Christmas is a time of anticipation: For the kiddos, it’s the excitement of Santa’s impending arrival; for us older folk, it’s looking forward to time with family and friends and a bit of respite from the day-to-day. For Christians, the four weeks leading up to Christmas are held by Advent, an entire season devoted to … More The #MonthlyMessage: The Purposeful Practice of Patience
“Making Dance Now” is an occasional blog series profiling choreographers and small dance companies to explore the challenges and rewards of creating, producing, and presenting choreography in today’s culture and economy. It’s my hope that this series will spark a dialogue about the importance of dance-making today, and how we can better support choreographers! The first installment of the … More CaZO Dance: Making Dance Now
As dancers, we tend to love routines. Plie, tendu, degagge. Warm-up, progressions, combo. Pre-show rituals. Post-performance commemorations – mine was always a cheeseburger and Coke! Routines are necessary to our dance training and can make performances special. But in our daily lives, routines can easily become stifling. With my son rapidly approaching his first birthday, I … More The #Monthly Message: Find a Rhythm That Enhances Your Life, Not a Routine That Stifles It
Life with a mobile ten month old and a freelance dance career rarely slows down, but the last few weeks have been exceptionally whirlwind-esque. Just about a month ago, I learned that my grandmother had experienced a sudden illness. Within a few days my son and I were on a plane back home to the … More The #MonthlyMessage: Don’t be afraid of stillness
In January, I wrote about the challenges of starting a new piece of choreography for the new year. As sometimes happens with creative work, those plans fell through, but I am excited to have found another choreographic outlet. On March 17 and 18, Jonathan and I will present a revised version of our duet Improvisation No. … More An Update from the Choreography Studio
I am a sucker for new beginnings. Growing up, every September offered a desperately-welcomed chance to reinvent myself in the eyes of my peers. The start of summer dance intensives marked a time to renew my commitment to the art of ballet and the pursuit of it’s perfection. Seasonal changes continue to offer the chance to … More 2017
Teaching dance in a middle school was an adventure like no other. All of my research and years of experience teaching in other settings didn’t quite seem to prepare me for the challenges (and joys) of working with this population. While dance can have tremendous benefits for middle school students in K-12 schools, I found … More Using Collaboration to Engage Middle School Students in Dance
For most of my career I have avoided solo work. I hated doing my own choreography, largely because it made me feel too vulnerable. My dances are personal, and I have always loved having the choreographic process as an artistic outlet through which I can express secret desires, heartaches, and anxieties. However, I always relied … More Not Alone: Vulnerability and the Collaborative Solo
It’s 12:21 and I can’t sleep. This is unusual for me. I am, generally, a person who relishes an early bed time – perhaps to a fault. But it’s the time of year when the mundane aspects of my jobs – the grade entry and record updating and endless stream of emails – can no … More A Year of Yes
Back in May, I was sitting in my office at the University of Maryland College Park talking with my friend and fellow dancer Elizabeth Barton. We had recently finished our first choreographic collaboration, a piece called Altared that had premiered at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Eager to get to work on our next project, … More Choreography: The Arts of Bringing an Idea to Life
