Category

Podcast

Podcast

Mar 07
Love1

MSP 196: Jessica Gaynor

By Podcast

MSP 196: Jessica Gaynor

Release Date: 3.5.26

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Shaping a Life in Dance with Jessica Gaynor

Episode 192: Show Notes.

A lifelong devotion to movement can shape not just an artist’s career, but an entire community. Today, choreographer, educator, and Artistic Director Jessica Gaynor shares how her path began in gymnastics before finding her true calling in modern dance. From her early days studying with the legendary Alice Teirstein to becoming a mentor and leader in her own right, Jessica’s story is one of passion, resilience, and creativity. In our conversation, Jessica reflects on the freedom and self-expression she discovered through improvisation, her formative years studying dance at Brown and CalArts, and the drive that led her to form her own company back in New York. She recalls milestone performances, collaborations with composers, and the challenges of sustaining a company while teaching full-time. Today, her work as Artistic Director of the Young Dancemakers Company continues to empower teens to create original work in partnership with professional composers, carrying forward the legacy of her mentor. Tune in to hear how Jessica has built a multifaceted career in dance, and why she remains committed to creating, teaching, and inspiring the next generation.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Jessica’s upbringing in NYC and her shift from gymnastics to ballet and modern dance.
  • How she found mentorship with Alice Teirstein at the Fieldston School.
  • Her love of dance as a form of freedom, self-expression, and community through movement.
  • Early influences on her dance career: Pilobolus and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.
  • Studying at Brown, while doing an academic major, repertory works, choreography, and more.
  • Graduate training at CalArts, focusing on choreography, performance, and collaboration.
  • What it was like returning to NYC and forming a company with fellow dancers.
  • Creating evening-length works at Triskelion Arts and touring performances.
  • Collaborative works with composers, exploring structure and form.
  • Joining the Young Dancemakers Company (YDC) and becoming Artistic Director.
  • Leading YDC through the pandemic with Zoom dance films and outdoor shows.
  • Jessica’s love of teaching and helping teens create original work.
  • Rediscovering performance and collaborating with her musician husband.
  • Reflections on highlights and challenges while sustaining a career in dance.

Jessica Gaynor is a choreographer, performer and teacher, as well as Artistic Director of Jessica Gaynor Dance and the Young Dancemakers Company. Hailed for her “risk-laden” (DIY Dancer) choreography and “sophisticated approach to pure dance,” (The New Yorker), Jessica’s work utilizes kinetic physicality, intricate patterning, and formal structures in an exploration of the complexities of human experience.

Jessica has created more than forty works for her company and for schools and universities around the world. Her work has been performed at venues such as Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, The Skirball Center/NYU, Danspace Project @ St. Mark’s Church, Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Kitchen, Peridance, Triskelion Arts, Dance Theater Workshop, The 92Y, Dixon Place, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CPR, Hudson Guild Theater, LAKE Studios, Kühlspot, Errant Sounds, PAS Berlin, Interior to Beings Festival, Uferstudios, Berlin Dance Institute and many more.

Jessica’s repertory has been set on students at Brown University, Grand Canyon University, Berlin Dance Institute, the Fieldston School, the Brearley School and the Young Dancemakers Company. She has taught workshops at Peridance Capezio Center, Gibney Dance Center, Tanzfabrik, PAUL Studios and Insight Dance, was a guest choreographer for Amalgamate Dance Company’s Guest Artist Showcase, and directed the dance program at The Brearley School from 2007-2014.

Jessica holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from California Institute of the Arts, and a BA from Brown University, where upon graduation she received the Weston Award for excellence in dance. Recent grants include an O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation Grant, two New Music/USA Commissions, a Mertz Gilmore Late Stage Production Stipend and multiple Andrew W. Mellon Space Subsidies. Jessica Gaynor Dance was a Gotham Arts Exchange Emerging Artist in 2010 and a member of Pentacle’s (DanceWorks, Inc.) Gallery Roster from 2013-2015.

Since 2019, Jessica has proudly served as Artistic Director of the Young Dancemakers Company. Founded in 1996 by Alice Teirstein, Young Dancemakers Company (YDC) is rooted in the belief that teenagers have something essential to say to the world, and that they can say it through dance. YDC is a unique, tuition-free summer dance ensemble of NYC teens dedicated to creating their own original choreography and performing it in free touring concerts city-wide, for audiences of up to 2000 individuals each season. Company members, selected annually by audition, are drawn from throughout NYC public high schools. Through daily intensive training and rehearsal sessions, the company creates original choreography based on meaningful personal and social themes.

Young Dancemakers Company is made possible by the generous support of: Jody and John Arnhold | Arnhold Foundation, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, the Richenthal Foundation, the Teirstein Family in honor of Alice, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, and individual contributors.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Interviewer: Erin Carlisle Norton

Feb 19
Love1

MSP 195: Remembering Kathy Dunn Hamrick

By Podcast

MSP 195: Remembering Kathy Dunn Hamrick

Release Date: 2.19.26

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

With a heavy heart, KDH Dance Company announced the passing of their fierce founder and dearest friend, Kathy Dunn Hamrick. Kathy has had an enormous impact, with ripples throughout Austin and beyond, as she is loved by so many. In her final weeks, she was receiving 30-40 texts a day and numerous visits from friends, family, students, colleagues, collaborators, and neighbors whom she had made a lasting impression on. The organization is heartbroken, but committed to honoring Kathy and her legacy for years to come. Read more in the KDH Dance Company newsletter.

