A special announcement from host and Artistic Director of The Moving Architects, Erin Carlisle Norton.

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Movers & Shapers has been podcasting interviews with those who shape the dance field since 2015. Connect with our archive of 175 interviews: themovingarchitects.org/podcasts

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When Decisions are Commitments with Rachel Damon

Joining us today is Rachel Damon, a choreographer, theatrical designer, performer, and co-founder and artistic director of Synapse Arts, a Chicago-based dance theater company. Rachel's self-made career is a testament to her multidisciplinary talents, blending onstage and backstage roles to create dynamic performance works through collaboration, improvisation, and teamwork. In this episode, Rachel shares her remarkable journey from lovable weirdo at musical theatre summer camp to internationally-renowned production stage manager and performer who lives her life by making decisions as commitments. Tuning in, you’ll discover how her dual passions for choreography and crafting have fueled her personal and professional growth, the power of educating performers to negotiate their value, ensuring that art is recognized as legitimate work, and why diversity is a cornerstone of Synapse Arts' identity. We also explore Rachel's love for theatre production, her innovative partnership with the Chicago Park District, and the unique site-specific performances born from this collaboration. Join us for an engaging conversation that covers all this and more!

Key Points From This Episode:

·       An overview of Rachel’s background and what sparked her interest in dance and theatre.

·       The immediacy that she loves about theatre production work and stage management.

·       How Links Hall in Chicago acted as a springboard for her career.

·       Insight into Synapse Arts, how it got started, and how it has evolved since.

·       Synapse’s partnership with the Chicago Park District’s Arts & Culture Unit (ACU).

·       Rachel’s site-specific and outdoor performances that punctuate everyday life.

·       The significance of her interdisciplinary work, including her “textile dances.”

·       Challenges she has encountered in her onstage and backstage career.

·       How Rachel empowers artists and advocates for art to be valued as work.

·       Ways that you can contribute to Synapse’s 20th Birthday Bash Campaign.

·       Why a diversity of identities and lived experiences is important in the arts.

“Being with the weird people who are risky, accepting, and idea-driven [is] where I feel safe and inspired.” — Rachel Damon

Rachel Damon is a Chicago-based theatrical designer, choreographer, and performer whose self-made career bridges onstage and backstage.

For more on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

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While dance is often underfunded and under-recognized, leaders in the field acknowledge the incredible talent that lives within every dancer, reminding them that they are, in fact, ‘Acrobats of God’. Today’s guest embodies the purpose of the Movers and Shapers: A Dance Podcast; to share insights from those who shape the dance field, and create an archive that preserves rich, personal experiences across generations. During this episode, Jeanne Ruddy shares what it was like to be a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company, and to work with Martha herself. You’ll also hear how she forged her own unique role in dance, how she encourages other artists to flourish, and her passion for nurturing future generations of dancers in Philadelphia. Tuning in, you’ll learn all about Jeanne’s journey as a dancer, and finding her way to creative expression thereafter. Join us to hear all about the highs and lows of our guest’s incredible career today. 

Key Points From This Episode:

·       Her first experiences of dance and her lifelong love of music.

·       The changing dance scene of the 1960s.

·       The pivotal period of time for a dancer between 16 and 21.

·       Her experience at North Carolina School of the Arts and Utah Repertory Dance Theatre. 

·       Traveling to New York and starting a company with no capital. 

·       Getting a huge break with Yuriko Kikuchi after auditioning with Getting to Know You. 

·       Being chosen to be in the Martha Graham Dance Company and enjoying a ten-year career. 

·       Why Martha would sit in the second wing, stage right, in a director’s chair, during performances.

·       The eventual decision to leave the company due to pain. 

·       The birth of the Performance Garage in Philadelphia.  

·       The program Jeanne currently facilitates for dancers. 

·       What Martha Graham taught: dancers are acrobats of God. 

