Of Collaboration: Two Perspectives: One Performance; Part 1

I first started collaborating with composer Bill Wolter in 2005, attempting to get out of the composer/choreographer dichotomy and into a place where we were using each other’s ideas and […]

SPEAK: Dance Artists on Dance

Leaving a recent Fullbright grant meeting, encouraged by the advisor’s response to my project idea, her parting words hit like bricks: “you just have to follow your dream.” I’ve been […]

BOOK REVIEW: The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practice in Dance Training

Twenty years ago dance was declared dead by more than a few New York dance critics who had watched both modern dance and ballet flower and, they believed, collapse. The […]

Longing: The Global Postmodern Poetics of David Roussève’s “Saudade”, Mar 2009

The same moment I discovered how much my body could be hated is the same moment my heart discovered how much I could be loved. This was a life that […]

Up, Up and Away: LEVYdance plans their home season in an alley

It’s a little strange that someone should apologize about being young, especially in the field of dance, but Ben Levy does. Barely 27, he not only runs his own dance […]

From the Inside: An Interview with Keith Hennessy on “Delinquent”

At the time this interview was written, Keith Hennessy and a cast of young performers aged 16-24, myself included, had begun work on a new project called Delinquent based loosely […]

Vision, Strength and Stamina: AXIS and Lily Cai celebrate 20 years, Nov 2008

The Bay Area dance scene could be characterized in any number of terms. “Experimental” and “rich” come to mind. In less flattering terms (and with no intent to offend), I’ve […]

Demystifying the Art of Presenting

As a presenter for nearly 30 years now, the question I get asked by artists, more than any other, is, “How do I get my work presented?” Sometimes it’s directed […]

First You Must Observe

Shortly after WWII, educators in Reggio Emilia, Italy came together determined to ensure that fascism would never again occur in their country. Hope for the future would lie in the […]

Dance Criticism; The Relationship Between Critics and Artists

This is an abbreviated version of an essay on the role of dance critics in the dance art world. It began as a course paper, and has grown over the past few months through conversations with choreographer Kegan Marling.