Monday, December 19, 2016

The Embodiment Project's Cyber Sharing Week 2

On The Embodiment Project's website we're sharing aspects of our journey with a weekly Cyber Sharing in celebration of this season of giving.

I'll be posting a snidbit of each week here. 

Cyber Sharing Week 1 kicked off with Giving Tuesday. 

Week two shared Embedded Layers, a piece from 2013. You can check out more of the process in the Archives and enjoy excerpts of the performance:



Articles about Conditioning

Below is a series I wrote for DanceAdvantage.net on Cross-Training and Conditioning for Dancers. Read about the different ways to prepare the body, try a few out, and let me know what your favs are in the comments below!  Need help finding a practitioner in your area? Let me know!

Gyrotonic Expansion System for Dance Cross-Training - with Evalina "Wally" Carbonell

Alexander Technique - with KC Chun-Manning

Pilates - with Jennifer "JMo" Morley

Yoga - with Erin Cella and Ashleigh Penrod

The Tracy Anderson Method - with Kelly Markos

Tabata Training - with Patti Bostick

Beach Body workouts - with Tara Fronczek

JMo demonstrating some fierce Pilates techniques at Drexel Pilates

Do some conditioing of your own at home with The Embodiment Project's Cyber Sharing Week 3.




Monday, December 12, 2016

#whydancematters - building bridges and community

What do you want the audience to know about this work? What have you learned from dance this semester? Why does dance matter to you? Why is sharing dance important?

Every semester, I ask my students to reflect and share their thoughts with the audience through written notes. I project these or add a page to the program. Here are a few of their meditations:

"Dance brings together all people of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds. The commenting thread allows for free expression and breaks down superficial barriers to help us understand the person behind the movement."

"Dance relieves a lot of my stress and anxiety. It never fails to put me in a good mood. Dance allows me to clear my head, and focus on only my body. I don't know what I would be without it."

"Dance not only expresses emotion but it also brings many people together. It creates a community and it can be used as an outlet for emotions, hard work, and bonding with others. This class has worked hard to do all of the above. We all have become a small family and this can hopefully be seen in some of our dancing. It is our hope that the audience feels connected with us while we do our pieces."

"Modern dance has taught me to grow as an individual dancers as well as collaborate with others. It has allowed me to express myself in a performance way and has led to an outlet from school for me. I have gained so many new experiences dancing this semester and I am more than excited to be able to share the stage with some of the greatest dancers and people I got the opportunity to know. I hope you enjoy the performance we put on for you and the pieces we collaboratively created with our teacher and dancers!"

"I have learned over the past could of weeks that dance is more than just for performance. It also has a great deal to do with self-expression. I dance because it makes me feel whole and I connect with my body. It brings me happiness whenever I need it. Dance can be used to bring peace and a sense of community because it is an art form seen almost everywhere. People can connect with each other because movement and expression of the body can often say more than words." 

"Dance is important because it acts as a release of emotions and stress that build up in everyone's life. It also acts as a medium to send a message through if there is something you feel you need to speak out about and are passionate about. Dance bring people together and builds bonds no matter who you are or your race or gender. It can be a way to send a message to the community about changes you think are important and need to be brought to attention. Educating the public is the first step to making change."

These quotes were originally published in the Widener University Chamber Music and Dance Fall Concert program, Dec. 2, 2016. 

#whydancematters was started by DanceAdvantage.net as a virtual rally for the dance community. Why does dance matter to you? (Add to the conversation by leaving a comment below!)




Tuesday, November 29, 2016

"NAME US PEACE" A Gift for You on #GivingTuesday

During this time of growing together, giving thanks, and celebrating our shared community, I want to share a gift with YOU.

Today's Giving Tuesday - following Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. It's a day dedicated to not just getting things to give as gifts, but celebrating the intangible gifts that artists and non-profits provide year-round.

I'm offering this gift to you.

