By Stephanie Wolf.

Dot-com start-ups are all the rage in the business world, but what about the unsung entrepreneurs in the dance community? These dancers and dance makers are trying new tactics to find success and re-energize the dance profession. Among these individuals is Asheville native Nick Kepley, an ambitious go-getter who is applying his ballet and Broadway know-how to his own start up MOTION Dance+Theater.

Kepley received his early ballet training from Sandra Miller at Asheville’s Balance Point Studios. He danced professionally with Ballet Austin, Kansas City Ballet, on Broadway in Mary Poppins, and with the New York Philharmonic in Camelot. Throughout his performing career, Kepley demonstrated a knack for choreography and created works for many reputable showcases and regional companies. He learned a lot from each experience, but creating “a 20 minute ballet in five days” was no easy feat. He began to wonder what would happen if the stress of deadlines and scouring for resources were removed. What type of art would transpire?

Adam Still from Colorado Ballet. Photo by Peak Definition

This inspired Kepley to launch his own creative endeavor – MOTION Dance+Theater. He wanted to provide dancers and choreographers employment during the typically slow summer months, as well as give them an outlet to take artistic risks. Kepley describes MOTION as a “laboratory rather than a performing company”, where more importance is placed on the process rather than a finished product.

In July 2010, MOTION had its inaugural season with sold out performances at NYC’s Dance Theater Workshop. Leading up to the shows, Kepley and NYC choreographer Valerie Salgado had three uninterrupted weeks to choreograph on a group of professional dancers. He gave no rules or guidelines, but allowed the art to develop naturally.

Kepley didn’t create MOTION just for his own artistic indulgences. He wanted to provide a new type of dance experience for the audience. “I really try hard for the audience to think about dance as a modern art form”, he explained. At each showing, there was a moderated discussion to talk about “how dance is made” and, afterwards, he invited the audience to participate in a Q & A with the dancers and choreographers.

Choreographer Brian Carey Chung

Unfortunately, the arts were hit hard economically and MOTION felt the blow; it looked as if there would not be another season. Then donations came forth from North Carolina and Kepley decided to move the company to his hometown. Last summer, MOTION enjoyed three weeks in the fresh mountain air of Asheville. “I like having it down there”, he said. “[In New York] it’s so hectic,  having it in North Carolina feels freer and more artistically inspiring.”

What to expect from MOTION Dance+Theater in 2012

Six dancers from Colorado Ballet, Ballet Austin, Kansas City Ballet, and Nashville Ballet will join MOTION in Asheville for three weeks of artistic discovery. Kepley will create a new ballet with original composition by North Carolina School of the Arts graduate Bruce Tippette and has invited two other choreographers to participate in the project: Gabrielle Lamb and Brian Carey Chung.

Chung has his own NYC company called Collective Body Dance Lab and has created works for Cedar Lake II, Connecticut Ballet, and Santa Barbara Ballet. He was drawn to MOTION and its mission immediately. “[Kepley] is so earnest about the process of creating work and a safe place to do that”, Chung said. Both guest choreographers agreed that the concept of having resources provided would allow for more artistic possibilities. Lamb, who has choreographed for Ballet X, Morphoses, and Dance Theatre of Harlem, expressed, “when you are a freelancer … and based in New York, everything becomes that much more difficult. You have to do everything yourself: rent the studios, employ the dancers, find venues. It’s a wonderful chance to have that all taken care of, to go someplace and to concentrate on the work.”

Choreographer Gabrielle Lamb by Ken Kramer

Kepley believes it’s important to present a diverse program and felt that could be accomplished by bringing Chung and Lamb onboard. Chung likes to “play with different ways of creating work”, and Kepley loves his integration of multi-media. The two have already discussed building on this cross-disciplinary display. Lamb, who is also a dance filmmaker, sees her work as “cinematic”, saying “the work I have done in film has changed the way I think about choreography.” All three choreographers pull from their ballet backgrounds, but look for deeper meaning in the movement.

