Dance Making-Making a Dance

Dance begins with the body. The body is eminent in the dance, the inmost condition of the dance. So, when I work on a dance, I use my own body as a source. Listening to what it needs to do with the music the imagery, the message.  How does this movement connect to my core? The consistent refrain is “SAY IT”, with heartfelt meaning- the loss, joy, longing, and the humor.

I am also interested in the design, the structure and tools for making a dance have a cognitive message: the design of the body in space can change to catch a moment of change. What we do in the space changes the atmosphere and offers a new perspective-building curiosity.

In a simple way dance is deeply rooted in our existence, the movement of our breath, heartbeat, and expansiveness on earth.

While we are alive on this earth we resist and give into gravity. The duality is constant in dance making. The rise and fall action offer a wide range of possibilities. From infectious moments of ecstasy to deep sorrow the stories of life provide dynamics and surprises in a dance of our time.

A Dance Maker’s Thoughts

One: An Ode to Imagery

In the beginning there was a man with a hat string. He was sure his hat would fly off some day, so he made a hole in his hat and tied a long string in it and it dangled down the front of his body. When the wind blew, or he tripped, or was bumped from behind he grabbed the string to save his hat from falling to the ground. Making dances is my Hat String. My hat is my imagination, my safety helmet. I move from room to room putting things in their place, changing the places I put them, just to make the little changes. When I look at a table and see salt and peppershakers placed together like a happy couple, I feel safe. Then I can get to work. The unease in my gut quiets down. My hat with its string is on my head. An image arrives. I see it clearly in my mind and it stays until it is fully transferred to a body moving on stage with music and form that tells the best version of the image’s expanded life-it’s story. 

Two: An Ode to Language

Language comes from our body. It is powerful and beautiful.  It can be revelatory, and it can be challenging. Thinking is our best tool. Thinking is the source of action. Clear thinking gives us stability, a place from where we can begin to move forward, backward, in circles, high and low, east to west.  I strive to pour the language of dance into the vessel of the performance space to honor all living things.