During the past few months, I've been collaborating with Michael Lancaster and Ellen Rosenberg. I'm sharing Michael's poetry and Ellen's photographs, based on Breach: Left Behind, performed at Lafayette College in September and October. Their encouragement, creativity, and support has been a constant gift to me.

May you enjoy this and the many gifts that you experience year-round this holiday season.

Name Us Peace
       
   ~

Name Us Lost
Desperate souls, deathly
discrete, seek life,
seek yet company, like
dancers sole along
walls of despair.
Drifting, finding, joining
dancers together in
a simple singularity
of giddy relief, soon
rearranging in beauty. 

Name Us Love
Hands, arms, cores, backs, 
limbs secure each by each. 
Bodies meet in recognition,
recognition and hope, 
reuniting a savaged 
communion; dance,
silent music, lovely
faces name its goodness.
Form protecting love, and
a moment of exquisite peace. 

Name Us Dance

~Michael Lancaster, Oct 2016









Saturday, November 19, 2016

Women's Entrepreneurship Day

Today (and yesterday... and everyday) is a day to celebrate women.

I don't need to go into the social and political attacks on women in the past few days, weeks, (oh... years, centuries...)

But today, I'm choosing to celebrate.

Today is Women's Entrepreneurship Day! (It was celebrated in NYC and the United Nations yesterday... and I also celebrated yesterday by performing for Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet).

Today, I'm celebrating by launching the website for The Embodiment Project.

I think that artists, by nature, have an entrepreneurial spirit. We're constantly creating, revising, revisiting, sharing, crafting, and doing it all again. The "product" might be a show, a photo, a sculpture, a costume, a poem, a story... we are constantly taking in information and responding and creating.

Today, I want to celebrate by sharing other businesses created and powered by women. Are you a female entrepreneur? Please share your business in the comments so we can all support each other!



Friday, November 11, 2016

Thank you, Veterans. Especially today...

It's been a rough week in America-land.

Tuesday was a historic election with historic results - both the results of the president elect and the resulting reactions of many different parts of the country.

Thursday was the Marine Corps birthday. Happy 241st Birthday, Marines!

Today is Veterans' Day.

For some, this is a day off from work and for discounted pricing on commercial goods. For many others, this is a time of remembering some very good times and some very bad times. Our military is made up of representatives from every corner of this country - color, race, creed, social and economic background, geographic background, upbringing, belief system... Each individual brings his and/or her own story to the fabric of the military and each of them has written a blank check to the United States of America for up to and including one (their) life.

These individuals are willing to serve, protect, and die for people that they have never met because they believe that America is a very special place and deserves their best; that the people who make up these United States are very special. In return, don't our veterans and members of our military deserve our best? Not only today, but everyday?

I am grateful for having the (perceived) freedom and constitutional right to profess my truths without fear of terror. [(While I myself have been the victim of violence because of my gender and religion, I also recognize that I have many privileges (that have not yet been violated)]. I am grateful to be able to create and share works of art that may challenge and question. I am grateful to be able to converse with people who believe differently than I do - because of the protection of our men and women in uniform.

Recent events have made me question how long these freedoms and rights will continue, but that's a reflection for another time. At the core, I believe that there is a deep love that our veterans and military demonstrate when they sign their name on the dotted line. It is this love that we need to respect, honor, and reciprocate.

"Thank you" will never be enough. Welcome home.

A dear friend, and veteran himself, created and shared this poem for today. Thank you, Michael, for the permission to repost:

"When a veteran falls,
A young man or woman,
At ripe age often still wounded,
Or in their prime in sacrifice
For their friends and nation,
As their bodies fall soft
To the ground or the sea,
A space opens gentle finally
For them to be filled by
Our love, honor, respect.
A great spirit passes thru it
Leaving us to consider the
Better, gentler days in golden
Sunshine, sea grasses flowing,
To remember a great soul and
Dearest friend as an eagle flies
To honor that respectful space.
Be at peace all this day.
Remember, know the best.

