I remember the way the chair felt and that feeling…. that feeling of seeing something that would change me. It was not just that the piece was excellent. It was that first-time sensation…. the first time when something on stage punched me in the guts…the first time I saw a show that depicted real people exploring everyday social issues not just making pretty shapes. I knew it was choreographed and practiced but, for me, it was happening in real time. It was everything that I could imagine and more. I was in high school and we were told to take notes but no notes could describe what I felt so my page was left empty.Read more
You are a dance style
with a name that sounds like destruction, but you only destroy obstacles and fears.
You are an art form contradicting limits and always inspiring to go for more.
I think I love you for many things. But I really appreciate that you always accept
me the way I am and push me to leave the comfort zone. Well, over the past 3 years,
that comfort zone never found me. And it is a gift.Read more
I think the major opinion about returning to work as a dancer after maternity leave is that we become less hireable and that our bodies change for the worse. A big question employers ask is “how will these mother/dancers ever manage a tour life with children”? I understand these worries and to say I never had them would be lying. But how are we supposed to overcome certain beliefs if we believe them ourselves?Read more
Dance, I need you to know you are my one and only, and
I will keep trying. If you could only see how much I love you, I know you’d love me back. I
want you to be devoted to me, like how I am devoted to you. I don’t want to be your side piece
anymore. I think I deserve more.Read more
As a parent, and as a choreographer, these are some of the hardest moments. They are situations that require creativity, calm, patience and endurance. It is not easy to prize someone free of a complaint spiral, sometimes it’s nearly impossible. But, for me and my child, being able to identify that we are in one is somehow useful. And knowing that there is an end to it, that it will eventually resolve, provides the encouragement I, at least, need to get through.Read more
It is impossible to divorce the emotional strain of bringing a child into the world from the physical effort. They are two sides of an intense, forty-week-long journey and they are both valid, legitimate and real elements of it. Doctors and healthcare providers need to broaden their approach to pregnancy and the care given to women needs a more holistic perspective on mind and body.Read more
The lack of language makes parenting small children a guessing game and an exercise in acknowledging physical cues. It’s a lot of trial and error, a lot of looking, listening, feeling, intuiting.
When, at a year and some, that channel of communication starts to open, it is exhilarating for all involved.Read more
In the same week, I attended performances of 2019 by Batsheva Dance Company and Shira Eviatar and Hadar Ahuvia’s Possessing. As an audience member, my reflections on these shows were influenced by the juxtaposition of the two in my mind. After all, audiences always bring the past experiences into the theater, superimposing what they haveRead more
On some molecular level, crossing the threshold into parenthood stripped away a few layers of my outer skin. I spent my twenties gearing myself up to face the world, pummeling through the subway system in New York City, bartending into the wee hours. I was an armadillo. Becoming a mom was like going through security at the airport. Metaphorically, I arrived with a hoodie and boots and came out the other side in socked feet and a tank top. Bare minimum.Read more
It stands to reason that, when observing artistic works, in this case dance works, we should consider the financial stakes at hand in their creation. Whereas one artist can create something that will provide food and rent for tens of families, another will make a work that will put them in debt. Is the financial gain a factor in the work that is made?
Are artists creating small-scale work with little to no financial gain to be had actually freer to say what they want than the big dogs?Read more