Creating a Modern Dance Culture and Community with Kathy Dunn Hamrick

Episode 195: Show Notes.

Establishing a modern dance company is no easy feat, but today’s guest managed to create a successful organization and build a wonderful modern dance community in Austin, Texas. Today on Movers & Shapers, we welcome Kathy Dunn Hamrick, the Artistic Director of Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance, to discuss her work and how she helps dance grow in Austin. Kathy found a love for dance at a young age and quickly decided that she needed to dedicate her life to it. In this episode, you’ll hear all about Kathy’s life and career, her decision to teach, and how her desire to be ‘in charge’ led her to start her company. We discuss the difficulty of balancing a family and career, her gorgeous piece choreographed on platforms on a lake, and starting the Austin Dance Festival. We delve into Kathy’s recent cancer diagnosis and how her community has showed up for her, and Kathy opens up about next steps of sharing her knowledge with the next generation of dancers and choreographers. Finally, we walk through Kathy’s career highlights and struggles. To hear all this and more, press play now!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • We delve into the who behind Kathy Dunn Hamrick and learn about how she got into dance.
  • The wonderful mentors Kathy has had and how they shaped her career.
  • What Kathy loves about dance and how she constantly stays interested in it.
  • Kathy tells us about her move to New York and why she decided to get her MFA.
  • Transitioning into the role of dance teacher and founding namesake company; Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance.
  • How Kathy balances her family and business while keeping her career interesting for herself.
  • The incredible dance piece that was choreographed by Kathy and performed on a lake.
  • Kathy outlines all of the things her dance company does.
  • The modern dance culture in Austin and why Kathy started her dance festival.
  • How COVID affected Kathy’s business and festival.
  • Kathy’s diagnosis with stage four cancer and what’s next for her and the organization.
  • Why finances have always been Kathy’s biggest business struggle.
  • The highlights of Kathy’s career and the wonderful dance community she’s built.

“From a very young age I knew I wanted a family and I knew I wanted to dance and I’ve achieved both of those [things] so I’m living my best life honestly.” — Kathy Dunn Hamrick

Kathy Dunn Hamrick is the Artistic Director of Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, an award-winning modern dance company based in Austin, Texas. Kathy has happily committed her professional life to dancing, teaching, choreographing, presenting, mentoring, andadvocating for modern dance and dancemakers. She has created over 50 dances that have been described as “strikingly athletic and wonderfully expressive,” “heavenly,” “smart” and “masterly,” and garnered numerous recognitions for the dance company, including Austin Critics Table awards for Best Choreographer, Best Dance Concert, Best Dancer, Best Duet, Best Lighting Design, and Best Ensemble. The company has performed throughout Texas as well asin New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto, and her “Lake Dances” were featuredin Arts + Culture Texas, Arts Journal, and Dance Magazine. Kathy holds a BA in Modern Dancefrom The University of Texas and an MFA in Performance, and Choreography from Florida State University. She has taught at Florida State, Stephen F. Austin State University, St.Edwards University, The University of Texas, and Austin Community College. She currentlyteaches modern dance for both recreational and professional dancers at Café Dance; providesprofessional development for educators; directs artist residencies for high schools anduniversities; and served as a mentor for Austin Emerging Arts Leaders. In 2015, Kathy founded Austin Dance Festival, an annual modern dance event that hosts professional danceshowcases, master classes, and a Youth Edition that includes non-competitive showcases forteens 13-18, a Pro Chat Q&A, and a college fair. In 2018, Kathy was inducted into the AustinArts Hall of Fame as “a model for the artist who approaches each project in a spirit of experimentation and reinvention.”

 

Connect with Kathy Dunn Hamrick

Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance

Austin Dance Festival

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Podcast produced by: The Moving Architects
Interviewer: Erin Carlisle Norton

Feb 06
Love1

MSP 194: Bobbi Jene Smith

By Podcast No Comments

PODCAST 194: Bobbi Jene Smith

Release Date: 2.5.26

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe & Listen HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Reaching Beyond Borders, Rooted in Movement with Bobbi Jene Smith

Episode 194: Show Notes. 

From Iowa to Juilliard, from Israel to screens, Bobbi Jene Smith’s Journey through dance is anything but ordinary and defies borders and expectations! In this episode, we are joined by internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker Bobbi Jene Smith. Known for her deeply personal and raw approach to movement, Bobbi shares the milestones that shaped her path; from leaving home at the age of 11, to ultimately moving to Israel to join Batsheva Dance Company. Bobbi opens up about the challenges of living abroad and the profound ways in which her relationship with dance evolved through her time in Israel before reflecting on her decision to leave Batsheva and return to the US. We also hear about her transition to dance filmmaking, her current projects, and what it means to her to continuously practice and live through her craft. Finally, Bobbi leaves us with thoughtful reflections on identity, artistry, and her hopes for the future. Thanks for tuning in!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Welcoming today’s guest, Bobbi Jene Smith.

