MOVERS & SHAPERS: A DANCE PODCAST

The personal stories, experiences, and ideas from those who shape the dance field. Available anywhere you get your podcasts.

 

“I love Movers and Shapers: it focuses my mind on the important things in life: I love the care with which it’s choreographed(!).” Review, Apple Podcasts

“This podcast sounds so vivid and interesting! I am really grateful to be able to hear all these stories from all of these artists. This podcast is a work of art.” Review, Apple Podcasts

Partnership and Advertising Opportunities: Podcast Media Kit

Home » Podcasts

MSP 178: Alice Gosti

By Podcast

PODCAST 178: Alice Gosti

Release Date: 10.28.24

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Beyond the Stage: Alice Gosti on Time, Space, and Identity

Episode 178: Show Notes

What does it mean to create art that exists both within and beyond time and place? In this episode, we step into the world of Alice Gosti, an Italian-born, Seattle-based dance artist known for pushing the boundaries of performance. She is also a key collaborator of MALACARNE, an experimental dance and performance ensemble dedicated to co-creating transformative rituals that challenge limiting ideas about class, sexuality, gender, ability, and ethnicity. Raised in Italy with American roots, Alice’s multicultural identity informs her approach to choreography and her fascination with “non-places” like airports, where people share fleeting moments of connection. She reveals how these unconventional spaces inspire her work, why beauty and entertainment are consequences of her work rather than motivations, and shares her passion for durational performance and the powerful transformations that occur over hours-long art experiences. Whether she’s turning a museum into a stage or bringing choreography to the heart of an airport, Alice’s work invites us to reconsider how we experience movement and meaning in unexpected spaces. Tune in for her reflections on the intersections of time, space, and identity in art and consider new ways to see life as a creative artist!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Alice’s beginnings in Perugia, Italy, and her introduction to dance at three years old.
  • Early dance influences, including her exposure to the Alwin Nikolais lineage.
  • Pressure Alice faced to pursue choreography over dance due to her appearance.
  • Her interest in integrating performance art and dance in nontraditional venues.
  • The distinction between makers and performers and which category she fits into.
  • Reflections on feeling like an “other” in both Italy and the United States.
  • Alice’s strong connection to Seattle and its artistic support.
  • Insight into her love for planes, airports, and creating dance pieces in “non-places.”
  • Perspectives on creating dance and choreography that isn’t driven by entertainment.
  • Engaging audiences not typically interested in dance through sensory experiences.
  • Alice’s exploration of durational performances, inspired by long-form theater.
  • Compassion for the audience in durational versus endurance performances.
  • The experimental dance and performance ensemble that she collaborates with.
  • What Alice is working on now and what audiences can expect from her in the future.

“It would make such a huge difference if – choreographers and dance artists – valued more critical thinking, autonomy, [and] possibility for conversation and observation.” — Alice Gosti

ABOUT Alice

Alice Gosti (she/her) is an Italian-American immigrant choreographer, facilitator, hybrid performance artist, DJ, curator, and architect of experiences, creating work across Duwamish and Coast Salish Land (Seattle) and Europe since 2008. Known for crafting immersive and transformative performances, Gosti blends movement, visual art, and sound to engage with pressing social, political, and ecological themes.

Gosti has received numerous awards, commissions, and residencies, including the 2021 Princess Grace Choreography Honoraria Award, 2013 Vilcek Creative Promise in Dance Award, 2012 ImPulsTanz danceWEB scholarship, and the inaugural Intiman Theatre’s Emerging Artist Program Director Award. She is a recipient of the Bossak/Heilbron Award, the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Award, multiple 4Culture grants, and Artist Trust’s GAP Grant and Fellowship. Her recognition extends to the 2016 NEFA National Dance Project Grant and prestigious residencies such as the 2022 Amazon Artist-in-Residence and McColl Center for Art + Innovation. Gosti has also been awarded by the Italian Council and was a two-time Cornish Artist Incubator Awardee, as well as an Artist-in-Residence at Velocity Dance Center, Seattle University, and the University of Washington.

Nationally, Gosti’s work has been commissioned and presented by institutions including On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center, FRYE Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Intiman Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow, the Vilcek Foundation at the Joyce Theater (NY), and ODC Theater (SF) as part of the SCUBA touring network. She has also been featured at the Risk/Reward Festival (PDX) and Performance Works Northwest (PDX). Internationally, her work has been shown in Italy at venues such as Associazione Culturale Dance Gallery, Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria, and Museo Civico di Palazzo della Penna, among others.

As a performer and collaborator, Gosti has worked with artists including Sara Shelton Mann, Keith Hennessy, Carolyn Carlson, and Mark Haim. She is the creative force behind MALACARNE, a performance group centering trans and nonbinary individuals, and their explorations challenge dominant narratives surrounding class, gender, and ethnicity.