-Michael Lancaster 101st Abn RVN.
Veterans's Day 2016


Wednesday, November 2, 2016

November Dates

Click the links for more information

November 5 - KYL/D's FUN-Raiser from 5-8pm

November 6 - KYL/D at The Barnes Foundation for First Free Sunday - performances at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00




November 11 - Veterans' Day. Please remember our Veterans.



November 12 - KYL/D at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center

November 18 - NGCB at Lafayette as part of Choreographers on Campus
Photo by Frank Bicking
November 24 - Thanksgiving! For what will you be giving thanks this year?

November 29 - Giving Tuesday. The Embodiment Project has received fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas. Share your gifts with us by clicking this link (to be directed to the official donation page).
Photo by Ellen Rosenberg

December 2 - Widener University's Chamber Music and Dance Concert, 7pm.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Performance as Process in the Birthplace of Freedom

What if the performance wasn't (isn't) the final product?

A theatre director reflected to me - "dance is really different in that there are only two, maybe three shows, if you're lucky. In theatre, we have at least a two weekend run, and then, six shows is a minimum."

Is this because of cost? Funding? Availability? Process?

I've been lucky enough to work in both what I'll call Traditional Theatre and Concert Dance settings. (and lucky enough to work in Entertainment Settings). The difference? In my mind, Traditional Theatre and Concert Dance performances have limited runs whereas Entertainment Settings may have many, many performances - think a well-planned theme park, casino, or cruise line show. All of these venues have value.

As a performer, I learned so much from doing 4-8 shows a day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I learned how to read and relate to an audience. I learned how to read and relate to my cast. I learned stamina - physically, emotionally, and performatively. I learned how to take care of my body, mind, and heart space in and out of the "job" setting. I learned the value of the performance "job" and the difference between dance/ art being a "job" and a "passion". I learned that creative expression can be a part of monotony and that monotony can be a part of creative challenges.

Fast forward over a decade and I'm still learning and sharing.

I've been lucky to have been put in the position of directing several university productions, linked to academic learning. Because I believe that performance is a vital part of the artistic and educational process of dance, I push my students to perform - not only to outwardly express themselves on stage, but also to use performance as a means of discovering more about themselves, their art, and the roles they play as educated, artistic-citizens. Logistically, what does this mean? In the past, when my academic classes have been tied to performance, it has meant that I challenge my dancers to practice performing in class and prepare at least two performances for the public. Many of my students may not become professional dancers, but performance skills are vital in our current workforce. My students will need to communicate; make presentations; talk about their journeys, trials, and successes; understand how to relate to their peers and managers; improvise in moments of uncertainty. Performance trains them for this.

And performance also provides information about the process (to students, professional dancers, and choreographers).

What do I learn about myself in performance (as a professional dancer)?
I learn about what has made me comfortable and subconsciously uncomfortable in the process.
I learn about my habits and interactions with people - how do I relate to/with my fellow performers and audience? With regular performance practice, I have the opportunity to change, challenge, and/or reinforce these practices.
I learn about my reaction to environments - how to I respond to a slippery stage, an unwelcoming audience, an empty house, an enthusiastic house, a faulty sound system, an inconsistency in lighting? I have an opportunity to reflect on and change my ability to react and improvise.
I learn about the work - what intuitively feels right? what feels challenging? Dance, for as many formulas as there are for technique and composition, is still an art. And it is the basic human instinct and intuition that deems it art (instead of sport, recreation, or drill). What do I learn from my intuitive need to communicate?

This learning process has been a great collision point between my own beliefs and the practices of KYL/D.

For the past seven years, I've been growing from and alongside KYL/D. Kun-Yang and Ken challenged me with developing InHale in the fall of 2008 and in January of 2009, we had our first Performance Series. This seven-year-process/series has been a journey of learning about the Philadelphia Dance Community and beyond; learning about the challenges of limited resources; learning about production and direction; learning about the Philadelphia Dance Audience; learning about community; learning about process; learning about performance; learning about direction; learning about learning...

