Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger – Marlena Wolfe is making it big and helping others make it too.

By Leigh Schanfein.

Marlena Wolfe is living the quintessential American dance dream.  She has performed the works of many of the last century’s notable choreographers, was a member of a popular and large dance company, was a featured dancer and then rehearsal director and repetiteur of that major dance company, choreographs for her own group of freelance dancers, is a master teacher and guest instructor, coordinates an international professional training program for pre-professional dancers, and continues to perform.  She seemingly uses every moment of every day to continue reaching for the working dancer’s goal, not only forging the tracks towards her own improvement but also contributing to the development of other artists.  She strives for something greater while navigating a seriously vigorous schedule full of rehearsal, education, performance, administration, and a social life to boot.   And, believe it or not, she has done all of this before the age of 30.

I’ve been impressed with Marlena since the day we met, and have discovered since then how determined she is as a person and as an artist.  It seems that we often expect high-level dance educators and administrators to have had years upon years of experience because professionals and students will glean from that by default.  Yet, Marlena turns that notion on its head as someone who can put her youth and current status in the professional dance world to exquisite use.  I asked Marlena to share some of her background, her decision to go to college, her experiences with choreographers such as Robert Battle (Founder of Battleworks Dance Company and current Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), and her current work as Coordinator of the two-year Certificate Program at Peridance Capezio Center, an international dance hub in New York City.

You were a member of Robert Battle’s Battleworks.  What was it like to work with Robert?

I joined Robert’s company in 2007. To work with Robert was a blessing. Robert had many muses, his foremost being Erika Pujic who was with him for 20 plus years. However, I was honored and privileged to be the creative tool in seven critically acclaimed ballets that he created during my four-year stint with the company. The first ballet was a solo he created on me called Ella.  In this process, I immediately learned of Robert’s sensitivity to the individual and humanity. Any dancer he intimately works with in the creative process is a muse; he cares about the dancer as well as the person within the dancer. Robert told me after the process of creating the solo that after he first met me, he knew I was a person capable of multi-tasking, doing 1000 plus things at once. That I was a dancer who liked to move fast, relishing in the challenge, always wanting to take the risk, was a perfectionist, caring for and desiring to fulfill Robert’s choreographic vision, and overall believed in his work … most of these characteristics describe every dancer who ever danced with Battleworks and for Robert. Don’t be mistaken, with all the work created, Robert maintained a sense of humor that never failed to bring about that laughter with the tears, belly ache, and that overall, cannot contain yourself feeling. That was always one of my favorite parts when working with him!

How did you transition into serving as Robert’s rehearsal assistant?

The transition was a quick one! My first project with Robert was at The Juilliard School where I assisted him on creating a 33-minute ballet called No Longer Silent. For the process, I spent five months with him and he would translate choreography to me, from movement to staging, imagery, etc. The cast was large, 18 dancers in total. He would literally translate each dancer’s part, sometimes two-three minutes worth of choreography. I would do the movement for him and scribe the staging for when I went into the next meeting with him or once rehearsals started, for the next rehearsal. He wouldn’t come in for the first hour of the rehearsal with the dancers and I would set the choreography he had set the week before with me. You can imagine my nervousness with so much trust and faith put into my abilities to assist him in this way and in consideration of the importance of this project to his choreographic voice. I hadn’t been with him more than five months when I took this project on. He taught me so much that I couldn’t begin to explain how valuable that experience was, as I believe it led to where I am at now in my career. He was one of my greatest mentors and I continue to learn from my experiences I had with him.

You recently began working with choreographer Camille A. Brown.  Tell us about it.

Camille hired me into Camille A. Brown & Dancers in February 2012, so I have only been with her for a little over two months. Working with Camille has been invigorating; her work is her own and Robert’s work is his own, but in my bold opinion the two are cut from the same cloth when it comes to being curious about humanity, which fulfills me as an artist. Robert helped me find security in my voice and Camille has given me the opportunity to reinvent, continue to explore, and grow within that voice. This is the continuous and endless cycle of the evolution of an artist, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be given the opportunity to continue on this path with Camille. As far as being indulgent in my dancer-self, her explosive and physically demanding movement as well as her innate musicality is satisfying.

Marlena with her sisters

Tell me about growing up and dancing in Ohio.

I grew up in a small town called Champion. My Dad had a dairy farm with my grandfather, which was great-grandfather’s in the early 1900′s. We had over 300 cows, which I treated as my pets. I was a country girl. I was dramatic at a very young age and my sisters would call me Queenie. When I wasn’t playing at the farm or swimming in our swimming pool, I was creating plays and shows in my basement; anyone home had to attend. I would hire my willing neighborhood friend to participate and would direct her. Mostly, I trained at a competitive dance studio, Studio L Dance Centre, for 15 years before I went to Marymount Manhattan College. My sister, Amanda, was one of my teachers there and it’s from her that I cultured my work ethic. She challenged and encouraged me as she saw me develop and knew that I had potential to seek a professional career. She believed in me and will always be one of my greatest teachers alongside my teachers before her, Linda Poniewasz and Tracie Lenox.

You are still an active performer, but in 2011 you took the position of Certificate Program Coordinator at Peridance Capezio Center, working with pre-professionals in a collegiate-type program.  What led you to take this job?

I have always had the need to teach. I had always dreamed of being more than a teacher in the studio. I thrive on connecting with students, being on their level and helping them find their way through the haze that exists between themselves and their ultimate goals as aspiring artists. I have always had an open mind and heart. I do my absolute best to stray from what’s typical and uncover what’s unique when offering advice to students. I wanted to instill my sense of practical, yet holistic training, so that the students don’t get caught up in academia and are truly prepared to be artists in the real world. Igal Perry, the Program’s Director, has had this vision. With his grace, he’s allowed me to share in this vision and make it a reality. I am a nurturer, but I also have a firm hand. I believe in professionalism to the utmost. Professionalism is about respect. Respect is about honor. Honoring our art as dancers is the only way to truly be fulfilled, successful, and have our voices be heard.