“I walked out of Deaths and Entrances, I was definitely a child of the 60s, and I didn’t like it. Seven years later, I was playing one of the sisters in that very piece in Lincoln Centre. I loved it.” — Jeanne Ruddy 

Jeanne Ruddy is a former Principal Dancer with the Martha Graham Company where she performed throughout the World, on Broadway, served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey School, colleges and universities in the US and abroad, founded Jeanne Ruddy Dance, and a center for dance – the Performance Garage, in Philadelphia.

More on the episode: Movere & Shapers

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The organization behind the podcast: The Moving Architects presents "O my soul", where fierce femininity and intergenerational dance meet. Dec 1 in Montclair, NJ. For more info: The Moving Architects

Today's guest is Eva Dean. Eva is the founder and Artistic Director of Eva Dean Dance, based in Brooklyn and established in 1985.  Eva has a rich history as a Brooklyn-based choreographer of site-specific and theatrical contemporary dance, and is also a community leader mentoring other female choreographers and founding Union Street Dance studio. Known for rich visuals and genre-defying theatricality, the company has been featured on both the local and international stage. Notable NYC credits include The New Victory Theatre (Victory Dance 2018), The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace at St. Mark’s Church, The Brooklyn Museum and The Children’s Museum of Manhattan among many others. Also known for site-specific immersive dance, the company has staged numerous public productions in Prospect Park (Brooklyn, NY). 

Today's guest is Oxana Chi. Oxana is a choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, curator, and author. She founded the company Oxana Chi & Ensemble Xinren in Berlin, Germany in 1991 and moved to New York City in 2015. In 2018, she was listed in the Dance Enthusiast’s 2018 “A to Z” of People Who Power the Dance World. She is featured in several publications and films, and is the main protagonist of the movie Dancing Through Gardens. Chi is accompanied in this podcast by her main collaborator Dr. Layla Zami, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Performance + Performance Studies MFA Program at Pratt Institute and interdisciplinary artist (music, poetry, theater, film).

Today’s guest is Michele Wiles. Michele danced with American Ballet Theater from 1997-2011, beginning in the studio company and promoted to soloist in 2000 and principal in 2005. Michele left the position in 2011 to start BalletNext with the vision to pair classically trained dancers and live musicians in a collaborative setting that encourages risk taking and a focus on process.

Today's guest is Dunya Dianne McPherson. Dunya is a dancer, NEA choreographer, Shattari Sufi Master Teacher, Founder of Dancemeditation™, and author of Skin of Glass: Finding Spirit in the Flesh, a memoir about dance as a spiritual path.

Today's guest is Eduardo Vilaro. Eduardo joined Ballet Hispánico as Artistic Director in August 2009, becoming only the second person to head the company since it was founded in 1970. He has been part of the Ballet Hispánico family since 1985 as a dancer and educator, after which he began a ten-year record of achievement as founder and Artistic Director of Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago. Born in Cuba and raised in New York from the age of six, he is a frequent speaker on the merits of cultural diversity and dance education.

Today’s guest is Jody Oberfelder. Jody is a director, choreographer, and filmmaker, who creates visceral experiences for audiences, onstage and in alternative sites. Her work has been shown extensively internationally as well as at Jacob’s Pillow, MASS MoCA, The Yard, Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York Live Arts, and her immersive heart-themed work 4Chambers was performed 86 times: in an historic home on Governors Island and in a former hospital in Brooklyn.

Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast celebrates 75 interviews! And a special announcement from podcast host Erin Carlisle Norton about upcoming interviews (hint: see you 2019!)

Today's guest is Dr. Hannah Kosstrin. Hannah is a dance historian whose work engages dance, Jewish, and gender studies, modes of movement analysis, and digital projects.  She is on faculty at The Ohio State University Department of Dance, and is author of the book Honest Bodies: Revolutionary Modernism in the Dances of Anna Sokolow.

Today's guest is Young Soon Kim, Artistic Director of WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company formed in 1988, and Producer of the annual DUMBO Dance Festival in NYC. Young Soon's company has criss-crossed the globe performing her repertory of 62 original works.  