In her reflection/ review of KYL/D's 30th InHale Performance Series, Hannah Joo wrote "What is special about InHale is that it provides an alternative to this notion that the artist's worth is defined by the product by highlighting the artist in process."

Something I've learned over the past severn years is that I and KYL/D are deeply invested in process. Of course, there comes a time when a product needs to be delivered, but InHale and KYL/D's most recent journey of Home/ S. 9th St. have demonstrated that process is an important part of the product. And educating audiences about the process within the frame of performance is equally important as part of the product.

This 30th InHale did feature more "works in process" than any in the past.

This 30th InHale did feature more "different modes of collaboration" than any in the past.

This 30th InHale did feature more variations of the female voice than any in the past.

This 30th InHale did feature a diversity of styles, themes, backgrounds, and modalities for presenting these female voices.

As curator and director, some of these features were subconscious, but the ultimate performance was very much intentional.

I've been affected and effected by the political climate. I've been aware of the challenges women and artists face, in October 2016. I'm aware of the many relationships between women and seemingly inanimate forces of nature and objects. And I'm aware of my intuition as a person, artist, and woman.

This 30th InHale was a reflection on me as much as it was a reflection of the Dance Community in Philadelphia, the artistic community beyond dance and Philly, and the issues of the country at large.

Earlier in October, I presented at the National Dance Education Organization's national conference with KYL/D's Rehearsal Director Lingyuan "Maggie" Zhao. We discussed the ways that KYL/D advocated for dance education through the various works-in-progress showings of "HOME/ S. 9th St." In the 18 months before it premiered at FringeArts, KYL/D previewed HOME at several in-process showings. These showings allowed me (as a performer) to learn more about the way the performance was being received and how my role as a performer was implicating what the audience viewed as Kun-Yang's creative voice on national issues. I believe that Kun-Yang Lin did, too, as Artistic Director, not only from his personal experience of the piece, but also in hearing about audience reactions from the piece. Those audience reactions came from people who were experiencing KYL/D for the first time (for example at the Philadelphia Art Museum showing at Art After 5) or people who were long-time fans of KYL/D (for example at private rehearsal showings). KYL/D utilized the performance practice to gain insight into how the final piece would unfold at FringeArts in November, 2015. But honestly, the piece continues to unfold in rehearsal as we prepare for future performances.

The art of Live Art is never dead. It continues to evolve.

And this is one of the reasons why I am so grateful for KYL/D's InHale.

As curator, I get to see the creative voices of artists evolve! I am witness to the process of performance and perceived final products; process; ideas; dreams. I cultivate possibilities and challenge limitations on artistic intent.

As an educator, I get to facilitate the space between dream and reality - for artists, participants, volunteers, and audience members. Creative challenges pose opportunities for me, the tech crew, artists, and audiences. But this is a lesson in real life. What impossibilities can we create with few resources? And for funders - if we can do this much with our limitations... imagine what we could do with a little bit (or a lot) of resources!

KYL/D's InHale has presented over 700 artists from the Western Hemisphere. Literally - from over 14 states and Mexico. KYL/D's InHale has made Philadelphia a hub for international dance exploration.

I'll leave that there....

But one more time.

KYL/D's InHale has made Philadelphia a hub for international dance exploration.

Dance is language that every population on Earth understands. In this political climate, why are we not investing more in a language that can bridge boundaries?

.......

Last Friday, at KYL/D's 30th InHale, I previewed a new work:
"One foot yet in this wonder place,
One testing new ground that feels more like home."*
*from Michael Lancaster's "Heading Old" August, 2016

Here's part of the story:
After many months of correspondence and art sharing, a collaborative proposal emerged between Michael Lancaster, Ellen Rosenberg, and myself.