Top photo: Marlena Wolfe, by Jaqlin Medlock

Published by Dance Informa digital dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events for the professional dancer, dance teacher and dance students.

By Emily Yewell Volin.

The Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is a prestigious annual ballet competition dedicated to student dancers ages 9-19, attracting approximately 5,000 competitors to its twelve US regional and four international competitions.  Of the 2012 competing dancers, 300 students from 26 countries advanced to the finals.  Dance Informa spoke with YAGP founder Larissa Saveliev just before the annual finals, which convened from April 22-26 in New York.  She shared that “more than ½ of the finalists leave NY with some sort of scholarship to pursue their dance education further.”

The Youth America Grand Prix has been receiving some deserved attention thanks to the award-winning ballet documentary First Position scheduled to come to cinemas in May 2012.  The documentary follows six young dancers as they balance the physical and emotional demands of competing in the Youth America Grand Prix with the similar inherent demands of adolescence.  As the movie suggest, the process is riveting and demanding.  Dancers competing in the YAGP are adjudicated on two performances; a classical piece selected from an approved list of repertoire, and an open piece intended to allow opportunity for the dancers to show themselves in a different style of dance. Some opt to forgo pointe shoes in favor of showcasing themselves in a modern piece while others select new classical choreography to showcase their performance range.  Saveliev explains, “right now you cannot find a company in the world who only does Swan Lake.  We try to prepare them for a future career and try to guide them in how to find a job and how to find scholarships.  You have to be versatile. It is an extremely important point we try to teach them.”

Friedemann Vogel & Alicia Amatriain of Stuttgart Ballet perform at YAGP Gala 2012. Photo by Liza Voll

The YAGP is unique in its service to the youngest set of student ballet dancers and the rewards of competing last a lifetime.  Scholarships pair promising young dancers with premier training and have resulted in an impressive list of alumni.  Former YAGP award-winning dancers are performing in companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Royal Ballet, The Hamburg Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet and others.  Saveliev praises the integral YAGP networking opportunities for helping dancers find their career paths.  And, for the 9-12 year old dancers who are typically too young to leave the country or commit to professional dance, Larissa says YAGP provides them “goals so they can work towards something and tries to educate them about what’s gong on in the world of ballet right now.”  She adds, “We look at ourselves as a membership club.  If you compete once, you become a member for a lifetime.  Any service you need, you get it for the rest of your life.  We’ll be there to help them.”

Larissa has been true to these goals since she and Gennadi Saveliev founded the 501c(3) YAGP organization in 1999.  She is a former dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet who desired an “outlet to learn and get guidance as a teacher” after moving to NY in 1995. Competitions were very popular in Russia.  “You learn so much by seeing it. Teachers watch and see what other teachers are doing,” says Saveliev.   In the 1990s there was nothing in the United States that paralleled the Russian Competitions.  “That’s what gave me the idea to come up with something that would serve this need”, she expands. “We started very small and we worked very, very hard.”

Ballerina Assoluta, Natalia Makarova in honored by YAGP. Photo by Liza Voll

In honor of teaching and inspiring young and old, teacher and student, the YAGP competition includes feature performances.  This year the YAGP presented a tribute event honoring Ballerina Assoluta, Natalia Makarova. The performance celebrated Ms. Makarova’s contribution to the world of ballet by presenting some of her most memorable roles performed by today’s leading dancers, including performers from Stuttgart Ballet, NYCB, ABT, San Francisco Ballet, The Royal Ballet and more. Saveliev adds, “(Makarova) designed the program herself. It had a lot of archival video footage that had never been seen before and she told us about it and talked about her life and the choreographers she worked with.”

The YAGP’s focus on serving young dancers also extends to its historically sold-out culminating Gala performance.  Performed in the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, and heralded as “The highlight of the season” by Clive Barnes of the New York Post, the gala brings future stars and established stars of today onto the same stage.  “We try to bring all different kinds of choreography and styles to the Gala performance”, says Saveliev.  This year’s event was chaired by American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe, Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied and prima ballerina Susan Jaffe.  The performance was highlighted with world choreographic premiers by Dresden Ballet’s Jiří Bubenĺček, with an original score by Karen LeFrak, ABT’s Marcelo Gomes, with an original score by Ian Ng, and NYCB’s Justin Peck.  This program featured YAGP alumni who currently perform with over 50 international ballet companies. The opportunity for selected 2012 competition finalists (the stars of tomorrow) to share a concert with current premier dancers from around the world (the stars of today) is awe inspiring.

The Youth America Grand Prix is a crucial coming together of the ballet community – YAGP competitors, alumni, teachers, choreographers, composers, dance legends, enthusiasts, and the attending public.

For more information visit www.yagp.org

Top photo: Grand Defile, photo by Liza Voll

Published by Dance Informa digital dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events for the professional dancer, dance teacher and dance students.

By Rebecca Martin.

Dancer Stephanie Williams has gone from strength to strength since leaving The Australian Ballet in 2011 and joining Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam for six months before settling into her new home of New York where she is one of American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) newest recruits.

Since commencing her ballet training at the age of 8 with the Marie Walton-Mahon Dance Academy in Newcastle, Australia, Stephanie has been a dancer to watch. Moving to Melbourne as a teenager to train at The Australian Ballet School, she received the Gold Medal at the 10th Asian Pacific International Ballet Competition in Tokyo, graduated at the top of her class, and performed the dual role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. In 2007, Stephanie joined The Australian Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member before being promoted to Coryphee the following year. While with The Australian Ballet, Stephanie performed many Soloist and Principal roles and was a guest artist with Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses, again performing Principal roles.

In the lead up to the world premiere of Ratmansky’s Firebird in California, Stephanie found time to speak with Dance Informa about life since leaving Australia…

You’ve done quite a bit of travelling lately, having gone from The Australian Ballet to Het Nationale Ballet in Europe, and now with American Ballet Theatre in New York. How are you managing so far away from friends and family?

