Q: Can you talk about how you began dancing?

My older sister and her dance friends were all in studio classes like ballet, tap, jazz, and so I got dragged in the carpool and then eventually by the first grade I got put in like jazz, tap, ballet classes. then that turned into classical modern classes and hip hop classes and that's how I got to Mass Motion Dance.  Terri Gordon really introduced me to classical techniques and then eventually another classmate did Hip Hop Connection and that was a crew that I auditioned for and that was like my first real audition process.

At that point, I really dived into dance fully. I was working with Boston Ballet doing PT with them and I was interning for Vanity Dance and doing like the administrative side.  so it was really outside of the studio just seeing what other elements of the performance world were possible. I think a lot of that is attributed to writing, writing blog posts, editing videos. Designing posters, designing t-shirts for organizations and companies. So it wasn't just dance

performance it became more of like a whole picture of what you could do in the dance world.

Then I went to the University of Michigan for Dance. I was editor-in-chief of Dance Student Assembly, so I ran all the social media. I did a lot of the promotion for the annual dance department power center show. The summers, I was working for Gallim Dance doing their social media and marketing and this was really like at the beginning of social media like this wasn't what it was now where everything was brand new.  I had to figure out how to engage this digital community. I then worked in San Francisco with Second Line, TV, which was a live streaming platform, specifically for performing artists.

Then I graduated college and moved to Austin. I totally didn't want to be in the dance world at all. I needed a break, and Austin was one of those cities that barely has Dance, but it's like not great. It has a couple of modern dance troupes. It's not, it's not New York or LA. its own beast.  

I've been in Austin for almost five years and about two years went by, and I just felt this urge to move again, like, really profoundly. And it kind of like woke up this beast inside of me of you need to move your body, and it doesn't need to be the way that you were trained or brought up but you need to move in some completely new way and so it was like reconditioning from swimming to doing more yoga to collaborating with not only other artists, but other disciplinary so like designers and cooks and bartenders and like working in kitchens and seeing the rhythm and just like experiencing a new pace of life, but really reemerged as this thing called The Groove, which is the dance class I teach about twice a month.

About a year and I decided to write a newsletter for it, because I realized that people didn't know I was a dancer. And because Austin isn't really like the epicenter of a performance culture, with the exception of life music which is huge here, I decided to put together the newsletters so the newsletter is essentially like an invite to the class with context of music of choreography that I'm looking at are kind of into at the moment, artists chefs. Now, I am a full freelance.

Q: How do you think that dance can be a form for social justice issues?

I think dance, which a lot of people don't realize from an outside perspective, is that dance has so much more of a message like the conception of movement comes from.

Not your body, it comes from your brain, then like processing movement into some type of way or or pattern. I mean it's a great question because like, which is kind of a chicken in the egg situation of like which comes first, the movement or the conceptualization and I think if you're someone who is involved in your community involved in some type of social impact organization or you're just like, literally reading the news and you know what's going on in the world I think you are able to physicalize what you're reading in whatever way that you find truthful.

Q: How has the pandemic affected you as an artist?

I wouldn't really consider myself a performing artist right now, like I'm not dancing for a company. The class is really where it's at, for me, and I will say that teaching a virtual dance class is much harder than teaching a class in a studio. I would say the urgency of it is the toughest part, because, you know, meeting someone in person to talk about plans and like actual figures and numbers is way more pressing when it's in person, versus the actuality of those plans and figures and numbers actually happening. I think, just like being in the studio being around people having that like, Okay, this is the deadline that I have to have this newsletter out this is like the deadline that I have to get the studio payment in and the invites out and the newsletter done. it's just, it's not the same. I did a virtual class and it was tough. I really credit the people who are continuing to do those classes online classes like zoom, my zoom classes are so hard. So I think it's possible. I mean, you have to be so creative. You have to be like a real problem solver, and go getter and like actually make happen really determined. I think that there are other ways like I think the newsletter now is different. It's not necessarily an invite to a class, it's like more video segments of how you can move your how you can move your body to feel more grounded in your body.

Q: How have you seen people continuing to create during this time?

I've seen people doing really cool challenges like they've been challenging themselves to create art.  I feel like there's two groups, there's one group that is determined to keep making something every day, which is great. And I think that's a really good daily practice I think Twyla Tharp is someone I look up to so much in that respect is like she is regimented as hell, like she wakes up at 5 am and she is like going to the gym, it's like every single day is the exact same. And I think that's a really good way to develop a practice. And then there's this unique scenario of We are in a global crisis and we've never been in this crisis before and you know there's shell shock like what do you do when you can't go to the places you want to go to?  I think there's forgiveness and on the other side of it. But there's also the idea of maintaining artistic practices.

Q: What have you seen people practicing during this time?

I see a lot of improvisation, which I think is super cool. Like what bodies can actually do in space without direction, and like what you're actually capable of something real interested in is like. It's this concept that I'm really interested in having like steam, of how people can like, use different spaces especially like those with different elements to sorry my computer's really, I'm using different elements to, like, steam up your body. It's something like you know those things that a car sales plot that like are like, whoa. Yeah, like, yeah, so like a lot of different improvisation techniques that I use are totally visual. And so like steam, like this one I got from Murata like walking through peanut butter, it's like, like how can you, how can you use normal items to instigate movement. Like, what texture are you? What color are you? What day of the week are you? You know, like there's so much improvisation, that people don't know that they can necessarily use, and open their minds to. I also think that something I love seeing right now is. And I'm like, embarrassed even to say it but I love seeing people do Tik Tok. It's such a necessary time to move your body and like get your blood flow going but like, even if it's a stupid dance or whatever it's still dancing and it's still moving your body and I think like the fact that technology is able to elevate that is super cool. Absolutely, absolutely.

Q: What do you think needs to change in the dance world?

I think that the audition process can definitely change. To me it's super antiquated in a certain style. I think, I've learned that a lot of opportunities like knowing your community, and knowing different aspects of the people in it so it's not necessarily the choreographer or the like creative, the artistic director, but it could be like the production person or it could be the guy, or the woman who does the lights, or it could be you know on the business side of things, I think, like, it's networking is way more important than the actual audition and like that hasn't really changed so much since I've graduated granted, I'm not in the audition world as much but that was always like the most intimidating part for me. So, I think it's more of like who you know, and who, like the networking part of it. Like I have opportunities now coming to the door that I haven't spoken to those people in years.  Networking is a really scary word. I don't even know why we still call it that, but just like being in your community is equally as important as going to like going to the audition. Even if you don't nail the audition, like it doesn't really matter.  As long as you like to take it with a grain of salt, like, okay, I didn't get it but like I met this person. And now we can get lunch and get coffee or whatever it is. So, I think yeah like expanding like taking the dance for what it is because it's really old but it's not going to change, to be perfectly frank, I really don't think you know like you need people to see performance, and without like digitally, you can do that, but there's a really sweet moment of seeing that dancer like taking his or her final balance stage and like being able to stand up and applaud for that person in the theater is is so important. So as long as we have that, I think creative collaboration is really endless like the opportunities are endless but still being able to realize that, you know, connection digitally or in person is equally as important as the performance element of it.