Today's guest is Liz Gerring. Liz is head of Liz Gerring Dance Company, based in NYC and formed in 1998.  As a choreographer she has been awarded the Jacob's Pillow Prize, a Joyce Theater Residency and Creation award, and a New York City Center Choreographic Fellowship.  She recently completed a trilogy of large scale proscenium works commissioned by Montclair State University Peak Performances in Montclair, New Jersey.

Creating a Vision for Kathak with Rukhmani Mehta

Today on Movers & Shapers, we are joined by Rukhmani Mehta (previously Rina Mehta). Rukhmani is a choreographer, dancer, educator, Artistic Director of Leela Youth Dance Company, and the Co-Artistic Director of Leela Dance Collective, which brings together leading artists from around the world to advance a collective vision for kathak, a classical North Indian dance. In this episode, Rukhmani speaks about her love for creating community through dance and her deep interest in and curiosity for collaborative projects and processes. What stands out most is Rukhmani’s resounding passion for her work and art form, despite the struggles she has had along the way, as well as the thoughtfulness with which she has built her life in dance, from co-leadership of her company to teaching to creating the first-ever endowment to support kathak dance and music in the US and more. Tune in today for an inspiring conversation about the power of collaboration, community, and preserving culture!

Key Points From This Episode:

·       How Rukhmani started dancing and when she fell in love with kathak.

·       What she learned about the art form from kathak master, Pt. Chitresh Das.

·       The profoundly transformational experience that studying kathak afforded her.

·       How she learned to follow her heart and commit to starting a professional dance company.

·       Steps Rukhmani took to build a life in dance, including teaching and the Leela Foundation.

·       Audience development and creating a future for kathak as an educator.

·       Unpacking Rukhmani’s belief in the power of collaboration.

·       Where the name Leela comes from and how it speaks to spontaneous creativity.

·       Insight into Rukhmani’s love for creating communities of young women through dance.

·       The process of building Leela as a collective and how it was impacted by COVID.

·       Joys and challenges of a dance career and what you can look forward to from Leela!

·       The heartwarming story of why Rukhmani changed her name from Rina.

“My work is about being an artist and putting the art form out in the world but – it has also become about creating the infrastructure that the artists who are carrying these traditions forward need.” — Rukhmani Mehta

Rukhmani Mehta brings a singular voice and vision to the art form of kathak, a classical dance genre from North India; she is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of Leela Dance Collective. 

More on this episode: Movers & Shapers

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Today's guest is Molissa Fenley. Molissa has presented her choreography in NYC and throughout the world for the last 41 years, with recent performances at the 92nd Street Y (NYC), St. Mark's Church (NYC), and Mills College Art Museum (CA).  A Guggenheim Fellow with two Bessies for Choreography among her many accolades in the field, Molissa is currently a Professor of Dance at Mills College and on the faculty of NYU's Experimental Theater Wing. 

Today's guest is Namoi Goldberg Haas. Naomi is the founding Artistic Director of Dances For A Variable Population, a multi-generational dance company and educational organization which promotes strong and creative movement for adults of all ages and abilities, with a focus on seniors.

Today's guest is Stephanie Nerbak.  With a career that has spanned the country, Stephanie is currently a New Jersey-based dance artist, arts administrator, and founder of N-root Danceart, a contemporary performance company that fosters holistic creativity and radical curiosity. 

Today's guest is Janet Eilber.  Janet has been Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Dance Company since 2005. Her direction has focused on creating new forms of audience access to the Graham masterworks. Earlier in her career, as a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Janet worked closely with Martha Graham. She danced many of Graham’s greatest roles, had roles created for her by Graham, and was directed by Graham in most of the major roles of the repertoire. Apart from her work with Graham, Eilber has performed in films, on television and on Broadway directed by such greats as Agnes deMille and Bob Fosse and has received four Lester Horton Awards for her reconstruction and performance of seminal American modern dance. 