Michael is a retiree from the Army and a poet. Ellen, among her many stories, is a photographer.

Both of these individuals have been influential in my growth as a person and in reflecting on and learning about life.

My dancers, Katherine Kiefer Stark and Jennifer Yackel, granted me permission and time to explore some of the facets of my communication between Michael and Ellen. Another collaborator, Paul Fejko, allowed me space and time to throw ideas and movement at him and to absorb my process and return with a musical reflection of his own.

I spent days holed up with this information - from Michael, Katherine, Ellen, Jennifer, and Paul. I could spent more days holed up in my head, but the beauty and challenge wouldn't get anywhere, publically. KYL/D's InHale presented an opportunity for me to share and learn from the performance process.

As Joo mentioned, InHale provides an "organic state of the choreographic evolution."

Life and therefore dance, does not exist in a vacuum. Therefore, I need the performance process as part of the organic state of choreography. In undergrad and grad school, this was a part of learning. Why is it absent during the professional experience? Is it...?

And speaking of the professional experience...

In figuring out what The Embodiment Project was, I met with a small business team. We talked about the process of developing a "product", researching it, redeveloping it, and then launching it. As I described my creative process to them, they looked at me quizzically, "Why are you here? You've done all of your research and development already. You have a product."

"And that is why I'm here" I wanted to say. It's part of our creative process to try, reflect, redesign, and try again. That part is nothing new to creative development. As artists, we redesign and research everyday. We're constantly perfecting our product, no matter how many times it's been tested.

The hard part is the sell...

And that is why there is so much value in understanding process!

In my work, process is so intricately woven with education. KYL/D's InHale, my own research, my teaching practice, and KYL/D's journey of sharing HOME/S 9th St indicate the intrinsic value of performance as process, and process as a form of product.

In our NDEO presentation, Maggie and I discussed the diverse venues and populations in which/ to whom KYL/D shared HOME. What we discovered through the sharing of HOME was (at least in my own perspective) that our "audience" was much larger than we expected because we were willing to be vulnerable in the process. I, as a white female born in the US, had a unique position to say "I don't have the same experiences as you (immigrants/ minorities/ desperate populations). I have my own stories from my family's immigration and the World Wars. I also acknowledge my white privilege; but I experience challenges as a woman and as an artist. How can we work together? I have some ideas, but I'm limited. What are yours?"

Maybe it's not the ultimate solution, but perhaps it can be part of the larger conversation. Apparently, as Loo suggests, it already is.

So... thanks to everyone who's supported me, KYL/D and InHale over the past seven years. It's been a journey in learning about who we are as artists.

And, I think it's important that we're doing this work in Philadelphia during this time in history. InHale has found a pivotal place in the birthplace of freedom.



Monday, October 17, 2016

KYL/D's 30th InHale is Friday! and a new work

KYL/D's 30th InHale is this Friday!


Click to reserve your spot: Tickets

Not only is this InHale #30, but I'm also sharing a brand new process inspired by time, change, moving forward and looking back, letting go and creating new adventures. I guess it's appropriate that this piece is being created in the autumn because it feels reflective of the changes happening in the seasons externally as the Earth continues to rotate and internally as my own journey continues to unfold.

A shot from my (almost) daily journey. They change day by day....

I'm grappling with the shedding of leaves and of time, but also learning to accept that in the shedding a more simple beauty emerges. The leaves on the trees are absolutely beautiful now, but the silence and clarity of the bare bark in a few weeks will also be stunning, in its own way. My new friends, Ellen Rosenberg and Michael Lancaster (among many others who circle in my sphere) have been encouraging me to question, listen, and challenge my perception of time and of change. It's from their gentle prodding and the support of my dancers that I'm able to work through my molting in this new work. 

Paul Fejko has also provided me with original music for this performance. I'm excited to see what Friday brings and what I'll learn from sharing the work. 