The past year has been a whirlwind of travel, exploration and life change. At times it’s been wonderful and exciting and at other times scary and daunting, but all part of an incredible journey that has given me a fresh perspective on life and dance. The beautiful people that have come into my life have had a huge impact on me and they have helped me with the major changes that come with moving to the other side of the world. I have to say I am extraordinarily fortunate to have the most beautiful, supportive family whose love and belief in me has never wavered, even when I’ve felt lost at times. And although I miss them terribly, I am in an extremely positive, motivating, passionate and inspiring environment every day at ABT. This fills me with a sense of happiness and allows me artistic fulfillment, of which I couldn’t have ever imagined and appreciate so much. And thank goodness for Skype!!

Stephanie Williams of American Ballet Theatre. Photo James Hooper

Any interesting cultural differences you’ve come across?

New York is incredible in that I feel like it’s so open to different styles and foods and that’s why it’s so exciting because there is always something new and interesting to try and seek out. I’m not a good sleeper so the fact that I live in ‘The city that never sleeps’ works perfectly for me!

Amsterdam is like no other place, with canals and bikes everywhere you look. I used to love seeing an entire family on a bicycle – the mum riding with the two kids on the front, baby in arms, perhaps an umbrella and mobile phone in hand and some groceries hanging off the handle for good measure. All executed without a care in the world! And then parked amongst another hundred bicycles so the street looks like a twisted metal junkyard! What a truly amazing sight and the epitome of Amsterdam.

Is living in New York and dancing in one of the world’s best companies a dream come true?

I have to admit I do pinch myself most days. I have found a happiness and an appreciation for what I am fortunate enough to do every day. Living in New York is incredible. It is a city to get totally lost in, to explore and to dream. American Ballet Theatre is a very special organisation and to be a part of it is very humbling and inspiring. But over the course of the last 15 months I have grown up a lot (as stereotypical as that sounds). I have found such beauty in people, places, dance and life and to be able to recognise and appreciate it. That, to me, is the dream I have journeyed to.

What shows do you have coming up with ABT?

At the moment I am in Costa Mesa preparing for our triple bill which consists of Merce Cunninghams’ Duets, Christopher Wheeldons’ 13 Diversions and the world premiere of Ratmanskys’ new Firebird. I will be dancing in 13 Diversions and Firebird which I am really excited about! Being involved in the creation of Firebird has been incredible and inspiring each and every day. Working with Ratmansky and seeing this ballet come together has been amazing and I’m so excited about the premiere this week!

Top photo: Stephanie Williams dances in La Bayadère with American Ballet Theatre. Photo Gene Schiavone.

Published by Dance Informa digital dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events for the professional dancer, dance teacher and dance student.

From “Baby Ballerina” with Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Broadway and musical theatre star, to master teacher and choreographer, Theara Ward is an industry powerhouse across many fields. In February 1982 People Magazine reported: “Theara Ward, 17, has a leg up—way up—on becoming the ballet world’s next Judith Jamison. At 120 pounds and 5’9″ (over six feet en pointe), the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s fastest-rising star is dazzling audiences from the White House to Covent Garden with her sensitive interpretations and remarkable flexibility.” And since then Theara has not stopped inspiring audiences and dance students, even creating her own one woman show “From The Heart Of A Sistah” which is a journey through life in poetry with music.

Over coffee in a New York café, Dance Informa’s Deborah Searle found herself inspired by Theara’s dedication to her art form and her beliefs.

Theara Ward with dancers Cubie Burke, Tyrone Brooks & Donald Williams in “Fancy Free" by Jerome Robbins for Dance Theatre of Harlem. Photo by Linda Rich, Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives

What inspires you to dance?

I think about what God’s done in my life, where I’ve been, what I’ve been through and what I’m going through. I have to express my thanks and that’s one of the ways that I express it, through dance and sometimes I sing. He gave me these different forms of expressions to use and the best thing for me to do is express them.

What inspires you to teach others to dance?

Well, I’ve been on such a journey with dance. I started dance because I loved it. I started taking lessons when I was eight and doing the ballet thing – I wanted to be a ballerina. To dream about being a ballerina as an African American in the 70’s was almost unheard of. And I wanted to dance at the Bolshoi and I wanted to study in Europe. And I did get to dance at the Kremlin and the Kirov which made history. And then I also had the opportunity to dance in Europe and study ballet there. I started my musical theater career there. Then I came back to the States and started using dance to tell stories in musical theatre. So what inspires me to teach others to dance? I take from those different seasons of my life and how they have formed my life, and formed my language of communication through dance. I see others and I want to give it to them. I want them to know that you can express yourself in this way. For some people to dance is a way of healing, for some it’s not. I’m learning that dance can even heal relationships, so I look at it also as a tool to help people.

Theara Ward performs an excerpt from One Woman Show, "Color, My Blackness" at YTI Benefit, Yonkers, NY. Photo by Donna Davis

Tell us about your story.

Well that’s why you need to come see my one woman show, From The Heart Of A Sistah!

I’m going to work backwards from where I started my career for the Dance Theatre of Harlem as a “Baby Ballerina” when I was thirteen years old. My father was not very happy with that decision but if I had stayed in Maryland where I grew up I would have either been pregnant or a drug dealer, because I had that kind of mind that was just very creative and mischievous. Then I got bored with that and decided I was going to be a model, and went to Europe and did the whole modeling thing there. I then heard about Cats in Paris and I happened to be in Paris. So I got to use my voice lessons and audition for Cats in Paris, and I got it. What I didn’t know was that the producers for Cats in Paris were also the producers for Black and Blue on Broadway. They said “if you can learn how to tap in the nine months that you’re going to be away, maybe you’ll have a job on Broadway”. So I worked my little touche off.

Had you done tap before?