Today's guest is Pat Catterson.  Pat is a NYC-based choreographer, dancer, educator and writer, who has choreographed 111 dances but, although her biggest pleasure is still making her own dances, these days she is more known as a dancer and rehearsal assistant for Yvonne Rainer, as well as a custodian of Rainer’s early works.

Today's guest is Martha Eddy.  Martha is a Dance Artist-Scientist, expert in Social Somatics and author of Mindful Movement The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action.  She is best known for her lectures on and research in overcoming the side-effects to cancer treatment through dance and exercise, perceptual-motor development, and embodied peace-making and for developing her own system of Somatic Education entitled Dynamic Embodiment. Martha currently offers her curricula in the low-residency (intensive format) Masters programs at Montclair State University (greater NYC), University of North Carolina- Greensboro, and St Mary’s College (San Francisco Bay Area), as well as offering workshops in Europe and South America.

Today's guest is Lauren Grant.  Lauren has been a celebrated performer with the Mark Morris Dance Group for more than 20 years.  She stages Morris' work and teaches ballet and modern technique at schools, universities, and for dance companies worldwide. She has received a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" award for her career with Morris, and her dance writing has been published in numerous dance publications.

Today's guest is Douglas Dunn. Douglas has been dancing and making dances for fifty years. His lineage includes five years as a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and work with Yvonne Rainer leading to the founding and six-year career of Grand Union.  He formed Douglas Dunn + Dancers in 1978, and continues to work in collaboration with other artists to offer a multifaceted theatrical experience. Douglas has received countless awards and accolades for his work and teaching, and has a collection of published writings entitled "Dancer Out of Sight".

Today's guest is Dance Magazine's editor in chief Jennifer Stahl. A former senior editor of Pointe, she has also written for The Atlantic, Runner's World and other publications. With a background as a dancer with degrees in dance and journalism, she has served as a judge for the Capezio A.C.E. Awards, on the panel of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, as an adjudicator for the American College Dance Association, and was recently an invited speaker at the Women in Dance Leadership Conference.

Today's guest is Lois Greenfield.  World-renowned photographer Lois Greenfield has been photographing dance for over 40 years. Starting her career as a photojournalist, Lois worked for the Village Voice capturing the experimental dance scene from 1973 to the mid 90’s. She developed  a unique photographic style not based in capturing choreographed movements. Instead, Lois inspired the dancers to improvise expressly for the camera.  With her split second timing Lois revealed moments beneath the threshold of perception. Radically redefining the dance photography genre, Lois has influenced a generation of young photographers.

Continuing a Modern Dance Legacy with Samantha Géracht

There are many legends in modern dance that are responsible for making the art form what it is today. But how do we continue their legacy? Today we hear from one of the people responsible for continuing the legacy of Anna Sokolow, Samantha Géracht. Samantha is the artistic director at the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble and in this episode, she tells us all about her incredible career, the multitude of amazing dance practitioners she has learned from and worked with, the difference between a Sokolow dancer and a Sokolow director, the challenges she faces in continuing Anna’s legacy, and so much more! From ballet to modern dance, Samantha has experienced it all as student, performer, and teacher. You don’t want to miss this one so tune in now!

Key Points From This Episode:

·       Samantha tells us about her upbringing and what made her interested in dancing. 

·       What made her switch from ballet to modern dance and breaking the stigma about modern. 

·       Samantha shares her experience at the Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab and who taught her.

·       Samantha’s early marriage and family life. 

·       Joining the Sokolow company and the teaching jobs she had while she was a dancer. 

·       Becoming a Sokolow artistic director and how it differed from being a Sokolow dancer. 

·       The legacy that Anna Sokolow left and Samantha’s special Sokolow choreography. 

·       Samantha shares the biggest struggles and challenges throughout her career. 

·       The support system Samantha has to help her continue Anna’s legacy. 

·       Some of the highlights of Samantha’s career and what she’s working on now. 

·       Where she sees the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in the future.