  • Bobbi Jene tells us about her background in dance.

  • What the summer program at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School was like.

  • Moving away from home at the age of 11 and ending up at Juilliard.

  • How the Juilliard environment differed from Bobbi’s previous studies.

  • Bobbi Jene walks us through the logistics of moving to Israel and what it felt like.

  • How Bobbi Jene reconnected with her love for dance.

  • The challenges that came with being in Israel for so long.

  • Bobbi Jene tells us about some of her favorite performances.

  • How she decided to leave Batsheva Dance Company and move back to the US.

  • The importance of continuously practicing your craft.

  • How Bobbi Jene got into creating dance films and what she’s working on now.

  • What Bobbi Jene’s hopes and dreams are for the future.

ABOUT Bobbi Jene Smith

Bobbi Jene Smith is from Ames, Iowa. She is an alumnus of the Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. From 2005-2014, she was a member of the Batsheva Dance Company under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin. In collaboration with Or Schraiber, she has choreographed original works for the Paris Opera Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Royal Danish Ballet, Theater Basel, L.A. Dance Project, The Batsheva Dance Ensemble, among others. She is a founding member of American Modern Opera Company and an artist in residence at L.A. Dance Project.is from Ames, Iowa. She is an alumnus of the Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. From 2005-2014, she was a member of the Batsheva Dance Company under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin. In collaboration with Or Schraiber, she has choreographed original works for the Paris Opera Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Royal Danish Ballet, Theater Basel, L.A. Dance Project, The Batsheva Dance Ensemble, among others. She is a founding member of American Modern Opera Company and an artist in residence at L.A. Dance Project.

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Bobbi Jene Smith on Instagram

Batsheva Dance Company

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School

North Carolina School of the Arts

The Juilliard School

Brenda Daniels

Ohad Naharin

Andrea Miller

Danielle Agami

San Francisco Conservatory of Dance

Sleep No More

The Royal Danish Ballet

 

 

Jan 23
Love1

MSP 193: Morgan Teel

By Podcast

PODCAST 193: Morgan Teel

Release Date: 1.22.26

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe & Listen HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Beyond the Product: The Dance Process with Morgan Teel

 

Episode 193: Show Notes. 

Morgan Teel is the mind behind Dance Waterloo, an organization making dance more accessible through site specific and site responsive shows in Austin, Texas. During this episode, she joins us to share the story of how she first fell in love with dance, what deepened her knowledge of choreography, and the motivation behind launching Dance Waterloo. Morgan also shares what first drew her to site-specific work and how Austin audiences have embraced it, from intimate community performances to larger shows like Quixotic States at the Zilker Hillside Theatre Stage. We discuss her inventive projects, including a spelling bee themed dance production, and how she works to make the creative process as visible as the final product. Along the way, she reveals where she finds inspiration for her pieces and why accessibility, experimentation, and community connection remain at the heart of her vision for Dance Waterloo’s future.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Morgan Teel’s introduction to the world of dance as a child.
  • Applying for colleges and honing her skills as a choreographer. 
  • What motivated Morgan to start Dance Waterloo: making dance more accessible.
  • Working full-time in an arts administration role. 
  • Naming Dance Waterloo, fundraising, and putting on their first show under an overpass.
  • How dance classes for families allow children to see their parents as equal collaborators.
  • The legacy Morgan hopes to build with Dance Waterloo.
  • How she is working with Austin’s senior population.
  • Marketing Dance Waterloo and growing its network. 
  • What first drew Morgan to site-specific work and how it has been received. 
  • The spelling bee dance production she recently put on. 
  • Where she finds inspiration for her pieces. 
  • How she is working to make the process of dance visible beyond the product of it. 
  • Quixotic States: a dance show at the Zilker Hillside Theatre Stage. 
  • Plans for the future: dancing with teenagers.
  • How Morgan cross-pollinates her skills.

ABOUT Morgan

Morgan Teel is a choreographer, dancer, and the founder and artistic director of Dance Waterloo, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides performances and dance education programs to adults and children, and to other artists at affordable rates. By integrating her passion for dance and expertise in community engagement she aims to bridge the gap between institutions and their communities, enabling mutual growth.

Morgan founded Dance Waterloo after realizing there was a gap in how dance was being shared with the community. For a city known for its cultural vibrancy, she was struck by how few people had ever experienced modern or contemporary dance. When she  talked to strangers, many said they didn’t watch modern dance because they didn’t feel like they “got it” or thought it wasn’t something for them. This opened her eyes to an opportunity: how could she offer dance in a way that felt accessible and inviting to everyone? In 2015, Dance Waterloo launched with their debut performance, Under the Overpass, a night performance at Skylines in Boggy Creek Greenbelt Park. Since its inception, Morgan has led the organization as it has expanded into community programs, virtual monthly workshops with proceeds supporting BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities, mentorship for emerging rural Central Texas BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled choreographers, and performances in partnership with Austin institutions like Lady Bird Lake, Epoch Coffee, and more. Through Dance Waterloo, Morgan believes in creating multigenerational work that brings the choreographic processes to a more digestible level, invites the audience to participate, and makes dance community driven.