Not really, so I was in intense training. Even when I did the show I still really didn’t know how to do the kind of tap that was required for it. So I took tap three or four times a week, whenever I could get to a tap class. From there I ended up in Black and Blue and eventually ended up being featured in Black and Blue, which was a big deal. I started doing musical theater and did so many different shows. Then I started focusing on straight theater because I really enjoyed story telling. When I got Ragtime in Los Angeles God started to deal with me about coming away from the entertainment industry, so I stepped away for a season. A couple of years later I heard “you have to go back”, and I was like “go back for what?” Recently in the last two to three years I’ve started realising that God wanted me back in the industry to help people. And while I was making the transition I learned how to teach and I realized that that too is a gift that I have.

Theara presents "That Name", choreographed by Freddie Moore at New Psalmist Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD. Photo by Brian L. Hunter

What would your career highlights be?

Do I have to say one because I’ve had different seasons? Being on Broadway was a dream come true. That was pretty major. I didn’t realize how special the timing of it was because there were a lot of old timers still alive that were innovators of jazz and tap. I used to watch video clips with Dianne Walker – “Lady Di”. She taught me the history and everybody that was a part of that show was linked to a person who was significant in the development of jazz and tap in America. I was coached by Linda Hopkins on singing the Blues. Grady Tate coached me, the great drummer. I didn’t realise just how blessed I was. Clark Terry came to one of the shows and said “Who’s that?” and he was asking about me. So that was definitely a phenomenal thing. My season with Dance Theatre of Harlem was very significant because I got to see the world. By the time I got to Black and Blue I had been to five of the seven continents. I was with Dance Theatre of Harlem for eleven years.

What advice would you give to the next generation of dancers?

I’m going to go back to a Q & A session that I heard with Judith Jamison. She was just about to step down as the artistic director for the Alvin Ailey. Miss Jamison kept saying the young people are so talented and have so much technique but they have no imagination. Miss Jamison was just saying that it’s important to take time to be creative. Take fifteen minutes of your day and get used to being silent, no iPod, no music, just silent. I’ve taken that advice and I feel that it revitalises me and builds my creativity. I would say the most important thing is to be true to who you are. It’s really easy to get sucked into mass culture. When you find really who you are, it’s very powerful. When you do things that line up with the design for your life, that’s powerful. Then you figure out what is it that you want to say with the body of work that you have – it’s your identifiable persona.

Catch Theara Ward at Project Dance New York, this April 20 -22. For more information visit www.projectdance.com

Top photo: Theara J Ward by Tony Smith, Chicago IL

Published by Dance Informa digital dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events for the professional dancer, dance teacher and dance students.

By Tara Sheena

Sarah Konner and Austin Selden are a collaborative force in the vast world of emerging choreographers in NYC. Part satire, part comic strip, part emotional roller coaster, witnessing their sophisticated body of work hardly makes me believe they are “emerging” in any sense. However, their upcoming debut NYC evening-length performance technically puts them in this category. Presented by Brooklyn-based Triskelion Arts, their premiere performances will showcase individual works from both Konner and Selden, as well as a special collaboration with alex|xan: the Median Movement (www.themedianmovement.com).

Though this is the first time they have presented their work in an evening-length capacity in NYC, they are no strangers to full-scale works of this sort. At the University of Michigan, where they met and cultivated their early collaborations, they were choreographing and performing their own work constantly. After graduating in 2010, they both made the move to Philadelphia, where they had a hard time finding “the correct venue” to showcase their work, as Selden puts it. After a stint at the Berkshire Fringe Festival this past summer, NYC seemed like the natural next step.

“NYC is NYC, and more opportunities were presenting themselves [here]. This is where most of our established group of fellow dancers and collaborators live,” Selden explains. “Trying out Philadelphia was definitely a great stepping stone and learning experience for us, but we are looking forward to [presenting our work] in NYC.”

NYC has brought its share of successes and challenges for Konner and Selden. Because of the number of talented dancers in the city, they were able to step away from their usual duet-based format and create two new group pieces for this show. “The goal is to be able to work together, but also have the opportunity to push ourselves individually in our own work,” Selden says. “It’s important to remind ourselves that the gambling is what creating new work is about. We need to push ourselves, push each other, and push the audience.”

Aside from new creative opportunities, the partnership sees their collaborative efforts in a positive light when it comes to handling the logistics of a show. Selden explains, “A huge bonus to creating and presenting work together, is the practicality of sharing the load- two people doing one job.  The logistics can be managed and separated to suit the stronger traits of either one of us.” The two artists can both agree that knowing each others’ strengths is an advantageous part of working so closely; another reason why I hardly find them to be emerging artists in any sense. Their maturity and practicality has taken them far in their short careers, and will undoubtedly have this pair emerge into pro status in no time.

Catch Konner Selden Dance this month at Triskelion Arts, February 24-26 at 8pm. More information can be found at www.triskelionarts.org

Photo: Wen Chun Liu

By Stephanie Wolf.

Divided by so much distance, it’s easy for American dance communities to disconnect with one another and forget that there is stimulating dance happening all over the nation. My professional dance career took me from the East Coast, to the West Coast, and in between, where I encountered a spectrum of incredible dance. Here are 5 American choreographers making artistic waves across the US.

Emery LeCrone's "With Thoughtful Lightness" by dancers Gabrielle Lamb & Thomas Forster. Photo Matt Murphy

Emery LeCrone
New York City, NY

At only 24, Emery LeCrone already has several major choreographic commissions. She grew up taking dance with her two older sisters and joined North Carolina Dance Theater after graduating from North Carolina School of the Arts in 2005. NCDT exposed Emery to the dynamic work of William Forsythe, Alonzo King, and Dwight Rhoden, which would eventually influence her own choreography.

For Emery, choreographing is “an ever-evolving process.” She attributes her movement vocabulary to her classical roots, improvisation, and contemporary notions, incorporating “lots of spirals and interesting use of space”. Every ballet has its own process, affected by a number of variables such as music or allotted time.