“Being a dancer and a modernist in an era that’s not that interested in modernism is it’s own struggle…..[I’m] giving myself a voice and figuring out what it is I want to do with Anna’s legacy and what that means.” — Samantha Géracht

Samantha Géracht performed with Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for eleven years and is artistic director and a founding member of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble. Catch In the Eye of a Dream, November 9-19, 2023 @ Theaterlab

Show Notes on this Episode: Movers & Shapers

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Today's guest is Sara Rudner.  Sara is a movement addict eager to spread the experience.  In her remarkable dance career, Sara has participated extensively in the development and performance of Twyla Tharp's modern dance repertory; was a founder and director of the Sara Rudner Performance Ensemble: has produced marathon dances as well as short forms; and is the former director of Dance at Sarah Lawrence College where she continues to teach.

Today's guest is Inbal Oshman. Inbal is an Israel-based choreographer and dancer who creates dance for stage, public spaces, and screen, and finds inspiration in diverse mythical, historical, and cultural sources. She has been a resident choreographer at Kyoto Art Center (Japan), Attakkalari Dance Company (India), and Fest'Factory (Israel), with recent performances as part of the Peak Performances program at Montclair State University (New Jersey).  Special thanks to Peak Performances for arranging this podcast interview.

Today's guest is Valerie Green.  Valerie has been an active dancer, choreographer and teacher in the New York City dance community since 1995. She is the Artistic & Executive Director of Dance Entropy and Green Space Studio in Long Island City, Queens.

An interview with Heather Bryce.  Heather is a Brooklyn, NY based contemporary choreographer, artistic director of Bryce Dance Company, and Teaching Artist with a focus on collaboration and creating work with and for every body. Starting her company in Boston in 2006, Heather's work has been supported and presented across New England, the tri-state area, and beyond.

Today's guest is Tom Pearson.  Tom is the co-founder/co-artistic director of Third Rail Projects and the director of the Global Performance Studio, an international program for cultural listening and exchange.  He has received two New York Dance and Performance (BESSIE) Awards, and is best known for his movement-based theater works, including the long-running Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise.

Today's guest is Nai-Ni Chen.  A cross-cultural choreographer based in the NJ/NYC area, Nai-Ni brings the dynamic freedom of American modern dance together with the elegant splendor of Asian Art.  Nai-Ni Chen Dance company is one of the most visible Asian American dance companies in America with an extensive season of touring and performing around the world for the past 30 years.

Today's podcast is in partnership with the Women in Dance Leadership Conference that took place in January 2018 in NYC. Our first guest in this episode is Sandra Parks, the founder/director of the Women in Dance Leadership Conference. Sandra is also a choreographer, dance educator, film producer and editor, and advocate for female leadership.  Our second guest is Renee Chatelain, currently President/CEO of the Arts Council of Baton Rouge. She is also an attorney, former professional ballet dancer, teacher and speaker. Most recently, she was on faculty at the Ballet Festival of India in Mumbai and a speaker at the Women in Dance Leadership Conference at NYU.

Today's podcast is in partnership with the Women in Dance Leadership Conference that took place in January 2018 in NYC.  The first guest in this series is Blakeley White-McGuire.  Blakeley is a critically acclaimed award winning dance performer, maker, and teacher working at the intersection of movement and ecology.  She was a Principal Dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company from 2002-2017.

An interview with Karen Eliot, a former dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and now Professor in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University.  An expert in the areas of ballet, modern, and dance history, she has written two dance history books and co-edited a third with Melanie Bales, and is co-editor of Dance Chronicle: Studies in Dance and the Related Arts.

An interview with Wendy Perron, a former dancer/choreographer and former editor in chief of Dance Magazine, now a freelance writer who teaches a graduate seminar at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.  Wendy is author of "Through the Eyes of a Dancer" and during her 30-year career as a dance/choreographer danced with the Trisha Brown company in the 1970s and choreographed more than 40 works for her own group, alongside teaching at many colleges, universities, schools, and dance centers.