In addition to her work at Dance Waterloo, Morgan is a Certified Enneagram Coach specializing in time management with an intuitive approach. Instead of using rigid systems, she helps individuals understand how their natural tendencies, motivations, and energy cycles influence how they manage their time. By focusing on self-awareness and adaptability, Morgan encourages people to work with their own rhythms, creating a sustainable balance between creativity, productivity, and rest. This approach aligns with her work in dance and community engagement, both of which require flexibility and the ability to adjust to shifting priorities while staying focused.

Morgan is committed to serving artists in Austin. In 2025, she joined the advisory council for Keep Austin Beautiful, an organization that has been serving Austin since 1983 to ensure that the community stays safe, clean, and beautiful. She has served as the president of Austin Emerging Arts Leaders (EAL), a collective of Austin-based arts practitioners, administrators, and advocates offering professional development opportunities and inclusive community building. During her tenure she co-created the mentorship program which identifies and cultivates the next generation of arts leaders by selecting approximately five emerging artists and arts administrators and pairing them with established mentors to build relationships that aid their personal, professional, and creative development. 

Morgan holds a masters of fine arts in Dance from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelors of fine arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from The University of Southern Mississippi. Her artistic works have premiered across the United States—including Florida, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas, and New York—and internationally in Italy. For more information please visit, dancewaterloo.org.

Connect:

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Morgan Teel

Dance Waterloo on Instagram

Quixotic States

The Artist Access Program

 

Jan 08
Love1

MSP 192: Mickela Mallozzi

By Podcast

PODCAST 192: Mickela Mallozzi

Release Date: 1.8.26

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe & Listen HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi

Episode 192: Show Notes. 

Joining Erin on the Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast today is Mickela Mallozzi. Mickela is a four-time Emmy® Award–winning host and executive producer of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, a PBS and Amazon Prime travel series celebrating global dance traditions. A professional dancer and trained musician, she travels the world exploring how everyday people express their cultures through movement. Her work has been featured in major outlets including The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Forbes, and The Washington Post, and more. In today’s conversation, Erin and Mickela delve into the origins of her dance journey, how a middle-of-the-night dream blossomed into her life project, Bare Feet, and she recounts the impact of growing up in an immigrant family on both herself and the TV show. Mickela unpacks how she worked hard to get her show off the ground, in the process starting a blog, and emphasizes the weight of storytelling in producing the episodes. She touches on what it’s like going into different cultural settings, how she has overcome challenges throughout the year, and when she realized that Bare Feet was more than just a travel show! To hear more about Mickela’s incredible journey, including how she navigated the ins and outs of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what hopes and dreams are coming into fruition in the near future, be sure not to miss out on another insightful episode. Thanks for listening!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Mickela shares the origins of who she is and her dance journey.
  • How she took a middle-of-the-night dream and made it an award-winning TV Show reality.
  • She recounts growing up in an immigrant family with an amazing storytelling Nonnapina.
  • Mickela talks about Bare Feet, the TV Show, and the features of immigrant families in NYC. 
  • “The Plan” before Bare Feet came to be.
  • Mickela shares how dance returned to her life.
  • She tells the story of getting Bare Feet off the ground and ultimately starting her blog.
  • The story of sneaking into a PBS conference and how it panned out.
  • Mickela emphasizes the weight of storytelling on Bare Feet.
  • The importance of working hard and intentionally pursuing what you’re called to do.
  • She talks about the hard juxtaposition of finding funding and support for the show.
  • Mickela breaks down what it’s like going into culturally different communities and learning from the people, the dances, and the spaces. 
  • The difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. 
  • Overcoming challenges throughout the years: Mickela shares a real-life example of “figuring it out.”

ABOUT Mickela

Mickela Mallozzi is the 4x Emmy Award-winning Host & Executive Producer of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, a travel series on PBS.  Mickela likes to say she “makes new friends by dancing with strangers,” connecting with locals through the universal language of dance and music wherever she goes.  From re-discovering her family’s roots in Southern Italy to learning the haka with the Māori in Aotearoa (New Zealand), the series covers Mickela’s adventures as she experiences the world, one dance at a time.

Mickela has been featured in The New York Times, O Magazine, The Washington Post, AFAR Media, Hemispheres Magazine, Dance Magazine, Forbes, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, NBC, and more, and she has performed on various television shows including Sesame Street.

Mickela is also an adjunct professor at her alma mater, New York University, where she teaches “Intercultural Communication Through Dance” when she’s not filming her TV series. The new season 8 of Bare Feet premieres on PBS starting December 2025.