What’s on the horizon for Emery? In 2012, Emery joins Andrea Miller and Shen Wei, as fellows for the New York City Center’s inaugural choreographic residency. City Center gives each talent 200 hours of free rehearsal space and the chance to show work in the 2012 Fall for Dance Festival. She will also continue to serve as the resident choreographer for NYC based New Chamber Ballet and Columbia Ballet Collaborative. In March, Colorado Ballet premieres her new ballet Archetypes.

Video Gallery

Divergence, created for the Oregon Ballet Theater, premiered on April 22, 2010

Penelope Freeh presents "Pilgrim". Photo Sean Smuda

Penelope Freeh
Minneapolis, MN

After performing in NYC, Penelope Freeh moved to Minneapolis in 1994 to join the James Sewell Ballet. She had a gut feeling she would connect with James’s work, but had no idea Minneapolis would become ‘home’ and lead her to a new passion … creating movement.

Her first choreographic opportunity came in 1999. A friend was presenting work in the Minnesota Fringe Festival and had extra time on her program; she offered the space to Penelope. Despite no prior choreographic experience or inclination, Penelope accepted. “It was such a no brainer … to say ‘no’ would have been stupid.” The moment was a revelation. “I [felt] like I unlocked some big life secret … It was really exciting!”

She describes her movement as “theatrical and poetic,” yet “athletic”. With no set choreographic process, Penelope strives to let movement evolve organically, avoiding the “predictable” and allowing it to “unlock and open”.

Already, 2012 looks to be a big year. In January, she’ll present two pieces at Minneapolis’s Red Eye Theater and a piece commissioned for the St. Paul Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Next fall, she’ll collaborate with a local composer and NYC choreographer Patrick Corbin for a production at the Southern Theater. Additionally, Penelope will choreograph Wonderful Town for the Skylark Opera.

With each ballet, Penelope finds new depth. “I could [choreograph] for the rest of my life and it would make me really happy”, she says.

Video Gallery

Simple Folk , premiered on the James Sewell Ballet in February 2009 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis
Dancers Featured: Nicolas Lincoln, Sally Rousse, Chris Hannon, and Stephanie Wolf

Brian Enos working with dancers in the studio. Photo courtesy of Mystic Ballet, Photo by Glenn Goettler

Brian Enos
Chicago, IL

The transition from dancer to choreographer wasn’t difficult for Brian Enos. After performing with the Houston Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, he was ready for the next phase in his life. “I’ve never been the kind of person who has to be onstage … I enjoy working in the studio”,  he explains.

Brian discovered a knack for choreographing while attending the Houston Ballet Academy. The academy’s summer intensive gave him a chance to create and exposed his raw talent to artistic director Ben Stevenson. Impressed by what he saw, Ben asked Brian to choreograph on the professional company – at the time, Brian was only 18 and still a student in the academy.

It’s impossible for Brian to describe his work and process in a few select words. “I haven’t thought of my pieces as a body of work [because] each is so individual”. He says the music and his dancers inform his choreography. “Usually, I spend the first [rehearsal] playing around with material, getting to know the dancers … to see how they work and move”.

His next project takes him South, to work with the Nashville Ballet. Now that he is no longer performing, Brian looks forward to exploring choreographic opportunities and further developing his artistic voice.

Video Gallery

Three, created for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Featured Dancers: Shannon Alvis, Jamy Meek, and Ana Lopez

Catherine Cabeen and Karena Birk. Photo Tim Summers

Catherine Cabeen
Seattle, WA

As a child, Catherine Cabeen made dances in her backyard, but her true choreographic voice emerged while she was performing in NYC with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Along with several other BTJ/AZ dancers, she showed work at small festivals, allowing choreography to be an outlet for emotions she could not express openly as a dancer.

Catherine describes her style as “aggressive, classically informed and therefore iconoclastic …” She likes dance to inhibit space and assimilates the sensation of choreographing or dancing as “trying to feel the wind in my hair …” Her work is a collaboration with not only her dancers, but with “interdisciplinary artists” as well.

Currently, CCC’s roster has six diverse dancers. In 2013, CCC will premiere a “large-scale work” in Seattle. Simultaneously, Catherine will create a new repertory show to be performed locally and nationally.

Video Gallery

A montage of Catherine Cabeen and Company repertoire
Dancers Featured: Catherine Cabeen, Michael Cepress, Bo Choi, Echo Gustafson, Sarah Lustbader, Kane Mathis, Julian Martlew, Jay McAleer, and Connie Yun

Amy Siewert choreography. Dancers Katherine Wells & Brandon Freeman. Photo David DeSilva

Amy Siewert
San Francisco, CA

San Francisco choreographer Amy Siewert has been creating dances since high school. “I made my first piece when I was 16 [as part of Cincinnati’s School of Creative and Performing Arts curriculum]… it’s something I grew up doing,” she explains.

From Ohio, Amy ventured west to dance with the Sacramento Ballet and San Francisco’s Smuin Ballet. She received her first big commission in 1999 for the Carolina Ballet. From there, her choreographic resume developed in conjunction with her performing career.

Amy credits her classical upbringing for the backbone of her movement and harbors no intentions to ever detach herself from it. “I am fascinated with classical technique … I like to take [the basics] and split them open … I follow the physics [of movement], the way ballet follows physics, but try to use it in a way traditional ballet doesn’t.”

Now, Amy is the resident choreographer for Smuin Ballet and has several exciting premieres to look forward to. This spring, she’ll choreograph for the Colorado Ballet. She’ll also create a collaborative work for BalletMet, featuring software artist Frieder Weiss. Her busy spring concludes with a premiere on Oakland Ballet. Amy also choreographs on her own contemporary ballet troupe Imagery.

