previous episode, Dallas native Catherine Kirk is a ten-year veteran of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham and a thrilling performer. Kirk describes herself as "an artist of many measures," one fascinated by stories and questions of "why humans are the way we are."

Learn more about Catherine Kirk on InfiniteBody blog here.

Learn more about A.I.M by Kyle Abraham here.

Caribbean-born dancer Tamisha A. Guy celebrates her tenth year with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham--the New York-based, award-winning troupe which recently completed a triumphant spring season at The Joyce Theater. Acknowledging a time of deep contemplation and yearning for home, Guy speaks of her own fervent aim--to perform live for her family and community in Trinidad.

Learn more about Tamisha A. Guy on InfiniteBody blog here.

Learn more about A.I.M by Kyle Abraham here.

My guest, Dr. Iquail Shaheed, Artistic Director of Philadelphia-based DANCE IQUAIL!, sits in to talk about his desire to reflect the "three pillars of creating a new world" and how working with incarcerated populations has led to his new work, Public Enemy.

Learn more about Dr. Shaheed on InfiniteBody blog here and at http://www.danceiquail.org/.

Daniel Phoenix Singh has worked in higher education, the field of dance, queer communities, South Asian communities, and in arts practice, policy, and funding at local and national levels. His identities lie at the intersection of his queer, antiracist, South Asian, immigrant, artist, and advocate roles in the various communities he inhabits. He acknowledges the complicity and internalization of colonial and racial oppressions in his life and works hard to approach issues from an anticolonial and antiracist perspective. He has been influenced by the work of Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (aka Periyar | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periyar), Rabindranath Tagore, Arundhathi Roy, Toni Morrison, and particularly Justin Laing (http://hillombo.net/about/) who work from intersectional frameworks. In his dance practice, Daniel was mentored by Pamela Mathews as curiosity took him from computer science to a dance major in college. He is deeply grateful to Lorry May, Harriet Moncure Williams, and Karen Bernstein for helping shape his choreographic voice. Madhavi Mudgal and Leela Samson in India have broadened his perspectives on the space Indian dance forms can occupy both within the body, in the pedagogy, and field of dance. He is a single parent to amazing twins who have been his foremost teachers and test his improvisational skills every day. https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielphoenixsingh/

For more, visit Eva Yaa Asantewaa's InfiniteBody blog here.

During the pandemic, dance artist and photographer Ricarrdo Valentine continued to work towards a graduate degree in Dance, keenly aware of academia's toll on body, mind, and spirit. Influenced by healing philosophies, such as the famed Nap Ministry of Tricia Hersey, Valentine shares what he has learned about self-compassion and rest, critical tools of liberation from capitalism and grind culture.

To learn more about Ricarddo Valentine, visit InfiniteBody blog here.

Also visit www.ricarrdovalentine.com and www.bhooddance.com.

US-raised Palestinian artist Samar Haddad King (Artistic/Founding Director of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre) ruminates on what pregnancy, birth, and raising her daughter have taught her about time.

Learn more about Samar Haddad King on InfiniteBody blog here. And read The New York Times' review of the Spring 2022 Gibney presentation of YSDT's Last Ward here.

https://ysdt.org/

In her work with Afro-Puerto Rican bomba traditions and contemporary dance, Megan Curet considers the relationship between movement, sound, and decolonization within communal practice in Black diaspora.  She says, "I wanted to be a part of the conversation that shakes up the body, that shakes up the way we think, and I believe no other approach does so better than the act of moving, the act of repeating movement, and that act of coming into space together."

Listen to Megan Curet's Body and Soul episode here, and learn more about her on InfiniteBody blog here.

http://megancuret.com/

Russian-born dance artist and educator Elena Demyanenko traveled from her adopted home in New York to Berlin to support the growing community of artists fleeing Russia's devastating war on Ukraine. In this moving talk, Demyanenko reflects on questions for herself and other artists making work in times of war, propaganda, censorship, and courageous disobedience.

Learn more about Elena Demyanenko on InfiniteBody blog here.

www.elenademyanenko.com

Cory Nakasue sees complexity all around us and within us--from the cosmic realm above to the most intimate spaces below here on planet Earth.  Self-described as "a theater artist, writer, and astrologer whose work  includes choreography, dramaturgy, and video," Nakasue likely inhabits far more than even those multiple identities and roles. In this talk for Body and Soul, she shares thoughts about how our tendency to avoid complexity denies us the pleasure of engaging with what's real.

Read more about Cory Nakasue on InfiniteBody blog here.

www.corynakasue.com and www.astrologybycory.com

My guest today, george emilio sanchez, is a passionate and critical voice for our times. A skilled artist and activist, he brings a gift for blending factual historical and cultural knowledge, lived experience, and creative storytelling in solo performances that inform, captivate, and challenge audiences. In this episode of Body and Soul, sanchez discusses a 19th-century Supreme Court ruling that violated indigenous tribal sovereignty; In the Court of the Conqueror, a performance in collaboration with visual artist Patty Ortiz; and The Shed's great exhibition on Brazil's indigenous Yanomami people. 

To learn more about sanchez, visit InfiniteBody blog here.

Please forgive the abrupt ending of this episode! Details I edited out--concerning The Yanomami Struggle exhibition at The Shed, a New York City arts space--can be found at https://theshed.org/program/262-the-yanomami-struggle. The exhibition runs through Sunday, April 16, and I do highly recommend it.

https://www.georgeemiliosanchez.com/

Bessie Award-winning Stephanie Skura is widely noted not only for her long career as a performer, maker, and teacher of post-modern dance but for being a magical catalyst for other artists' creativity. In today's talk, she shares how her imaginative practice, called scores, opens up liberating possibilities. For Skura, dance is a path to consciousness; a method to access the balancing, healing capacity of intuition; a way to play her role in repairing the world.

Listen here, and learn more about Stephanie Skura on InfiniteBody blog here.

www.stephanieskura.com

Ballet dancer Daphne Lee, currently with world-renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem, has learned much about the joys and rigors of touring. In this talk, she shares her observations, concerns, and tips for young performers and challenges the dance field to consider how it develops new leaders.

Listen here and learn more about Daphne Lee on InfiniteBody blog here.

www.daphnemlee.com

Initially trained in dance in her native Cuba, Judith Sánchez Ruíz has enjoyed an illustrious international career that includes performing for one of the towering figures of post-modern dance, Trisha Brown, who died in 2017.  Fans of both Sánchez and Brown rejoiced last year when the Trisha Brown Dance Company named Sánchez as the troupe's first commissioned guest choreographer.

I was honored when Sánchez agreed to take time out from her whirlwind  schedule--we're talking about zipping from Hong Kong to Münster to Brooklyn to Switzerland!--to record this wonderful talk for Body and Soul podcast!

Listen here and visit InfiniteBody blog (here) to learn more about Judith Sánchez Ruíz!

https://www.judith-sanchez-ruiz.com/