Heading Old 
by Michael Lancaster, August 2016

Have been years now on the salt ponds
twelve years plus one have been
poems tracking generations
long past, generations
deeply forward, life after life
arriving, being, passing to
life matter: mud, water, new life,
grasses, birds, fish uncountable, 
crustaceans, shellfish
food and life, immortality. 
In consciousness, I am 
circular life, yet limning its cadences
in cadences as urgent as life even as
my cadence slows from its 
primal assertion to be my father
miming his pace as I sought his side 
and then strode strongly past succeeding
his dreams immortal in me. 
In time my children and theirs stream
my immortality in their urgency. 
And now my cadence slows to bird song,
soft, space, vulnerable to all,
mine to teach me a rarer, slower
exquisite truth, the Spirit's charmers, who
soar at such speeds as to defy vision,
who bring passion and beauty as 
they companion my slower life,
on a fall day of grace and pale sun,
and lovely muted colors, breezes turning my
hair to winter's white, warm yet
in memory, in grace, vision, astride
one foot yet in this wonder place,
one testing new ground that feels more like home.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

NDEO 2016

I'm heading to the National Dance Education Organization National Conference this weekend to share the research process of "(in)visible veins: Rivers Merge" from last year.

Shortly after the September 2015 performances, some of the students wrote about their experiences, publicly, in the DeSales publication for Dance Majors: (in)visible veins: Rivers Merge.

And some students shared their reflections with me:

"I learned that while dance is always unique to the individual, that does not mean it 'doesn't work' on someone else. Each body has its own story to tell, so I feel that it is necessary to hear it from everyone."

"The little things in life are what make it beautiful. I learned that I often disregard them and I hope to appreciate the small things more now."

"I will focus more on things seen and unseen throughout my life, and how they affect me."

"It affected me in the sense that it made me more aware of my surroundings, as well as the energy that I contribute to my surroundings. It was inspiring to know that with this work, we were given the power to change our hearts and our minds."

A few moments from the performance:

I'll also be co-presenting on KYL/D's "HOME/ S 9th St." and the ways that company used the process to share and educate about dance performance and practice. 


I'm looking forward to re-connecting with dance educators from across the country!

Monday, September 26, 2016

Reflections, Thank You, & One More Time!

It's been a week since "Breach: Left Behind" with Alison Saar at Lafayette College. The experience was incredible; thank you to everyone who participated in the event, the process, and the journey!

We're showing "Breach: Left Behind" again on Saturday, October 1st at 11am, again, in the Grossman Gallery at Lafayette College as part of an arts celebration in Easton, PA.

"A tear, destruction, and ending, and then healing..
Once again, I have been privileged to photograph the final presentation and collaboration between beautiful dancers and visual artist. Photographing this group led by Jessica Warchalk-King (choreographer) from the initial gathering of creating thought to the finale on Sunday Sept 18th was one of the most amazing experiences I have every encountered in my artist career. These photographs represent the final performance within an art gallery where a visual artist Alison Saar had created her own works of art, representative of the catastrophe and the impact on African Americans living along the Mississippi Delta. The emotional impact for me as a photographer is representative within these last photographs, diluted of any color, merely showing the raw impact of this collaboration. Grateful to all of the dancers, but especially to Jessica Warchalk-King, who gave me this rare opportunity... and most beautiful gift to my soul..." ~Ellen Rosenberg


More reflections and pics from the journey to come!

Monday, September 12, 2016

Breach: Left Behind - The Team Part 2

Eight dancers (seven plus me) will take the space/stage on Sunday. Get to know them!


Here are the performers, in alphabetical order:

Laura Baehr is a movement artist, teacher, and researcher. She earned her dual degree in Dance and Neuroscience from Muhlenberg College and joined the Philadelphia dance community in 2012. Laura's performance experience includes concert dance, mask work and dance theater. She is a contributing artist to The Embodiment Project and a member of Femme. Collective of Philadelphia. In addition to performance and choreography, Laura is a Pilates instructor, Dance for Parkinson Disease teacher, and currently pursuing her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Temple University. She is so grateful to take part in Breach: Left Behind.