Connect:

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Mickela Mallozzi on LinkedIn

Mickela Mallozzi on Instagram

Mickela Mallozzi on Facebook

Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi

The Bare Feet Podcast with Mickela Mallozzi

Bare Feet TV Show

Sarina Jain Masala Bhanga

Bridget Savage Cole on Instagram

Travel Channel

NYC Media Made in NY on Instagram

InKind

Intercultural Dance Course at NYU Steinhardt

PBS

Prime Video

St. Patrick’s Festival Dublin

 

Dec 18
Love1

MSP 191: Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui

By Podcast

PODCAST 191: Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui

Release Date: 12.18.25

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

 

Mocean Dance with Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui

Episode 195: Show Notes

Some creative partnerships do more than grow over time; they help shape an entire artistic landscape. In this episode of The Movers and Shapers Podcast, we meet Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui, co-artistic directors of Mocean Dance, whose long shared history and collaborative vision have transformed contemporary dance in Nova Scotia. Sara begins by tracing her path from early choreography to training across Canada and the United States, and how returning home eventually led her into a leadership role with Mocean Dance. Susanne shares her parallel journey, from a childhood in community dance to professional training in Toronto and the decision to return to Halifax, where she built an independent career before joining the company. Together, they reflect on the evolution of Mocean Dance from a dancer-centered company to a community-focused hub for creation, training, and sector-wide collaboration. They discuss how their friendship, complementary strengths, and improvisational ethos shape their working relationship, and they offer a look at the ambitious interdisciplinary and land-based projects that will define their next chapter. Listen in for a thoughtful conversation about collaboration, place-based artistry, and what it takes to sustain a thriving dance ecosystem outside major centers.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Sara’s early pull toward dance and her first experiences in choreographing.
  • Training across Canada and finding her voice through somatics and collaboration.
  • Forming the SiNS (Sometimes in Nova Scotia) collective: building an early artistic community.
  • Returning to Halifax and stepping into leadership at Mocean Dance.
  • Completing her MFA at Smith College in the United States to deepen her artistic practice.
  • Susanne’s community-based dance beginnings and discovery of professional training.
  • Moving to Toronto for conservatory study and early company work.
  • Returning home to build an independent career supported by grants and local networks.
  • Joining Mocean Dance and forming a co-artistic partnership with Sara.
  • Learning the administrative demands of running a company.
  • Shifting Mocean from dancer-centered work to community-focused programming.
  • Expanding professional development offerings, labs, and training programs.
  • Building interdisciplinary partnerships across art, ecology, architecture, and design.
  • Developing land-based and relational works with Indigenous collaborators.
  • Reflections on sustaining a long-term creative partnership rooted in trust and improvisation.
  • Looking ahead to large regional initiatives and reimagined touring models.

ABOUT Sara Coffin

Sara Coffin (she/her) is an award-winning dance artist, choreographer, educator, and Co-Artistic Director of Mocean Dance.  Sara received the Creative Nova Scotia Established Artist Award in 2018. She holds a MFA in Choreography from Smith College (USA), BFA in Dance from Simon Fraser University and BSc in Kinesiology from Dalhousie University. Her choreographic work has been presented in many prominent Canadian dance festivals and in the United States. Coffin’s research interests include interdisciplinary collaboration, improvisation and the praxis of contact improvisation, technology as an extension of the body, and the poetic junction between vulnerability, resiliency, and courage.
photo: James MacLean

ABOUT Susanne Chiu

Susanne Chui (she/her) is a mother of two, an award-winning dance artist and Co-Artistic Director of Mocean Dance.  As a performer for 23 years, Susanne has worked with over 25 choreographers from across Canada, and her dancing in Mocean’s Canvas 5 x 5, choreographed by Tedd Robinson, earned her the 2016 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Award.

For Mocean, Susanne has co-created with Erin Donovan (Hear Here Productions), Burnwater and Burnwater: Alchemy, both multi disciplinary, immersive performances. A passionate improvisor, Susanne collaborates across disciplines and is a faculty member of the Creative Music Workshop. Her most recent project, Where Dance and Music Meet, featured 19 performers in a full-length evening of improvised dance and music forms. Whether in the studio, on stage, or in unconventional environments, her work invites permeability between dancer, witness, and space—allowing each to shape the experience in real time.
photo: James MacLean

Connect:

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sara Coffin

Sara Coffin on LinkedIn

Susanne Chui

Susanne Chui on LinkedIn

Mocean Dance

Mocean Dance on Instagram

Mocean Dance linktree

Mocean Dance CLEAR Forum | Choreographic Lab, Exploration and Research

SiNS (Sometimes in Nova Scotia)

Sable Island Institute

Sea Unseen

Sea Unseen – Sable Ocean Dance Project

Kinetic

Kinetic on Instagram

Oshun Dance

Oshun Dance on Instagram



Dec 04
Love2

MSP 190: Danielle Guillermo

By Podcast

PODCAST 190: Danielle Guillermo

Release Date: 12.4.25

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

 

