on dance - excepts from a grant i didn't get to submit...

ON DANCE: I am drawn to work that distills a global idea into a classical and poignant phase of abstract movement. I work from a place of reverence to the classical lines of our modern dance pioneers and forerunners, yet am charged by the way the physical twists of my own body alter those lines into distinctly human form. I attract passionate, precise and sometimes unconventional dancers who grab my attention with their inherent understanding of my need for specificity in shape and time. Our individual variances and sensitivities manifest in our physiology – these eccentricities fascinate me and I structure work to dig into the biology of each dancer.

My working style in general focuses on gut response to both trauma and celebration and the shaping of that response into action. Who are you and what is your gut telling you about yourself, about your artistry, about the world? Are you willing to make big changes? Are you willing to ask others to change? As apathy grows over a decade of our political, financial and social frustration, how can we continue to stimulate dialogue and articulate ways for our populations to see fresh perspectives? Living in a climate full of “talk,” particularly in campaign year, can artists help push the “ideas for change” into change itself? Through each project, dance ceres seeks to be ambassadors to the process of change, understanding how to welcome change and how to bring it safely, securely and succinctly into people’s lives via art. These renderings help me maintain a personal conviction and passionate belief that art builds unification by abstracting meaning through personal felt responses.

I invest in a community spirit that is rooted in the excellence of the form. My involvement in the community as a teacher fuels my commitment in supporting generations of articulate dancers and witnesses. I value highly educated and articulate choices and seek to direct from an intelligent and expressive space that assists my dancers in seeping up my physical intentions. Detail and clarity enable me to make movement that pushes an idea forward without reverting to cliché or current fads. By deciphering inner intension though choreographic technique, evocative and physically unique movement pulls intensity from my dancers to turn movement into either environment or action.

Dance ceres has undergone considerable growth in the two years. We toured three times to Southern California; completed two creative residencies and received great reviews from our 2007 home season. After five years of steady work, we are deepening as a committed company, building on the kind of instinctual knowledge and deeply felt ensemble that can only come from time together accomplishing a shared goal. My dancers have shown me the dedication that it takes to make something good into something spectacular. Our work has been revered by Allan Ulrich as “swift and irresistible.” He continued, “her Simultaneous Solos, earned its place through talent alone. Vibrating wrists seemed to unleash a contrapuntal exercise constructed with almost lapidary precision.” – VOD 7/06.

Over the past ten years, I have been making dances independently on both coasts. San Francisco has distinguished itself to be a highly charged and inspirational environment for my choreographic process, as I am challenged by Bay Area artists and audiences in a way that pushes me to take bold rsks. I am deeply committed to this community and am passionate about contributing in a deeply authentic voice.