Video Gallery

Dear Miss Cline, premiered on the Smuin Ballet in May 2011 at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
Dancers Featured: Terez Dean, Jonathan Dumar, Jared Hunt, Shannon Hurlbert, Jane Rehm, Susan Roemer, John Speed Orr, Christian Squires, Erin Yarbrough-Stewart

Requiem, premiered on the Smuin Ballet in May 2011 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco – the ballet was created in memory of the late Michael Smuin
Dancers Featured: Travis Walker, Susan Roemer, Erin Yarbrough-Stewart, and Jonathan Powell

Top photo: Choreography by Amy Siewert. Dancers Katherine Wells and Ben Needham Wood. Photo by David DeSilva

By Leigh Schanfein.

San Francisco-based Dandelion Dancetheater is a dance company that is doing something different.  Founded in 1996 by Eric Kupers and Kimiko Guthrie, Dandelion takes dance-theater experimentation seriously.  Lots of companies strive to be innovative, cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, etc. but they still tend to fall within the parameters of traditional dance.  There is a form and thus a function.  Dandelion Dancetheater doesn’t seem to think that way.  Their most recent performance, Radical Inclusion: Conversations at the intersection of art, spiritual practice, and social activism, brought together theorists from the realms of art, activism, and spirituality to discuss interdisciplinary experimental art that draws from diverse inputs.  Dandelion is known for using dancers who are untrained, differently-abled, old, young, large, small, and from every culture and background, in addition to formally trained dancers.

I had the opportunity to experience the company (and I do mean ‘experience’ and not simply watch) during their NYC residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center.  I was struck by Don’t Suck, a series of vignettes spanning a great variety of movement that at times had the dancers expertly wielding wheelchairs, crutches, voice, violin, puppet heads, and even a slew of tennis balls.  The piece culminated in a voting session where the audience decided a winner and a loser of the performance.  The results were announced and discussed in front of and including everyone.  I asked Eric and Kimiko, as well as classically trained company dancer Julia Hollas, to give their insight into how Dandelion Dancetheater is changing how we consider dance.

When I watched/voted in Don’t Suck, I was blown away because I’d never seen anything quite like it.

Eric
That’s my hope, that our work will act as a waking up device and jolt people out of their everyday consciousness. Whether they like the work or not, we hope they at least pay attention to what is unfolding in the present moment.

When incorporating elements that are absent from our traditional construct of concert dance, do you hope that the audience questions your choices?

Eric
Questioning is fine, but it’s more important to me that audiences bring some kind of fresh attention to the work and don’t lump what they are seeing into categories based on what they’ve seen before.

Photo by Faye Chao

Kimiko
My hope is that all the elements used – be they traditional dance, song, words, non-trained dancers dancing, etc. – are not seen as separate, but rather experienced as integral aspects of the particular world of the piece.  That’s my hope for at least the actual viewing, which is ideally felt more wholly, like a wave washing over you.  Then later that evening or the next day, I think it’s great to question the work and why certain choices were made, because that always takes one closer to the core of a piece.  If those questions include ‘why are non-traditional aspects included?’, I would hope that person would eventually realize that they were included not to make a certain point separate from the heart of the piece, but because they were necessary to create the overall effect.  That’s why I don’t love that our company usually falls under the “dance” category; I think “performance art” is a better fit.

Do you hope that at some point a show with diverse dancers will not be something to discuss, but that these elements will be accepted just as well as the cookie cutter ballerina?

Eric
Actually I’m hoping that the kind of diversity we strive for will be even more accepted than the cookie cutter ballerina ideal. It’s not that I have anything against tall, thin, ballerina-type bodies. It’s rather that I want them to be appreciated as part of the wonderful diversity of human forms. There’s room for everyone.

Kimiko
Yes, I do.  One of the grandmothers of modern dance (maybe Duncan?) said something like “dance is always fifty years or so behind the other arts in sophistication because it has to do with the body and the body is the site of such baggage and oppression”.  One would never tell a visual artist her lines were just too fat.  We see dance as being “pretty” rather than expressive and interrogative. 

Julia
I think that we’re after the same end: through performance, to explore our deep inner natures and share those truths with the audience.  The challenging part is that we have completely different methods of getting there.  We’re not just diverse in the fact that one person plays the guitar and has had some dance classes as a college student; someone else plays the violin, does yoga, and has never had formal dance training; one person has extensive modern dance training; and another has done mostly ballet – we’re diverse in that we each have incredibly different approaches to what it means to have an artistic practice.  Get that in a room, and you’ve got two things: absolute chaos and a deeply rich community with infinite possibility for expression. 

If we get to the point where incredibly different performers occupying the stage together is no surprise, do you think there will still be a place for it? 

Eric
Yes, definitely. I don’t see our commitment to diversity as simply a reaction to the oppressive and limiting trends I see in the dance world, but instead it is a vision of how I hope things to be in the future. The great thing about diversity is that it is infinitely interesting. There’s always something new as long as there is another person in the universe.

Do you discuss with your dancers what it feels like to be part of a non-traditional company composed of individuals outwardly different from each other?

Eric
We do a lot of discussing of this and other issues, and a lot of emotional processing as well. So much gets stirred up in every project I direct and I view the discussing of what has arisen for everyone as an essential part of the rehearsal process. Some of the ensemble members like that, but some find it uncomfortable and would rather just get back to movement and/or music.

Julia
As someone who would really rather just dance than process, I have to say that I am constantly challenged by being a part of Dandelion.  I simultaneously dread our “emotional processing” and find it incredibly helpful.

Was “inclusion” something you’ve had in mind since the creation of the company, or have these ideas of unraveling the norm and exposing social issues emerged over time? 

Kimiko
I think we’ve always thought of dance as a tool to explore social issues, a means and not an end.  So in that way, we have always been committed to expressing ideas using whatever materials and mediums (sizes, shapes, colors, textures, etc.) are available and that best suit the work.  For me it’s more about not excluding what is needed for that particular piece of art than including it just for inclusion’s sake.

Where do you see the American dance scene heading in the next decade? 

Eric
I hope we’ll see more companies like Dandelion in the future. A big danger I see in the dance scene is artists and companies striving so hard for financial stability and popular acceptance that the work becomes watered down with commercial values. These values (that are fed incessantly by TV and other popular media) are exclusive, self-hating, disembodied, overly focused on outside criteria, narrow-minded, and boring.