The Dancer’s Entrepreneurial Leap with Danielle Guillermo

Episode 190: Show Notes

A dancer’s career is often shorter than many others, and for the most part, there comes a time when the performer must pivot and find other ways to find value and joy in their craft. Joining us today is Danielle Guillermo, a former dancer turned dance consultant, as well as brand strategist and web designer. We begin with Danielle’s background and how she got into the world of dance before learning how her home and school support structures gave her the confidence needed to excel in performance. Then, we examine how her career goals have evolved since high school, how being rejected from Juilliard was a blessing in disguise, her role at the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and other early-career experiences, and everything that happened to instigate the second phase of her career. We also discover how Danielle began building websites, her journey as a brand strategist, why she chose the teaching route, and why it’s possible (and healthy) for artists to have financial aspirations without compromising their art. To end, Danielle walks us through Dance News Daily — the news hub she built for the entire dance community — and we discover what she has planned for the near future as well as how to connect with her and her work.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Danielle Guillermo describes who she is and how she got into the world of dance.
  • What drew her to ballet, and a journey through her time at dance school.
  • How her support structures gave her confidence that she previously had to fake. 
  • The goals she had when growing up in dance school and how they’ve evolved.
  • Rejected from Juilliard: The ups and downs of her dancing education after high school.    
  • The start of her career and her experience at Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. 
  • Her European adventure, and everything that happened post-DCDC 2. 
  • How Danielle’s performance career ended and why she chose to focus full-time on teaching. 
  • Breaking Glass: How she approached a career crossroads at the age of 31. 
  • How artists can also have aspirations of financial freedom without compromising their art.
  • Danielle’s website-building career and how it’s transformed her and her client’s lives.  
  • The importance of building a personal brand and making it visible to the right people.  
  • Unpacking Dance News Daily – a news hub for the entire dance community. 
  • Danielle’s upcoming projects and what she’s focused on moving forward.  
  • How to connect with Danielle Guillermo and her work.

Additional Notes about Danielle’s first dance jog:

“In my first company position, I was paid $283 per week in NYC. I was fortunate to find an apartment for $300/ month with a roommate. It was 2002, and it was a miracle to find such a deal in Manhattan. Everything was tight but with $25/week from my parents and a nice social network, my needs both physical and social were met. I never felt trapped at home unable to have fun. We also did a bit of touring and had our expenses and per diem covered.” Read more on her BLOG

ABOUT Danielle

Danielle Smith Guillermo has been involved in professional dance for over 20 years. A featured educator-turned-entrepreneur in Dance Teacher Magazine, Danielle is recognized for helping dance business owners elevate their marketing and management strategies. Prior to her career pivot, Danielle was an Adjunct Instructor of Dance at Messiah University and Director of the Messiah Summer Dance Intensive. She has also been on faculty at Pennsylvania Regional Ballet (PRB), Hershey School of Dance, and the school of Dayton Contemporary Dance Co. Her choreography has been shown at Symphony Space (NYC), Messiah University, Regional Dance America, and events nationally and abroad. She was awarded the Monticello Award and Josephine Schwarz Award for choreography and selected for the inaugural Breaking Glass Emerging Female Choreographer’s Project. One of her most meaningful projects is The Ugly Duckling, a modern-ballet, adapted story, and residency with an original score by the late James Casey, created to address bullying in elementary-aged children. This outreach project was performed by and grant-funded through PRB, making an impact on over 2000 students. As a dancer, Danielle has been a member of Avodah Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II, and was a featured performer, dance captain, and choreographer at Sight & Sound Theatre. Most recently, Danielle launched DanceNewsDaily.com, a leading platform and daily newsletter delivering the latest dance news. She continues to provide web design services and resources for dance at DanielleGuillermo.com.

 

Connect:

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Danielle Guillermo

Danielle Guillermo on LinkedIn

Danielle Guillermo on Instagram

Danielle Guillermo on Facebook

Dance News Daily 

Pennsylvania Regional Ballet 

American Dance Festival 

Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

Sandra Carlino | PRB 

Jonathan Phelps Obituary

AILEY

Juilliard 

Avadoh Dance

Purchase College | State University of New York  

Dance Theatre of Harlem 

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 

The Forgiveness Project 

The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company  

DCDC 2 | Fall Company 

Shonna Hickman-Matlock 

Regional Dance America 

Breaking Glass: The Emerging Female Choreographers Project on Facebook 

Ellenore Scott 

Squarespace  

James Casey 

Messiah University 

Dance Nerd

Nov 20
Love1

MSP 189: Amber Sloan

By Podcast

PODCAST 189: Amber Sloan

Release Date: 11.20.25

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

A Life in Dance with Amber Sloan

Episode 189: Show Notes.

Amber Sloan’s life in dance has unfolded through curiosity, community, and constant reinvention. Growing up in Virginia, her early exposure to improvisation and composition in high school sparked not just a love of movement but a way of thinking that would shape her future. Her time at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign deepened that foundation and connected her with the people and places that helped her put down artistic roots. From piecing together income through unexpected jobs, including one for Harvey Keitel’s wife, to choreographing for the Joyce SoHo and seeking to scale her work in the years leading up to the pandemic, Amber has never shied away from the uncomfortable or the uncertain. She’s navigated performance anxiety, surgery and recovery, and the challenge of being involved in many facets of the dance world, from performing with David Parker to presenting work through platforms like Women in Motion. Today, with recent pieces like her show at Kestrels (set to return next year), she continues to build a career that defies the assumptions people often make about a life in dance. At the heart of it all is a simple, lasting dream: to keep exploring alongside the dancers who move her work forward. Thanks for listening.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Amber Sloan’s upbringing in Virginia and her introduction to dance. 
  • How early experiences of improv and composition in high school shaped her career.
  • Continuing her dance journey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
  • How the connections she made while studying helped her develop roots in dance.
  • Working various jobs to pay the bills, including a role for Harvey Keitel’s wife.
  • Choreographing for the Joyce SoHo. 
  • Making an effort to do her work in a bigger way pre-pandemic. 
  • Navigating performance anxiety and doing what is uncomfortable. 
  • Being involved in many different areas of dance. 
  • How a 2015 surgery and recovery impacted Amber’s career. 
  • Dancing for David Parker: rehearsals, footwork, and more. 
  • Amber’s presenting work, including Women in Motion and more. 
  • Recent work including a show at Kestrels which will show again next year. 
  • Why a life in dance is often not what you might expect. 
  • Her ultimate dream for her work: to keep exploring with her dancers.