Translating Vision into Action with Alyssa Alpine

Whether it’s for communication, marketing, budgeting, scheduling, or meetings (and more!), we can attest to the level of detail, creativity, and make-it-happen-attitude required in the support to make dance happen! The role of the Arts Administration is dedicated to translating vision into action, and with great appreciation and admiration we introduce today’s guest, Alyssa Alpine. Alyssa, with her accompanying drive and passion, is the Founding Director of the CUNY Dance Initiative, a residency program for NYC choreographers on City University of New York (CUNY) college campuses. In our conversation with Alyssa today, we delve into the story of how her love for dance stems from both sides of her family and what has fueled her lifelong commitment. She takes us through her academic path and recounts the story of how she fell into a career as an Arts Administrator. Alyssa elaborates on the functioning of the CUNY Dance Initiative and highlights some of the challenges and peak moments she's encountered along her career journey. Tune in to this episode to hear more from Alyssa Alpine, a true master of wearing many hats (concurrently!) and doing them all successfully!

Key Points From This Episode:

·       We get to meet Alyssa and explore her passionate journey in the world of dance.

·       She talks about what got her started in dance and what made her stay

·       Alyssa's perspective on the Midwest and why she’d find it difficult to replicate her current life elsewhere. 

·       Hopping from one school program to another and figuring out the dance world. 

·       Alyssa recounts the dream and plan she had had coming out of undergrad. 

·       We hear about her time at Columbia and her academic path.

·       Her sentiments about living and working in New York.

·       Where she went after the Limon Foundation (and having had enough of the Arts world!)

·       She tells the tale of how she wound up at CUNY, managing the CUNY Dance Initiative. 

·       Her dance journey amidst working and what that looked like for Alyssa.

·       The strengths and skills she brings to her role as an Arts Administrator.

·       She elaborates on the inner functions (and systems) of the CUNY Dance Initiative.

·       She highlights some of the challenges she’s had to overcome throughout her career.

·       Alyssa shares some peak moments in her career journey. 

·       What Alyssa is energized for and currently looking forward to. 

“Dance is a special thing. I think it grabs some people and others, of course, are like, ‘I don’t want to move I just want to sit and watch!’ But I think for those of us, as you know yourself, it touches something in you and it is just very compelling and it’s something unique.” — Alyssa Alpine

Alyssa Alpine, the founding director of the CUNY Dance Initiative, has spent two decades in NYC’s performing arts world, with a career that’s spanned everything from rolling out marley to rolling down the steps of the NYC Public Library.

More on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

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An interview with Margie Gillis, Canada's modern dance legend. As an internationally acclaimed solo modern choreographer/dancer, Margie has been creating original works for over forty years.  

An interview with New York area based multi-disciplinary artist gwen charles.  gwen creates site-specific, collaborative live performances and choreographed actions for and with the camera using handcrafted wearable props & sculptures.  Her works have been viewed in international venues and video festivals in New York, USA, Germany, Slovenia, and Croatia, with artist residencies throughout the USA, Mexico, India, and Slovenia.

An interview with Sarah Weber-Gallo.  Sarah is a senior member of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Dance Director for Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, NJ, and Choreographer and Director of SarahWeberGallo/dancetheatre.

An interview with Diane Jacobowitz.  Diane is a professional choreographer, arts administrator and the Artistic and Executive Director of Dancewave - a Brooklyn-based dance education organization championing accessibility to all.

An interview with Laurie Berg. Laurie works in a variety of forms including dance, performance, collage, and jewelry, and is co-organizer of the dance event platform AUNTS along with Liliana Dirks-Goodman.  Look for AUNTS as it opens NYU's Skirball season on Friday, September 15 in an immersive dance party.

An interview with Ariel Grossman.  Named one of Jersey (New) Moves Emerging Choreographers, Ariel is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her all-female contemporary dance company, Ariel Rivka Dance. Look for Ariel Rivka Dance at NYLA in NYC from September 6-10, 2017.

A special interview with the members of the all-female dance company, The Moving Architects, which is led by Movers & Shapers podcast host/producer, Artistic Director Erin Carlisle Norton. Hear from Caitlin Bailey, Maggie Beutner, Rachel Gill, Jenny Gram, Léla Groom, and Ashley Peters about their lives as 20-something dancers living, dancing, and working in the New York City dance scene. 