The future of MOTION Dance+Theater

Currently, Kepley is working towards a transition out of the limelight and into more choreography, so MOTION comes at a perfect time in his life. But it’s a lot of work. “Funding is a non-stop job”, he says. “As soon as the season ends, I’m already working on the next.” Kepley strives to cover 100% of his dancers and choreographers expenses, including travel, accommodation, production fees, and operational costs.

MOTION is on the right track. Kepley fundraises proactively with special events and invitations to rehearsals. Additionally, he is forming a board of directors with Camp Wayfarer director Nancy Wilson, one of MOTION’s main sponsors, at the helm. There’s no doubt these are difficult economic times, but Kepley’s MOTION Dance+Theater has the potential and artistic integrity to prevail.

Want to catch MOTION Dance+Theater in action?

2012 Season Performance Dates:
June 21, 2012, Tryon, NC at the Tryon Fine Arts Center
June, 23, 2012, Asheville, NC at the Diane Wortham Theater

If you want to learn more or contribute to MOTION Dance+Theater be sure to visit them online at www.motiondt.com or on Facebook.

Watch a montage video of the 2011 summer creation residency. June 28-July 17th in Asheville, NC:

Top photo: Nick Kepley by ArtX Photography.
Published by Dance Informa dance magazine – dance news, dance auditions & dance events.

As choreographer Gina Patterson puts it, her dance career “started with a bang!” And she seems in no rush to calm it down. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, Patterson now lives in Austin, Texas with her dancer husband Eric Midgley. Patterson admits that although she and Eric have a home in Texas, they haven’t been there much this year as a long list of exciting commissions has taken them across the country; one of these being a recent creation on the Atlanta Ballet for their Ignition program. In Atlanta, Dance Informa’s Deborah Searle spoke with Gina after a studio preview of her new work ‘Quietly Walking’.

How did you enjoy working with Atlanta Ballet?
I’ve so much enjoyed this experience. It really has been a wonderful thing! I really felt completely supported artistically by the Director, John McFall, and the staff. The dancers were really open. I felt like I could go into the piece really deeply and openly and the dancers went there with me wholeheartedly, physically, artistically and emotionally. It’s been a really complete experience. The dancers are so nice and I’ve just enjoyed every day in the studio with them.

Patterson's 'Quietly Walking' for Atlanta Ballet. Photo by Charlie McCullers

What were the challenges when creating your breathtaking work ‘Quietly Walking’ addressing issues of deforestation and urbanization?
The challenge was taking all these major topics and distilling them down into something that people can comprehend. How do you offer a window into the piece and then how do you translate it to dance when it’s been just a concept for a year? I was a little bit overwhelmed coming into the project because I had so many pieces back to back this year. But it’s been a wonderful experience to follow the creative process and see where it takes me, because I work really intuitively. I’ve learned to trust my intuition over the years. The more I trust it the more fun choreography actually is, because it ends up leading me into all these places. It’s like a writer who talks about how the book writes itself. I always feel the same thing, if you’re really in-tune with the process it ends up writing itself potentially.

So tell us about your long dance career.
When I got into dance it was at full force and I danced with a company for a couple of years. Then when I was 16 I toured with the Pittsburgh Opera as a singer and dancer and I travelled around Europe and Switzerland. From there I went to the Pittsburgh Ballet. I was then in Ballet Austin for about eight years, then Ballet Florida for four, and then Ballet Austin again for another eight years. While I was at Ballet Austin there were three different directors, so the company kept changing. I’ve had a 25 year career as a dancer and it has been so rich and varied. I feel really fortunate. I got to do all the classical roles and I did a lot of contemporary work. I also had a lot of roles created on me.