The one thing that I see as a positive effect of the economic downturn is that financial success is even more difficult to obtain for dance artists, which is leading some to return to what I see as the roots of modern dance: rebellion, innovation, truth-telling, complexity, mystery, and a priority placed on the process of creation. The best of modern dance has always been at the edges that are pushing into the unknown. It means the form never really has commercial success, and I don’t think it should. This form exists to lead the way through challenging times, to help us think about things in new ways, and to remind us to return to our bodies, the present moment and the ultimate “unknown-ability” of the universe.

Julia, you grew up with a classical ballet and modern background, even training in ballet at the University of Utah.  You have very classical roots!  What drew you to Dandelion? 

Julia
I probably gravitated towards classical ballet and modern dance because I needed something that, through rigorous study, would allow me to unlock and observe myself.  I like the repetition of ballet, I like the purity, I like how exact it is, and for a long time all I wanted to do was join a ballet company.  One summer when I was home from college, I went to see a touring performance troupe.  This performance combined beautiful, fluid, movement, striking video, and theatrical elements which ripped at my heart.  It was the first “dance theater” performance I had ever seen, and the beginning of the end of me seeking ballet as an end unto itself.  I think it was a few months into working with Dandelion and Eric that I discovered that he had been in the dance theater performance I saw!  

Years later, I now see ballet as an extremely valuable tool that allows me to both open my body to a wide array of expression, and a way of challenging and thus learning more about myself internally. 

For more information about Dandelion Dancetheater, visit dandeliondancetheater.org

Top photo: Dandelion Dancetheater by Luiza Silva

By Tara Sheena 

A dance performance seems like a simple equation: one part choreography, two parts proscenium stage, and three parts talented cast. Add a few lights and some great music, maybe even a set piece or two, and you have the perfect show. Easy enough, right? Too easy, it seems, for the Los Angeles-based choreographer Heidi Duckler of Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre. Duckler has made a living creating site-based work in the greater Los Angeles area for over twenty-five years. A “non-traditional” choreographer, as she prefers to call herself, she has run a successful contemporary dance company in an area of California where dance seems to be dominated by commercialization and the persona of Hollywood. However, after speaking with Duckler and her Managing Director, Emily Wanserski, it became clear that this idea of celebrity, privatization, and, conversely, accessibility in the Facebook-era feeds into the company’s overall mission.

“We like the idea of bringing dance to a location versus expecting an audience to come to us [and the dance]”, Wanserski stated. This zeal to reach out to audiences, whether they know they are being an audience or not, has characterized a lot of Duckler’s most notable works, including Laundromatinee, which takes place inside a laundromat, and Expulsion, which always occurs in a vacant lot.

Their newest piece, based on the life of Cleopatra, will premiere in February 2012 on the 51^st floor of the City National Bank Tower building in downtown Los Angeles. As a project Duckler has been longing to do for a while, Cleopatra ~ On the Banks provides “so much untapped opportunity” in the site and the story. The site-specific choreographer sees great challenges in the performance, as it mixes the corporate lifestyle of the 1980s Los Angeles power suit with the elusive feminism of the iconic Cleopatra.  Coming into an extravagant site like the bank tower, which has been abandoned for over ten years, is par for the course for Duckler. “Sometimes when you have an idea, you have to wait until you find the right venue to express it,” Duckler says of her work. Her company almost always rehearses in the site they are performing in, and this creates, what Wanserski refers to as, their aim to “animate the landscape” wherever they are. 

Of L.A., a city she has lived and worked in for almost thirty years, Duckler finds daily muses in the city and its pace which is constantly changing and evolving. She states, “I’ve lived here for 30 years and can still drive down a street that I’ve never been on.” Duckler hardly shies away from the idea of celebrity and media that seem to define the entire city. Instead, she chooses to mirror those ideas through her own artistic viewpoint. In fact, a contributing point of inspiration for the Cleopatra work came from a quote by pop star Macy Gray. Duckler also draws upon the talents of another female artist; author Stacy Schiff, to find ingenuity and inspiration to drive this work. In Schiff’s new book, Cleopatra: A Life, she explores a feministic point of view on the Egyptian queen and exposes how Cleopatra was not only an object of beauty and desire, but how she possessed qualities both cunning and opportunistic.

The parallels between the ancient and the new are reflected in Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre’s mission to challenge the relationship between audience and art through site-specific performance. It is evident that finding connections in our world is inherent to Duckler as both an Artistic/Executive Director and choreographer, for she believes, “on some level, people want to [ultimately] be united.” And this performance will be no exception.

“Cleopatra ~ On the Banks” will have its world premiere in February 2012 in Los Angeles.  Find ‘Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre’ on Twitter, Facebook, and at heididuckler.org.

Photos by Andrei Andreev

By Laura Di Orio

When a dancer steps down from the stage and “hangs up his or her shoes”, it doesn’t always mean an end to a dance-centered career. Many go on to teach, open a studio, direct a company, design costumes, and several choose the route of choreographer. Those who make the shift from dancer to choreographer may find a most freeing, creative outlet to express themselves. And a former life as a dancer just may make that transition smoother and richer.

Dance Informa hears from two established choreographers, both former professional dancers, on how and why they made the jump and what their life as choreographer provides them artistically.

Did you always know you wanted to choreograph? When did those desires begin to surface?

Edwaard Liang, freelance choreographer, USA
www.edwaardliang.com
I never had the thought or desire to choreograph. I had a one-track mind in terms of what I thought I wanted in my career. When I was dancing with Nederlands Dans Theater, I was urged to try my hand creating in their annual choreographic workshops. I had such a great time with the process. I had no clue what I was doing, but loved it.

Where are you along this transition from dancer to choreographer? Have you completely shifted?

