Today's #GivingTuesday.
I've been a bit overwhelmed by all of the emails and ads to buy, get, and do over the past few days.
JCWK Dance Lab is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas and donations can be tax deductible. But, instead of financial support I ask this of you today:
For October's episode of The Greater Reading Area Dance Exchange (GRADE) on BCTV.org, I led a Dance for Wellness demo. Create some space and let's get moving!
"But for many of us, there is no form of self-expression that makes us feel more vulnerable than dancing. It is full body vulnerability." ~Brene Brown
Right now, I feel like, in a way, I'm personally emerging. This weekend, I'm presenting work with JCWK Dance Lab and The Crossing Paths Movement Collective in Bethlehem, PA. It's the first time I'm stepping onstage in a traditional theatre setting since February 2020. I'm a bit nervous and a lot excited.
Many of the "normal" pre-performance jitters have been rising, as are some new, post-pandemic apprehensions. Can I still do this? Should I? Does it matter? "Yes!" to all of those questions, but I'm not as practiced as I used to be in calming them down. My trainig has taught me to trust my process and all of the artists involved who are making this performance come to life. I release my breath and prepare to emerge.
JCWK Dance Lab artists Arielle Ridley, Cady Monasmith, and Woosoon Kim have been in the studio with me researching, rehearsing, and creating for several months. I'm grateful for their trust and their dedication to this process.
Composer Stephen Grieco has provided me with incredible music and research into celestial bodies through his album, Dark Adaptation. Again, I'm grateful he's entrusted me with this aural story.
The other producers of The Crossing Paths Movement Collective are Sarah Carlson, Malcolm Shute, and Nick Daniels. I've worked with Sarah and Malcolm many times over the past decade. I trust their work and their voices and am excited to be able to share the stage with them!
Chris Connelly is our Technical Director for this performance. I've also worked with him on several projects at Alvernia and trust his lighting design and direction. This is the first time we're working together outside of the academic setting. I can't wait to collaborate with him in this way!
As I personally and professionally emerge into this next step of my journey, I'm grateful for the relationships that Time has built and strengthened. Although dance is full body vulnerablity, it is also full-body joy, connection, and story sharing.
What are some of the ways you're emerging? I'll return with more from the other side...
*Post was written prior to the weekend, but didn't publish...
For tickets and more information, please click here.
Check out the preview videos:
Happy World Ballet Day!
During the late part of 2021, musical artist Mikaela Krall, lead of the band Dipped, approached me about a collaborative project. Dipped was releasing a new album in 2022 and Mikaela had a unique vision for one of her songs as a dance/ video project.
As collaborations work, we meet. We talked. We got to know each other through our artistic voices. We dreamt. We planned. We worked.
We tried some things. They didn't work.
We tried some other things.
Mikaela focused on the music. I focused on the dance. Independently, we worked. We came back together.
Covid. We needed to be flexible in our process and timing.
The project grew and changed as it took on its own identity and we added more voices. We listened to the work; reflected; continued.
In February 2022, we performed Domino to a live audience as part of the Reading Fringe Festival. In May, we created the video.
On October 22, the video dropped.
Watch it here:
I'm incredible proud of the dedication, perseverance and creativity of this team. Thank you!
When was the last time you looked at the night sky? When was the last time you stood with the night and allowed the distant stars to reveal themselves to you?
I am left in awe when I allow myself time to be present with the stars and their stories.
I know, this isn't new. People have marveled at the stars as long as there have been people. What is new is that art, science, and technology invite us to experience the stars with an increased depth of understanding and wonder.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reflected, "the atoms that make up the human body are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core... so that when I look up at the night sky, I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us."
What if we treated each other with the same awe and wonder with which we stand in the night sky? What if we recognized the magnificence in our physical and social environments?
We Are StarDust is the current, multi-year research campaign of JCWK Dance Lab. It investigates the science that our human bodies are made of the same stuff as stars. Like stars, they (we) deserve respect, awe, and wonder. In reflection of this research, this campaign has several layers.
Thank you, Berks Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for recognizing that artists and creative people are also entrepreneurs!
JCWK Dance Lab is a recipient of the Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program. Stay tuned to see how we're growing and creating Joy, Connection, and Wellness through Kinesthetic stories in Berks County!