What inspired you to become a choreographer?
Well, that’s funny. I never set out to be a choreographer. I had people along the way say ‘you should choreograph, you’d be really good’. I thought there was no way I was ever going to choreograph. But I guess you should ‘never say never’, because when I was dancing with Ballet Florida, my now husband was co-directing a choreographer’s workshop and he approached me suggesting that I try choreographing. He was interested in a female take on choreography as there were only males choreographing for the workshop. I thought ‘well I guess if my co-workers can do it, I can do it’. I thought  I should just try. It was a three week program, and after two weeks I went to Eric and told him I was going to pull out because I literally only had two steps. I said ‘I can’t do this!’ But he told me that quitting wasn’t an option because the workshop was about the process. He said to show my two steps and then talk about what happened. But I thought ‘that’s not an option!’ All of a sudden it just came and I created a piece. It was on me and a really close friend of mine. I did a solo and then we had a pas de deux. A long story short, it was really successful and it was the first piece taken into the company’s rep. Then it went to Miami and New York! I thought it was just like a one hit wonder and I said ‘I’m not choreographing anymore’. Then I took part in the workshop the next year and the next. Then I was asked me to do something for the second company, for a summer show for 35 people. I never set out to choreograph. Opportunities kept coming and I just grew to fall in love with it.

'Speak' by Gina Patterson, featuring Gina and husband Eric Midgley, 2000, Ballet Florida. All Rights Reserved © Janine Harris

Why do you enjoy choreography?
For me as a dancer, the whole reason to dance was a way to express myself. I have fallen in love with not only the creative process, which is completely amazing to me and always surprises me, but with working with people. I love to coach. Choreography is a way to do that and it’s also a fuller expression of myself. It’s not just interpreting one role, but it’s the whole vision. It’s the costumes, the lights, the sound all coming into play, the coaching, the creating and the telling of the story that all comes together to create just a much fuller expression of something. It’s draining energetically but energising at the same time.

Your strong musicality is evident in your choreography.
I really have a great love for music as well as dance. I love doing a new creation because I listen to the music for a really long time and it goes into my consciousness and plays in my head. So then when I really get down to it and I start counting out the music, I feel like I can get inside the music. This is such a joy for me. When I come to work with the dancers the music’s playing in my head while I’m creating it. I know the music inside and out and the feeling of it, and it all ties together.

How do you keep your work fresh and original?
Every time I go into a new creation I approach it as a ‘new’ creation. The inspirations are different, the logistics and the parameters are different, and the dancers are different. In every piece all the ingredients are different, so it just turns out to be different. I also try to get myself to a space in my head where I’m always inspired. I feel like every day I can find inspiration somewhere. It’s important to stay open to everything. By staying open it keeps it fresh.

Arbenita (11 years), by Gina Patterson, featuring Maggie Small & Thomas Garrett, 2010, VOICE Dance Company. All Rights Reserved © Farid Zarrinabadi

You’ve had such a rich career, what is your highlight?
Something that was really special to me was the last time I performed Juliet. I danced Juliet about four times throughout my career. The last time I performed it with my husband and what was really special was that my Grandmother came to see me dance with my parents.  She hadn’t seen me dance since I was a little girl. Just to see her afterwards and to feel how she was so emotional was special. She couldn’t believe that I did what I did. It was extra special because my Grandparents really had a real life Romeo and Juliet story. That was just a special, personal moment for me. I’ve had so many great experiences but I think it’s more about the people that you share them with.

Tell us about your company ‘VOICE Dance Company’.
My husband and I co-founded our own company about a year and a half ago. To me this is even a fuller extension of expression because now I’m taking the concepts of the choreography and putting them into the organization and slowly growing that. VOICE Dance Company is still very young in its development, but we have projects we do and I have a pool of dancers to draw from. For me it’s about creating intimate experiences, boutique shows and making every show different. With Voice I can experiment here and there and go a little bit further. I can do things I maybe wouldn’t do on a bigger company. I’m really using Voice as a way to find more intimate experiences for the performers and for the audience.

Where can we see you and your work next?
In a couple of weeks I go back to Puerto Rico.  I’m doing two pieces to be performed at Dance Week in Puerto Rico, June 16 and 17. My work will then also be performed at the 55th International Choreographers’ Showcase in Madrid, Spain.

What are your future goals and dreams?
That’s a dangerous question because I never even thought I’d be capable of dancing as long as I did, or choreographing! First of all I just really want to continue to develop my voice as an artist, do my freelance work and hone my craft. I just love working with different dancers and meeting new people and creating. Eventually I would like a full-time company. I would like my own space to go to and create every day. I’m open to where life takes me but I do know that I’m destined to be in this business and I think I’ll be here forever.