Discount to KYL/D's show - and why you should see it!

KYL/D is performing April 14th-16th at Prince Theater in Philly. Use the code "Jessica5" (without the quotes) for a special discount when you get your tickets: http://princetheater.org/events/kun-yang-lin-dancers

This show is really special to me because "Autumn Skin" was one of the first KYL/D pieces I learned and performed. I've grown so much as a person and as an artist over the past few years and I carry my reflections and maturity into this new work. I have a deeper understanding of the intention of the piece and the nuances of relationships as I experience them through the movement, but also as I've experienced them in my own life journey. I feel as through the past few months, especially, have allowed me the time and space to shed my own skin and walk into a new path of becoming. If you've been following, you know it's time for me to shed. 

"Dreamscape," "Moments," and "Vertigo" will be new to KYL/D's Philly audience! We received such an enthusiastic response from our new friends in Michigan, when we traveled to Grand Valley State University to perform with The Grand Valley State New Music Orchestra. There's an extra energy that fills the air when live dance and live music can come together. We'll have a live violinist adding to the performances on Saturday. 

I'm grateful for the amount of TIME we've had with each of these pieces and the opportunity to preview them during the year. This practice of returning to the movement over time has allowed me to deepen into the work through understanding my breath and how it influences the nuances of my movement. Time has also allowed me to engage with difference elements of Kun-Yang's CHI Awareness Technique. I have become more aware of my own body in space, my breath in relationship to the other dancers, my own use of energy and tension, and the relationships I can create between the space and the audience. Understanding the breath was such a large part of KYL/D's residency at Grand Valley State University in Michigan that the time between that performance and now has allowed me to reflect and embody what I learned and continue to explore. 

Artist Margi Peterson wrote about this TIME that Grace Stern and I had with the students and faculty at GVSU and how we deepened our own breath practice during this week: http://sacredspacemdp.weebly.com/blog/breathe

For me, this April performance feels like a culmination of my past and an explosion into something new.  Please join me!

KYL/D's Building HOME: Deconstructing HOME

KYL/D has been working on "Home: S 9th St." for several months now. As part of the process, I've participated as an artist in several research and community based events: KYL/D's Open Dialogs, Story Circles inspired by the practices of Cornerstone Theatre, and impromptu story telling about family, safety, and what it means to be "home".

Over the course of the next few weekends, KYL/D will be sharing more of the process of "Home: S 9th St". But, I'm honored that they're also opening up the process to showing us, their artists, in a different light. We will be performing the work of Artistic Director Kun-Yang Lin as part of KYL/D's Deconstructing HOME on May 14th-16th at the CHI Movement Art's Center, KYL/D's actual "home space". This upcoming week (May 7th-9th), KYL/D will be presenting the creative work of the company's artists. In addition to being performers and active in that course of creative investigation, each of us are also creators, choreographers, educators, and exist in the roles of friend, lover, daughter, partner... This weekend is a unique opportunity to really go behind the scenes of the artists, ourselves.

I'm sharing excerpts of (in)visible veins and a new work in which I'm collaborating with long-time friend Jessica Hardinger. More on that forthcoming.

See you next week at CHI MAC! Space is limited, so reserve your tickets: TICKETS for KYL/D's Building HOME and Deconstructing HOME

  

Upcoming Performances and Adventures - Welcome 2015!

2014 certainly was an exciting year in my little dancing world.

I'm grateful to have had opportunities
to deepen my artistry as a performer with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet, and Freshblood.
to explore new ideas and creative challenges as a choreographer at Widener University and Alvernia University.
to expand my pedagogical practices as an educator at KYL/D's CHI Movement Arts Center, Muhlenberg College, Widener University, and Alvernia University.
to cultivate scholarship through the National Dance Education Organization.
to grow as a writer through DanceAdvantage.net.
to develop relationships and creative communication across disciplines with Paul Fejko (music), Brian Mengini (photography), and Nathan Thomas (theatre).

photo by Brian Mengini

Thank you for sharing the journey with me!

The performance calendar for 2015 is quickly filling up! Here's a smattering of what's in store:

January 2nd - KYL/D (Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers) is performing at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's "Art After 5". It's FREE with Museum Admission. Check out more info here: KYLD at Art After 5

January 9th - KYL/D is performing at APAP in NYC. We'll be at City Center Studio 4. Check out more info and the schedule of other performances at APAP here: KYLD at APAP

January 30th-31st - KYL/D is performing at Temple University's Faculty Dance Concert at Conwell Dance Theater. More info here: KYLD at TU

February 6th - KYL/D's 24th(!) InHale Performance Series at CHI MAC. (So excited to be in our 6th year!)

February 11th - I'll be teaching a Master Class in Ballet at Franklin & Marshall College.

February 27th-28th - NGCB (Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet) premiers a new work for our annual home season concert at the Performance Garage in Philly. Get your tickets here: NCGB's home season

Whew! And that's just in the first two months of the year! Please join me!

and this... as a reminder for the New Year...

Happy 2015!

The clothes make the...

I had the opportunity to peek at the costumes for "Puppets at the Fairground." They're beautiful and stunning! I'm so excited for the actors to wear them.

And I was reminded of putting on KYL/D's "Land of Lost Content" costume for the first time. "Land was the first KYL/D performance I saw and was the moment I fell in love with the company. Putting on the costume was an honor and I was surprised at how much I was effected and empowered when I put on the costume for the performance - even though I've been dancing with the company for several years.

Costumes are so powerful for the performer. They assist in telling the story and getting into the character.

Several years ago in a Dance Appreciation-like class, my students asked me about costume choices. The students seemed to assume that costumes and colors were arbitrary. Until I asked them how many of them thought about what they were going to put on this morning. How did their clothing choices effect the way they felt and the way they presented themselves throughout the dance? How did they think about how their clothing choices made other people perceive them? Almost all of my students (even the ones that looked like they just rolled out of bed to attend an 8:30am class) acknowledged thinking about their own clothing choices.

Choreographers, directors, and costume designers also think a lot about costume choices. The costumes are an essential part of telling the story.

To say it better, here's Martha Graham. The first part of "A Dancer's World" provides insight into preparing for a performance.

KYL/D's 23rd InHale Performance Series

Here are the featured artists for KYL/D's 23rd InHale Performance Series!

Get your tickets Dance Box Office

KYL/D's 22nd InHale Performance Series

July was an exciting month full of dancing adventures with the Come Together Festival presented by Koresh. August is going to be full, too!

August 8th (the day after KYL/D performs at the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival) is the InHale Performance Series!

Every InHale is special it's an opportunity to bring so many artists together in one space. It's an incredible evening for artists to share their work in the intimate setting the the CHI Movement Arts Center, and it's a chance for audiences to see diverse works all in one place! This August, we have artists from Philly, Virginia, and Michigan. Some artists have been developing their choreographic voice for many years, and some are new to the professional field (although still having been working on their craft in the undergraduate setting). I'm always inspired by the artists of InHale and their dedication to this field.

August 8, 2014
7:30pm
CHI Movement Arts Center, home of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
1316 S 9th St, Philadelphia

Performers include:
Alchemy Dance Company
Belle Alvarez
Beth Elliot Dance Group
Evalina (Wally) Carbonell
Julee Mahon and Emma MacDonald
Sattriya Dance Company
SelbyDance
Somanaut Dance
Underground Dance Works

Click here for InHale Tickets