My art transpires from the personal. It is the collective “I” panting, sweating, soaring and stumbling hard before you, as you sit and watch my performance transcend from the street to the stage. I create dance to find answers, or perhaps even to make love, to my own confusion. My body tugs on the emotions that curdle and coil up on the inside and stamp vibrant patches upon my memory.
I create dance to connect. I believe in the power of disclosure; the moment of vulnerability when the stage bares all and the audience can put themselves on the inside. As a result, my most recent work explores the experience of performance both for the cast and audience member, alike. How can I tap into senses beyond the empathetic visual? What does the theater smell like? Does it smell like roses? Cinnamon? Can you taste it? Can you touch it? What does that make you think of? How does that transport you in time? Space? Memory? How does the body archive sensation? I’m drawn to creating sensoriums; stages that extend their arms and hug the audience in such a way that the dance contains them. My work sample, That one should open like an eyelid and lying there beneath it simply eyelids, is an example of a duet I installed in a vintage parlor swallowed by 250,000 ivory rose petals, linked to an adjacent parlor gridlocked with 200 rose stems mapping the floor and consuming the penetration of their natural aromas. I was interested in the affect of our holistic and sensual awareness, and consequently, how the stimulation of latent memory can enliven not only the dancing body but also those that bear its witness.
My creative process is immersive. I dive headfirst into inspiration, cushioning my fall with literature, conversations and exhibitions of other art mediums, artists and theorists that link up with my incentive. I talk about it, I read about it, I ask more questions, I take responsibility for it... I bathe in it. I spend the first 1 - 3 weeks in the studio alone where I contemplate, research and furiously generate movement material and contextual situations. I improvise with my eyes locked shut and guided by my gut. The result is a soft, faceted athleticism tinged by my technical training background and fueled by emotions aroused here and now. I create my dances for the bodies, personalities and histories of those individuals cast. We work intimately, maintaining a fluid dialogue throughout the process of design and construction. Revelation, doubt, wonder, love, hate flies around the studio and binds the dance together. My collaboration is an exchange of trust.
(Artist Statement, November 2011)