ABOUT Amber

Amber Sloan is a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellow whose work has been presented across the United States, Mexico City, Mexico, and locally at venues including Kestrels, Arts On Site, Roulette Theater, Dixon Place, 92Y Harkness Dance Center, Art House Productions, South Orange PAC, Smush Gallery, the EstroGenius Festival, and in a 21-year commissioning relationship with the DanceNow Festival. She was a Monira Foundation Performance Resident at Mana Contemporary, an Artist in Residence at Union Street Dance, an Emerging New Jersey Commissioned Choreographer for Dance on the Lawn, and a Schonberg Fellow at The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard. She has been awarded space grants from Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and Spoke the Hub, and her work has been annually supported by the Jerome Robbins Foundation since 2009.
As a performer, Amber has been a member of The Bang Group since 2002, and has performed in works by Doug Elkins, Keely Garfield, Sara Hook, Stephan Koplowitz, and James Waring, as staged by Richard Colton. She serves on the faculty of the Ailey School as the dance composition teacher for the Professional Division program. She has been a guest teacher at Marymount Manhattan College, DeSales University, Muhlenberg College, Holy Cross, Salem State, American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive, Boston Ballet Summer Program, The Yard, Gibney Dance Center, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange.
Amber is the Assistant Executive Director of Arts On Site, a women-led nonprofit organization founded in 2016 to support artists and build community. She co-directs Women in Motion NYC, an organization whose mission is to foster female choreographers through the commissioning of new work, producing, and mentoring, and she serves on the advisory board of Art Omi: Dance. Amber holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was honored with the Beverly Blossom/Carey Erickson Alumni Dance Award.

 

Connect:

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Amber Sloan

Amber Sloan on Instagram
IMPRESSIONS: “Beautiful Little Weirdos” by Amber Sloan and Company at Kestrels
The Bang Group
Sara Hook
The University of Chicago Graham School
The Joyce SoHo
Kestrels
Melissa Riker on LinkedIn
David Parker on Instagram
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Harvey Keitel IMDb
Art House Productions
Nov 06
Love1

MSP 188: Sara Veale

By Podcast

PODCAST 188: Sara Veale

Release Date: 11.5.25

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Attuning to the Beauty of Passion with Sara Veale

Episode 188: Show Notes

The incredible beauty of passion lies in the relentless dedication of one’s entire being, a force that radiates outward to inspire and elevate others. Today on the Movers & Shapers podcast, Erin is joined by author and dance critic Sara Veale. A North Carolina native, dancer turned dance writer, currently living in London, UK. Tune into the conversation as they dance into what inspired Sara into a lifelong journey in dance, how dance became an integral part of her identity, and what sparked her journey to shift into one that centers around her writing. They discuss her transition from the US to London, UK, the differences in the dance world, and she unpacks the responsibility of writing dance reviews and why she ultimately finds the Stars system to be fundamentally flawed. They then dive into an in-depth discussion on her book, Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance, breaking down what inspired the writing, how she approached the structure of the book, incorporating advice from her editor, delving deeply into the research, and the timeline from beginning to end. She shares how the book ultimately led her to a new attuning of the very beauty of passion itself! Be sure not to miss out on all this, and as always, much more. Thanks for listening, enjoy!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Sara reveals how a two-year-old girl’s fascination with movement blossomed into a lifelong journey in dance.
  • Sara explains what about dance made it such an integral part of her identity.
  • The journey of her writing career.
  • How her future was shaping up during her time at college.
  • Sara unpacks how she got into writing as a dance critic. 
  • We discuss her transition from the US to London, UK, and how it shaped her dance writing.
  • Finding her voice in the dance critic world.
  • Why you’ve got to be reading when you want to be writing, according to Sara.
  • The responsibility behind writing dance reviews. 
  • She shares why she believes the idea of the Stars system, when writing reviews, is fundamentally flawed. 
  • We delve into a discussion on her book, Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance.
  • How she approached the structure of her book, finding the women, taking advice from her editor, and making tough decisions.
  • Sara explains the research journey she undertook for her book and the women she writes about.
  • She breaks down the timeline from the beginning to the end of getting her book published.
  • How writing her book had a profound personal impact, attuning her to the very beauty of passion itself.
  • Sara talks about the creation of the book’s abstract cover.
  • What Sara has planned next: books, sabbaticals, and connecting with her family. 
  • We talk about the shortage of non-academic, or mainstream, dance writing.

