FAQ
Why does the company have a dual mission?
I have had a life-long commitment to both dance and working in the community. That is why I believe that my company's mission needs to be about artistic excellence and working to make our community a better place.
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Why dance and domestic violence?
This project brings the issues faced by domestic violence survivors together with the technical skills of our dancers. The dancers in our company have been rigorously trained and have learned to make physical choices and move with confidence. Their bodies are their vehicles for self-expression.
Victims of domestic violence have had the opposite experience: their actions and instincts have been restricted due to repeated abuse, and they have been stripped of the basic right to control their own lives. When working with domestic violence survivors, members of my company use specialized training and sensitization techniques to encourage these women to be physically free and, to break out of the physical and psychological restrictions that dictate their choices. This experience helps them to explore and control their choices and emotions in a safe environment, to break down barriers and to move forward toward healthy and safe futures. Our participants are encouraged to find a new voice through movement, which will empower them to rebuild their lives.
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Why do you as a choreographer want your all-female company to be so deeply involved with community work? What does this project do for the members of your company?
The Domestic Violence Project provides our dancers with new skills, credentials, and enhanced economic opportunities. It is important to bear in mind that in the contemporary dance community, women face increasing economic hardship and lack of parity with their male counterparts. In a field that was pioneered by such legends as Ruth St. Denis, Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham, women have lost ground. While this situation is beginning to be acknowledged, it is far from addressed. Talented, educated, sensitive and highly trained women dancers lack artistic fulfillment, good paid employment and basic respect. I think that the Domestic Violence Project rights some of those wrongs for members of my own company. My hope is that this program will expand into the field and that members of the dance community at large will commit themselves to working with survivors and their families.
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How does your community work relate to your artistic work? Are they separate or interconnected concerns?
I am often asked how our community work connects to my choreography. The answer lies in two fundamental concepts--process and collaboration. Additionally, I want to create a supportive and non-threatening atmosphere where participants are free to explore - and be in control of - their own movement choices and emotions.
All of my work in the studio and the community is driven by three actions: reflect, express and collaborate.
Reflect: I encourage dancers and workshop participants to think, reflect and be true to their own choices.
Express: My process often involves solving simple movement problems that bring the inside out, allowing participants to express their uniqueness through movement.
Collaborate: I encourage exchange, combination, sharing and compromise. I want the people I work with to be surprised at what they have been able to accomplish when working in collaboration with others.
It is amazing what evolves when women are given the tools and encouragement to create - whether they are young dancers in a field that lacks appreciation for their work - or survivors of domestic abuse in a shelter. Our work in the community has everything to do with what I believe in as an artist and as a woman.
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Are the sessions supervised?
Typically, Domestic Violence Project sessions are offered in conjunction with shelter support groups, under the supervision of a clinical social worker. Support groups are an important service to clients, providing a safe place for women to share their experiences and work together. Working under the supervision of the clinical staff with an established group ensures that the work done by the dance company will be well-integrated into the women's clinical recovery program.
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How are the dancers trained?
Intensive training and supervision is provided on an ongoing basis by experts in the field, most significantly by the clinical staff of Sanctuary for Families and Dr. Dan Laukitis, a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma. Dr. Laukitis provides ongoing guidance of the company's work through bi-weekly support groups for the Teaching Artists, information and advice regarding their work with domestic violence survivors.
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Why do you emphasize partnering?
I use intricate partnering to demonstrate that women can have a powerful and uncompromising way of relating. I am developing a concept of partnering called cooperative virtuosity in which the sheer strength of traditional partnering is replaced by complex maneuvers that require a shared purpose, intense cooperation and the creation of an alliance. I am interested in what a group can accomplish when working together selflessly.
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How has your worked changed?
Over the past several years, my work has become more physically dynamic and emotionally intense. I have become interested in investigating extremes - from still to ferocious, gentle to tumultuous, urgent to detached. Through the dancers I want the viewer to experience sensations familiar in their own bodies and limbs, the trepidation and elation of taking a risk, the intensity of emotion and feeling.
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Why do you work with an all-female company?
Contemporary dance was pioneered by women and I am proud to be part of that lineage. In the past few decades, women in dance have lost artistic and economic ground. In response to this devaluation of women in dance, I have worked with an all-female company since 1997. I select strong, self-possessed dancers who allow my work to pierce the barrier between mover and viewer. This structure encourages me to see each dancer as unique and to draw upon that information in my choreography.
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What are the challenges and benefits of working with an all-female group?
My current work is driven by a full exploration of the physical and emotional range of women and is framed by issues of identity and community. I use intricate partnering to demonstrate the powerful and uncompromising way that women can relate. I am developing a concept for partnering called cooperative virtuosity in which the sheer strength of traditional partnering is replaced by complex maneuvers that require a shared purpose, intense cooperation and the creation of an alliance. I am interested in what a group can accomplish when working together selflessly.
One of my chosen challenges in working with an all-female company is to present the dancers as strong individuals, each with a unique and interesting performance presence, yet clearly playing an important part within a cohesive group. I enjoy the challenging of finding the balance between the individual and group.
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What is your process?
Since 1992, most of my dances have been evening length projects that delve into a specific choreographic inquiry. These works start from a central question or premise that is fleshed out through a thorough, intricate creative process. This process requires the dancers to participate fully and to excavate their own relationship to the subject matter. Through collaboration, we discover what is common among us. I want our viewers to share these experiences as well.
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Why do you create evening length works?
I enjoy working slowly, allowing an idea to unfold over time - with jolts of speed and intensity thrown in from time to time to enliven the process. Choreographically, I like to see ideas that have been fully explored in ways that trigger thought or provoke reconsideration. I want the viewer to have time to experience, think about and feel what is happening on stage
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How has your work changed?
Over the past several years, my work has become more physically dynamic and emotionally intense. I have become interested in investigating extremes - from still to ferocious, gentle to tumultuous, urgent to detached. I want the viewer to experience through the dancers the sensations of their own bodies and limbs, the trepidation and elation of taking a risk, the intensity of life.
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