Edwaard Liang
I have completely shifted from dancer to choreographer. I don’t feel sad about not performing, I think because I’m still a part of this world. I get to take class and feel like a dancer and move when I want to, but don’t have the same pressures I used to before to be perfect. I get to enjoy movement for movement’s sake. Plus, I never got the ‘juice’ or ‘high’ from performing, so it was not hard to leave.

What does your life as a choreographer offer you that life as a dancer has not?

Stephen Baynes, resident choreographer for The Australian Ballet, rehearsing Baynes's "Beyond Bach". Photo by James Braund

Stephen Baynes
As a choreographer, I have relinquished the challenge and fulfillment of performing but have been challenged and fulfilled in a different way by creating my own dances and seeing them interpreted by wonderful artists.

Edwaard Liang
My life as a choreographer has given me more freedom and input into what I want to say. Making ballets are like making mini movies. You get to decide the music, costumes and sets. You feel like you’re able to mould the whole package.

For dancers who want to either delve into choreography or who want to transition completely, what suggestions do you have?

Stephen Baynes
Be very sure that you really feel you have something to say. Try to get as much experience in making dance as you can. It is a very practical endeavour and needs constant practice, but that can be difficult. More than anything else, search for your own voice, which doesn’t always mean that you can be completely original, but at least it is uniquely yours.

Edwaard Liang's "Age of Innocence" performed by Fabrice Calmels and Victoria Jaiani. Photo by Herbert Migdoll

Edwaard Liang
Keep working and creating, whether it’s a big or small project. The only way to get deeper, better and do richer pieces of dance is to get in there and create. Try not to edit. Find your own voice. Enjoy the process and time. This profession is one of the hardest, physically and mentally, so try to find joy in some of the little things that happen. Don’t always wait for the big promotions to celebrate yourself.

What’s next for you as a choreographer?

Edwaard Liang
I finished presenting my work at Fall for Dance at City Center in New York. I am now starting my first full-length ballet – a new production of Romeo and Juliet for Tulsa Ballet and also new works for San Francisco Ballet, Washington Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and a project with Yuan Yuan Tan and myself.

Stephen Baynes
I am busy with commissions until the end of 2012, including a full-length Swan Lake for The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary, and hopefully there will be more after that.

Top photo: Edwaard Liang rehearing with Victoria Jaiani. Photo courtesy of Edwaard Liang

Insights from Company Dancer Brittany Fridenstine

By Stephanie Wolf 

Manhattan based dance troupe Morphoses challenges the norms of a ballet company setting. In the wake of Christopher Wheeldon’s departure, director and co-founder Lourdes Lopez opted to forego the typical formula of having a sole, permanent artistic director. Instead, Morphoses created a “Resident Artistic Director” position; enlisting a new artistic leader for each performance season.

In the midst of her first season with the company, NYC freelance dancer Brittany Fridenstine gave Dance Informa a glimpse into Morphoses’s residency at Martha’s Vineyard and working with the current Resident Artistic Director Luca Veggetti.

At age nine, Brittany began training intensively at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, WA. Her professional life began at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and she went on to dance with Ballet Memphis, Minnesota Dance Theatre, the James Sewell Ballet, and American Repertory Ballet. Her freelance career has led her to work with Terpsicorps Dance Theater, Burklyn Ballet Theare, Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Chamber Dance Project, and National Choreographers’ Initiative.

Brittany enjoyed three rich weeks of artistic exploration with Morphoses at Martha’s Vineyard, as the company prepared for performances of Luca Veggetti’s new ballet Bacchae at the Joyce Theater, NYC, which premiered October 25, 2011.

Describe your time at the Vineyard. What was your typical daily schedule like?

We were housed in a beautiful, enormous home, which has 15 private bedrooms with bathrooms. There was a communal eating and sitting area, and 2 dance studios. Across a garden was another building with 2 more studios, plus a pilates and workout space. It was a beautiful sanctuary to get immersed in a creative process.

We began class at 10am [every day]. Lourdes Lopez, the director of Morphoses, alternated with our ballet mistress Eve Lawson. We went right into rehearsals from 11:30am – 2:30pm and then breaked for lunch. Then we resumed 3:30 – 4pm for cleaning, and usually continued with other tasks until 6.

Morphoses presents Bacchae

Is this your first time working with Luca Veggetti?

I met Luca in 2005 at the National Choreographers’ Initiative. I was selected to perform in his piece and instantly loved the intensity of his movement. I kept in touch with him and his career and had an opportunity to do a solo improvised performance that he staged in Saarbrucken, Germany and Bologna, Italy. Later, I did another structured improv event with Luca at the Austrian Embassy in NYC, accompanied by our current, and amazing, flautist Erin Lesser.

How much studio time did you have with Luca at Martha’s Vineyard?

I am dancing ensemble work and we typically had 4 to 5 hours with Luca. The lead dancers had about 2 to 3 hours.

What is the creative process with Luca like? How did it differ from the last time you worked with him?

Luca is very exacting. He has a specific movement language, which places more importance on energetic flow than on shapes. There are numerous moments of suspension, sometimes halting, then quick re-entry to a flow. It requires great awareness of every part of your body all at once, and he wants it perfect immediately.

In the past, I utilized more improvisation with Luca. With this experience, there was more staged material, but he still demands it have the feeling of improv. It has been amazing to work with the other dancers who are extremely talented and unique.

Tell me more about the community amongst the dancers.

The dancers are all amazing artists. We have fostered an environment of mutual admiration and respect. At the Vineyard, we were all forced to spend every hour together, but I think we all loved it. I hope to work with all of them again. It will be sad when I don’t see them every day.

Can you describe Luca’s new ballet Bacchae?

The ballet is based abstractly on the tale of Bacchae, the Greek God Dionysius’s struggle between rationality and irrationality. We have a stage within a stage. There is a platform, utilizing specific technology to make sounds out of our movement. This creates another live element to the production. Our movement is part of the music and each show is slightly different. There is a puppeteer and puppet in the show and an amazing flautist, who interacts with the dancers. Additionally, the dancers all have text.