Photo by Bicking Photography
Katherine Kiefer Stark is a Philadelphia-based dance artist, teacher, and the artistic director of The Naked Stark.  Katherine received her M.F.A. in choreography from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and her B.A. in dance from Connecticut College. Katherine’s movement practice is founded on release-based movement techniques, which appreciate and make space for the uniqueness of each mover’s body, emphasize understanding initiations and pathways and are practiced through discovering how one’s own body moves within the movement.  She strives to build complex dance works that take apart, redefine, and consider everyday experiences of people, ideas and social phenomenon. Her work has been presented in New York, North Carolina, West Virginia, and New Hampshire as well as produced by a variety of presenters in Philadelphia including FringeArts, Mascher Space Cooperative, and First Person Arts.  Katherine received a 2012 Rocky Award, a peer-to-peer award for outstanding achievement in the greater Philadelphia dance community, for her work Looking for Judy. Since moving to Philadelphia in 2010, Katherine has performed with Eleanor Goudie-Averill, Colleen Hooper, and Jessica Warchal-King among others as well as collaborating with Loren Groenendaal and Marion Ramirez. Katherine has taught as a guest artist at Muhlenberg, University of Texas, El Paso, and Enloe High School, and as adjunct faculty at Bryn Mawr College.  She is also an Artist in-Residence at Mascher Space Cooperative where she rehearses and offers a drop-in class for the Philly dance community.



Photo by Charles Stonewall
Margaret Page has a Master's degree in Expressive Therapy and is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Psychology Associates of Bethlehem in Easton. For the past 13 years, she has worked with various populations providing group, individual, and family counseling using creative arts, dance therapy, and verbal therapy.  Margaret feels dance is healing, helps create community and is a way to tell stories. She grew up dancing and performing with the Tennessee Children's Dance Ensemble. She is honored to work with Jessica on this project.











Kelly Prentice, dancer, writer, yogini and mother, has danced with the Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley, DeSales University Dance Ensemble, DanceGing and Margo Clifford Ging, and most recently with the Easton Dance Collective, an emerging group of Easton dancers who debuted Carrie Rohman's work Night of Summer Stars at Alvin Ailey Dance Center. Kelly is a registered yoga instructor who teaches vinyasa flow, prenatal yoga and yoga for dancers. She recently launched a corporate yoga and meditation project called Bija Initiative. Kelly is also coordinator for Lafayette College’s Choreographers on Campus program.










Carrie Rohman is Associate Professor of English at Lafayette College and former faculty at Contemporary Dance Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught modern technique and worked as an independent choreographer.  She is a scholar and teacher of literature, animal studies, and dance/performance studies, and is affiliated with Sakshi Productions.  Most recently, she created a sound and movement performance piece about the extinct passenger pigeon with Michael Pestel (2014), premiered “No Taking That Back,” inspired by the work of colleague and celebrated poet, Lee Upton (2015), and performed “To Know the Difference” at Ten Tiny Dances, Bethlehem ArtsQuest (2015).



Nandini Sikand is a dancer, filmmaker and anthropologist. She is the co-founder and co-director of
Plate 3 Photography courtesy of Birds on a Wire Dance Theatre
Sakshi Productions, a neo-classical and contemporary dance company
www.sakshiproductions.org. She has performed at many notable venues, including Lincoln Center, the United Nations, Danny Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Pace University, John Jay College and The Graduate Center, CUNY in New York. She is also the Associate Director/Choreographer of Harmattan Theater, a performance group committed to an environmentally and socially-engaged theater. Nandini Sikand is an Assistant Professor of an interdisciplinary film and media studies program at Lafayette College, PA.