An interview with Adam Barruch, a choreographer and performer based in Brooklyn, New York.  Adam currently sets new work on dance companies alongside creating work under his own company Anatomiae Occultii.

An interview with Donnell Oakley. Donnell is an independent choreographer, performer, and teacher based in Brooklyn, New York since 2001.   As a current dancer with Doug Elkins and member of the collaborative trio LMNO3, she is continually interested in the inherently collaborative nature of dance

An interview with Theresa Ruth Howard.  Theresa is a writer, dance educator, and former dancer for companies including Dance Theatre of Harlem, Armitage Gone! Dance, and works by Donald Byrd.  In 2015 she launched MoBBallet (Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet) that reinstates and preserves the contributions and stories of Black artists in the field of ballet through a digital platform.

The Independent Thinker, Liz Lerman

Liz is a choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, and speaker. For the past forty years, she has infused her artistic exploration with a personal touch, humor, intellectual vibrancy, and a contemporary edge. Her choreography has delved into a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from her experiences as a go-go dancer to an exploration of the intricacies of choreography and connections with community. Today, she shares with us insights into what ignited her love for dancing and reflects on the abundant influences that have affected both her life and artistic career. She talks about the importance and complexities of our feelings and how she rode the wild waves of her 20s to discover, for herself, what dance could mean for her. We hear about the impact of her mother’s life and death on her stubbornness to figure life out for herself, why rehearsals should always matter, and the unfolding of events that surround the founding of The Dance Exchange. She expresses and reflects on how she views herself as more of an interdisciplinary artist and her eagerness to be generous about spreading her wealth of knowledge. She then details her passion for the Critical Response Process (CRP) and how that was formed over the years. Join in as we delve into the chronicles of her life and her pursuit of understanding. Tune in now!

“One of my deep interests is the way we tell stories and what stories, and whose stories, and how they come across, and who’s listening, and all those kinds of questions.” – Liz Lerman

Key Points From This Episode:

·       Liz offers insight into where she comes from and what ignited her love for dancing.

·       A wild ride in her 20s: riding the waves of figuring out what dance could be for her. 

·       The impact of her mother’s life and death on her stubbornness to figure life out for herself.

·       How working intergenerationally moved and shifted her mindset.

·       The response she experienced when she started making work/performances.

·       Making rehearsals matter. 

·       More about the founding of The Dance Exchange. 

·       She goes into detail about how her different works unfolded uniquely.

·       Her thoughts on the nomadic life and being an ethical visitor. 

·       How she began to extract herself from The Dance Exchange: composting Liz. 

·       Reflections on how she views herself as more of an interdisciplinary artist. 

·       She talks about the Critical Response Process (CRP).

·       Liz delves further into her current projects and pursuits.

“There is so much pain and rudeness in the world of critique and what I have come to believe is that a lot of critique is just power. And if you actually want to – change the way power is absorbed and reignited in a different way in a circle then you should use CRP” — Liz Lerman

Liz Lerman uses dance to understand and change the world. Her relentless curiosity has transformed the field of contemporary dance with subject matter including aging, genetics, history, the ethics of justice, and the origins of the universe.

More on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

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An interview with Xan Burley.  Xan works in New York City as a performer, teacher, arts administrator, and choreographer in collaboration with her partner Alex Springer and has been a member of Doug Varone and Dancers since 2012.

An interview with Tami Stronach, a NYC-based choreographer, actor, teacher, and public speaker dedicated to unlocking the power of imagination.  Tami formed her dance company Tami Stronach Dance in 2000 and recently co-founded Paper Canoe Company to create family programming that utilizes movement, theater, puppetry, and object manipulation.

An interview with Hilary Easton.  Leader of her NYC-based dance company Hilary Easton + Company established in 1992, Hilary is also on the faculty at the Julliard School and director of their global K-12 dance programs for Julliard Global Ventures.