ABOUT Sara

Sara Veale is an American writer and editor based in London, with a focus on dance, feminism and design. She has been a freelance dance critic since 2013, covering a range of international artists and companies through reviews, interviews and essays. Her dance writing has appeared in The Observer, The Spectator, Harper’s Bazaar, Fjord Review, Gramophone, Auditorium, DanceTabs and more. 

Sara is a member of the Dance Critics Circle, managing editor of the Future Spaces Foundation, and a former editor of Review 31. Her book, Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance, was published by Faber in 2025 (Faber US: spring 2026).

photo by Martina Ferrera

 

Connect:

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sara Veale

Sara Veale on X

Sara Veale on LinkedIn

Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

University College London

Make Architects

Royal Ballet & Opera

Isadora Duncan

Loie Fuller

Maud Allan

Ruth St. Dennis

Anna Sokolow

Katherine Dunham

Pearl Lang

Merce Cunningham

Martha Graham

Pablo Picasso



Oct 23
Love0

MSP 187: Ann Carlson

By Podcast

PODCAST 187: Ann Carlson

Release Date: 10.23.25

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

 

The Curiosity That Moves Us with Ann Carlson

Episode 189: Show Notes. 

At the heart of every great artistic work is the exploration of curiosity and a commitment to the process of creation. Today on Movers & Shapers, Ann Carlson joins us to discuss her illustrious career in interdisciplinary arts and shares the deep curiosity she possesses about movement, meaning, and the human experience, with work borrowing from the disciplines of dance and performance as well as visual, conceptual, and social art practices.  In this conversation, Ann reflects on how she first discovered her love of dance, how working with Meredith Monk and exploring performance art shaped her creativity, and the thriving performance scenes in NYC in the 90s that opened doors for experimentation. She shares the inspiration behind her work with animals, the reality of supporting herself financially as an artist, and how she navigated motherhood and her dance career. She also dives into the delicate marriage between process and product in creation before discussing her dance project, The Symphonic Body. Finally, Ann reveals what is piquing her interest today and shares a glimpse of what the future will hold for her in her career. Thanks for listening! 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • A brief overview of today’s guest, Ann Carlson, and how she found her love of dance.  
  • How performance art and working with Meredith Monk inspired Ann’s own creations. 
  • Cross-connecting dance with other performance scenes during her time in NYC. 
  • What inspired Ann’s animal series and how she managed to support herself. 
  • How Ann’s dance career pivoted when she started a family.
  • The beautiful amalgamation of process and product in dance creation.
  • What Ann learned about art from the poet Allen Ginsberg. 
  • Ann looks back on her career and some of the most meaningful projects she did. 
  • Ann tells us what she is curious about today and what her next project will be.

ABOUT Ann

Ann Carlson is an interdisciplinary artist whose work borrows from the disciplines of dance and performance as well as visual, conceptual and social art practices. Carlson’s work takes the form of solo performance, large-scale site-specific projects, ensemble-stage based dances and performance video.

Ann’s work as a whole is engaged with flattening traditional hierarchies, and throwing off the guardrails of who gets access to participate and be immersed in the contemporary dance / art experience. Carlson often works in a series format, loosely organized into interspecies performance collaborations, dance / performance works made with and performed by people gathered together by a common profession, activity or shared passion and large scale site specific performance installations, commissioned works for dance companies, galleries, museums, orchestras and collaborative performance videos. Carlson works from a “ world as studio” aesthetic, cultivating and curating the elements of everyday life as a way of exploring how to be together, how to be alone, in a world bound by and blended with the more-than-human.

Carlson is the recipient of numerous awards for her artistic work. Her awards include a Creative Capital Award, a Doris Duke Award for Performing Artists, a National Dance Project Award, two American Masters awards, a USA Artist Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Fellowship from the Foundation for Contemporary Art, she is the recent recipient of a Fellowship from the Santa Monica Arts Council, multiple MapFund awards, numerous awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Ann was the first recipient of the Cal /Arts Alpert Award in dance.

Carlson has a long-time collaboration with visual artist Mary Ellen Strom. Their current project, SoS is a site adaptive work in response to flooding and rising sea levels around the globe. Carlson/Strom’s performance video work is held in the public collections of Fonds Regional D’Art Contemporaire, (FRAC) Marseilles, France, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, The Rose Museum, at Brandeiss University, Waltham, MA. Carlson / Strom was awarded The St. Garden’s Prize in sculpture for their video, “Four Parallel lines”.

Carlson has been a visiting faculty member at numerous universities, among them, Wesleyan, Stanford, and Princeton University and currently is thrilled to be an adjunct professor at UCLA’s Dept. of World, Arts, Culture and Dance. Carlson lives in Los Angeles, California and Bozeman, Montana.

photo: Michael Poole

Connect:

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Ann Carlson

Ann Carlson on LinkedIn

Ann Carlson on Instagram

Sadler’s Wells

University of Utah School of Dance

Joan Woodbury

Bill Evans 

John Wilson

CETA

Meredith Monk

Joseph Beuys

Ways of Seeing

Allen Ginsberg

The Symphonic Body

Mary Ellen Strom

 

Podcast produced by: The Moving Architects
Interviewer: Erin Carlisle Norton