Meet the Dance Makers Interview

During peak pandemic times, a colleague, Ali Duffy, at Texas Tech University had one of her undergrad classes interview dance makers with specific missions in their work. I was honored to be one, and to have that interview now published in an Open Educational Resource text available from Raider Press. Check it out!

Preventing Harassment and Abuse in Dance Webinar Recording Now Available

Last month, Renee Redding-Jones and I, representing Intimacy Direction in Dance, joined a panel of dance educators, scientists, social workers, and mental health professionals on a panel for IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science) to discuss creating consent culture in dance.

IADMS has made the recording available, for free, for everyone. Watch it here.

2 Recent Podcast Appearances

In the past 2 weeks I’ve been on two podcasts-

Apolla Performance/Turning Point Creations’ “Beyond the Steps” talking about how, as dance educators, we can help students distinguish the difference between a boundary and a risk.

Audra Allen’s “Dance CEO Coach” talking about equity and professional development in dance.

Both of these are great resources for dance educators and dance entrepreneurs!

Power and Consent in Dance Writings from DanceGeist ezine

Sadly, DanceGeist ezine will be going away soon. DG was a great alternative to competition, commercial-based dance publications, with its focus on Somatics, disruption, and community. Unfortunately, that also means it was hard to sustain. But, I have been given access to all of my pieces from DG! I have link the power and consent series here, and the rest of the articles are all over on the Dance page, if you scroll to the bottom. Enjoy and share!

Urgency v. Efficiency

Clock-time is a colonial construct, followed to support capitalism. We know that is only a construct, and that time is much more spiraling than linear. And yet, we have agreed to live in society following this guideline.

As a teacher or leader, I can’t create more time, but I can shift how we feel about time.

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MFA Shower!

Last week on my TikTok, I stitched a video in which 2 women were discussing the fact that grown women really only get parties for things that make them define their identity in relationship to someone else- getting married and giving birth.

So, I decided I wanted an MFA shower. Not a graduation party. I want to all grown folks to have showers. I’m reclaiming that word for all of us to be showered in celebration and congratulations for the big life achievements that matter to each of us.

So, later this spring (after all theses shows wrap) I will have a shower (And that thesis was labor.). And I’ve created a little registry if folks want to help me celebrate.

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Accountability is Not Punishment

I’ve written before about accountability both here (as relates to local theatre) and here (as relates to being persons in community).

The following is an excerpt from the conclusion of my thesis, which holds that collaborative work requires accountability measures.

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I'm an MFA!

Finally, after a long road of graduate exploration beginning in 2016, I am excited to share I officially hold a Master (hate it) of Fine Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts with concentrations in both Decolonial Arts Praxis and Performance Creation Concentrations from Goddard College.

This wasn’t a journey I took alone. The following is my acknowledgements page from my thesis, Working Consent: Ethical Engagement with Collaborators, Audiences, and the Land in Dance and Theatre Pedagogy and Practice.

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Language in Dance Class, Pt. 2

Styres (2019) quotes Marie Battiste (2013), an Indigenous scholar focused on protecting and promoting Indigenous knowledge systems and education, “in order to effect change, educators must help students understand the Eurocentric assumptions of superiority within the context of history and to recognize the continued dominance of these assumptions in all forms of contemporary knowledge” [186] (33). So, in the ballet class, we examine the particularity of the ballet situation. Students’ first reading is a choice of An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet by Jean Kealinohomoku (2001) and a post from Marlo Fisken’s (2020) blog, A Letter to the Pole Community: It’s time we talk about toe-point supremacy. These two pieces clearly connect the dots of assumptions of supremacy culture—that Euro-centric is more valuable—to the prevalence and significance of ballet in Western dance training and on concert stages. Tuck and Yang (2012) write “The settler positions himself as both superior and normal;...” (6), and this is often what happens to ballet in dance studio settings—it is considered a baseline for other genres, rather than its own particular form, drawn from its own cultural context. In every class, students are encouraged to find the appropriate cultural context from which to consider their situation.

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Language in Dance Class

Yesterday, I reposted an article from Dance Magazine on my Facebook feed, speaking to the use of “my” in dance class, aka, “my dancers”, “my dance”, etc. It caused some good discussion there, so I thought I’d share what I’ve already explored on this topic. The following is an excerpt from my thesis on the ways I am examining language in dance class.

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The Other Side

We know, somewhere in our brains, when we see social media posts that we aren’t always getting the whole story. So, this post is my attempt to be transparent. To share the whole story, or at least another side of it. CW: depression, anxiety, negative self-talk, ED

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April 2022 News Stories about Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination

Bringing Consent to Ballet, One Intimacy Workshop at a Time. 13 April 2022. Laura Cappelle for the New York Times.

The Impact of Intimacy Direction on Educational Theatre. 14 April 2022. Kaila Roach for On Stage Blog.

Pt. 2 of Power Dynamics in Dance

Last month we defined how Power Dynamics show up in dance classes and dance rehearsals. This month, I offer some ways dance teachers and choreographers might mitigate those power dynamics to help create consent-based dance spaces!

Find it in the DanceGeist ezine!

The article will link to Part 1.

The full series is linked on the Consulting page, as this is a resource given all my clients.

Interview with Sunshine Arts

It is my honor to be part of the inaugural issue of Sunshine Arts, a newsletter by Amy Mahon, of South Florida artists and events!

I was interviewed about my dance teaching at the University of Miami in the time of COVID. I focus specifically on using technology in modern and jazz dance classes.

Check it out for free here.

Power Dynamics in Dance

I am thrilled to be writing a 3-part series for DanceGeist Magazine about Power Dynamics in Dance.

The first part was released earlier this week in the February issue. Read it here. Catch part 2 about disrupting and divesting from harmful patters in March. Part 3 in April will look at consent-based practices.

The ezine is free, but does require a subscription. Get yours here.

I talk. A lot. Sometimes people let me talk on their shows.

And this is one of those times!

Jimmy Chrismon, an intimacy direction colleague, hosts ThedTalks, a theatre education podcast. He interviewed me about intimacy direction and Momentum Stage. Check it out here: https://thedtalks.com/podcast/

I have a few more podcast appearances coming up. Stay tuned!

Creating a Pedagogy and Ethics of Teaching With(out) Touch

Momentum Stage has just launched a new course I wrote combining my training in intimacy choreography, the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System and my years as both an educator and creator of movement.

This is to offer teaching options for those who are either encouraged or mandated to not touch in teaching. This is not a class about touching student. It is a class to consider IF touch is necessary, HOW do we teach without it (or very little of it), and WHEN/IF it is necessary, to make very specific choices in our type of touch in order to be as effective as possible with that touch.

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