Jennifer D. Yackel is a Philly-based dance artist whose career has taken her from ballet companies
Photo by Ellen Rosenberg
such as the Richmond Ballet and the Ballet Theater of Maryland, to contemporary companies such as Jeanne Ruddy Dance and the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company.  In addition to her company work, Jennifer has enjoyed projects with Mark Dendy, Adam Weinert, Bowen McCauley Dance, Chisena Danza, Lior Shneior, Invisible River, Victoria Hutchinson, Stone Depot Dance, and The Naked Stark.  She has performed in notable venues such as The Kimmel Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, and the Lincoln Center Plaza.  


Jennifer is currently part of the NADINE Project, a choreographic collective under the direction of Janet Soares and Libby Nye.  Her choreography has been presented in festivals and venues in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. As an educator, Jennifer has taught master classes at the American College Dance Association Festival and Salisbury University.  She is currently a teaching artist for the Rock School for Dance Education.



(New for this week - the server is doing weird things with text, particularly for the folks involved in Breach: Left Behind. Thanks for reading and your understanding!)

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Never forget... never remember? Or just lift your lamp? FEAR

I've spent my life in war.

My childhood was defined by the Gulf War. I remember a classmate's father coming to speak to my elementary school class. He told us that his water was poisoned with oil. My childhood mind couldn't understand that anyone had unclean water; didn't have the same access to basic water like I did; or that anyone could so deliberately hurt another person. There was a Q&A after his talk, and then a few moments when those of us who had questions, but didn't get to ask them publicly, could talk with him. I think I was nine. "Why would they put oil in your water?", I asked so confused. The man looked at me with gentle eyes and shrugged. "They were just being mean."

His answer confused me then and it still confuses me now.

Why are people mean?

Anger. Jealously. Inequality. Fear.

Fear. False Evidence Appearing Real. F.E.A.R.

15 years ago, we fumbled for the contact of strangers. We cried. Holding each other and feeling tears meant we were still alive and present.

15 years later, we cut glances in our communities and brace for impact. We question gestures of kindness as manipulation and condemn authenticity as weakness.

We live in a violent culture and I question how much of 9/11 has impacted the ideas of war-culture that continue to exist in our society.

A recent NPR story examined how gun language is part of our cultural language. At work or home, when was the last time you were "under the gun" or needed to "pull the trigger" on a project? Were you "locked and loaded" for a presentation or did you "take a shot" at a new idea? Was your "eye on the target" or did you "post-mortem" after your last project? Violent culture is a part of our language culture, but, like my nine-year-old-self, we don't realize that we could be "just being mean."

(I'm pausing as I write).

Several weeks ago I was asked to lead a movement workshop designed to facilitate community building among multiple populations, all at the same time. Age, gender, race, socio-economic, and geographic identity were a few of ways this population differentiated and identified. At the end of the workshop, most of the participants admitted they felt awkward and confused but that I was able to lead them to a place where they understood their awkwardness and confusion were a part of the process of seeing other people, stepping out of their own comfort zone, and recognizing different views and ways of being. The participants reported feeling uncomfortable participating in the movement experience, but were comforted by the fact that other people were also participating. Unlike other social experiments, I don't think this was an example of "group think" but a way that individuals can let go of personal boundaries in order to connect with their communities.

And when we connect, we can build on the gifts of individuals to develop a comprehensive whole.

Today, 15 years after 9/11/01, I remember strangers holding me because I was young and scared. I remember individuals putting themselves aside to let me know that I was not forgotten, in those moments/ days/ weeks of terror. I remember the importance to be - present in the remembering, the listening, and the action of what seemed to be positive social change.

Perhaps we as a country didn't do the best in banding together after 9/11/01, but I believe that we still have the power to remember that we're all connected in some way and that makes us a community... together...

"Give me your tired, your poor...

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hang
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tos"s to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!


May we all find our own way to lift our lamp...