Statement of Work

•

Dance is an ephemeral experience. The moment that is lived cannot be received and replicated in that setting, with that audience and background or emotions again, but the opportunity and the space can be given with open arms to allow audiences to perceive movement, vulnerability, and connection. As a choreographer and creator, I seek to create palpable empathic environments, relationships, and physical dialogue. I produce shows, create evening length work, and try to be a vulnerable and authentic choreographer presenting humans on stage. I strive to suck the audience into a world reminiscent of a child parachute, like the ones we used in gym class. Everyone would lift the parachute in the air at the same time and quickly rush underneath to sit on the edges of the fabric. This allows the air to not be able to escape but become trapped. It was a magical moment of gym class; we got to be hidden and engulfed in this snow globe like structure. These moments felt otherworldly and became a shared memory amongst the class even if we experienced differences internally. Creating this snow globe parachute feeling, I attempt to create space to allow dancers, audience and collaborators to feel a tangible atmosphere and to find personal investment in the moment. My process draws from human expression and experience in order to build connections, create phrases, and dynamics. In rehearsal, I hold space for conversation and ask for dancers to attach their own personal experience to the work. I share the moments in my life I am relating to and how my body remembers the memories. The movement seeks to carry a kinesthetic value, a shared movement language in which everyone can relate to and feel within their own bodies. The steps derive from a classical vocabulary, but I expand on it hoping to give it life and reflection. I bend forms and lines with curiosity to embody sentiment. I try to welcome the audience to experience movement as human. My wish is not for those who encounter my work to search for answers or narratives but to attach their own, allowing them to find themselves in technical movement where they might not have before. I want everyone to feel wrapped up in a world we have created like we did in second grade.