Gosti’s expertise also extends to movement direction and choreography for theaters across the U.S., including the Merrimack Repertory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Folger Theatre, ACT Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company. She is an associate artist with upstart crow collective, continuing to bring innovative perspectives to the intersection of theater and dance.

photo: Michelle Smith-Lewis

Connect with Alice Gosti

Instagram: @gostiaa @malacarneco

Gostia.com

Malacarne.co

 

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

MSP 177: Pittsburgh

By Podcast

PODCAST 177: Pittsburgh

Release Date: 10.14.24

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Episode 177: Show Notes

Welcome to another episode of Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast! You’re in for a very exciting treat as we venture into interviewing dance professionals from across the USA. Today we are interviewing four dance figures from Pittsburgh about their careers and the dance culture in their city. Tuning in, you’ll hear all about our incredible guests, Shana Simmons, Peter Kope, Alan Obuzor, and Brittany Nettles’ careers, how they have navigated the dance scene in Pittsburgh, what resources have helped them, and so much more! We delve into how dance fits into Pittsburgh’s culture before discussing the competition and collaborative spirit in the city. They tell us about the struggles they face in their industry, why consistency is problematic, and how they need multiple jobs to be successful. We go on to talk about the incredible changes they have seen over the years in the Pittsburgh dance world and what they’d love to see happen in the future. Finally, they share beautiful moments that made them so passionate about working as dance professionals in Pittsburgh and why they love it so much. You don’t want to miss out on this inspirational episode, so be sure to press play now!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • A brief overview of Pittsburgh’s history of dance.
  • Introducing today’s guests: Shana Simmons, Peter Kope, Alan Obuzor, and Brittany Nettles.
  • How they navigated dance careers in Pittsburgh and the resources that have helped them.
  • Our guests tell us where dance fits into the culture of Pittsburgh.
  • The collaborations and competition each of our guests experience.
  • What kinds of classes they offer and the struggles they face when it comes to consistency.
  • How they have seen the local dance community change over the years.
  • The changes and collaborations they’d love to see in the Pittsburgh dance scene.
  • Our guests tell us what they love about working in the dance industry in Pittsburgh.

ABOUT Alan Obuzor

Alan Obuzor was honored in 2013 by Dance Magazine by being named one of the “Top 25 to Watch”. In 2023-2024 he was selected as a School of American Ballet (SAB) National Visiting Fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, Alan began dancing at the age of nine. Two years later he attended Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School(PBTS), where in 1998 he was a recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Foundation Dance Honorarium.  Alan received a contract to join Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s(PBT’s)professional company at the age of 17.  During his seven years in PBT’s Company, he danced a wide array of ballets ranging from classical to neoclassical to contemporary, which included principal and soloist roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Carmina Burana and Divertimento 15.  In that time he also worked with many world renowned figures in dance, and was selected to originate soloist roles in new works by choreographers Dwight Rhoden, Derek Dean, Matjash Mrozewski and Jiabin Pan.  Alan began teaching in 2002; from 2007-2012 Alan was on the faculty of PBTS as one of the primary Pre-Professional Division teachers and choreographers.  In the fall of 2012, Alan joined the teaching faculty of Pittsburgh Youth Ballet.  Alan choreographed his first work in 2002 on himself and a fellow dancer.  Since that time he has choreographed over 120 new works for Texture Contemporary Ballet, Texture Ballet School, PBT, PBTS, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet Company, New Ballet Ensemble, Harvard Ballet Company, Point Park University, Dancers’ Trust, Canton Ballet, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and various independent projects.  In 2011, Alan won first place in the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters Dance/Choreography competition. During 2014 Alan was awarded a BRAZZY Award – “Outstanding Male Dancer in Pittsburgh 2014”. In 2017 Mr. Obuzor received an “Outstanding Teacher Award” by Youth America Grand Prix. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Texture Contemporary Ballet 2011, and Texture Ballet School 2019. 

Connect:

Texture Website

Texture Contemporary Ballet Facebook

Texture Contemporary Ballet Instagram

Texture Ballet School Facebook 

Texture Ballet School Instagram

Head shot by Katie Ging

 

ABOUT Shana Simmons

Shana Simmons holds a BA in Dance from Point Park University (2003) and an MA in Choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance (2009). Simmons has performed in her own works in New York City, Belgium, London, Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh. Traditionally trained in the Graham technique, Simmons expanded into release based movement during her New York City and London residencies before moving back to Pittsburgh. Performance credits include Noemie Lafrance “Agora” (NYC), Alexandra Beller(NYC), Artmongers(London), Flat Feet Dance Company (London), The Pittsburgh and Atlanta Operas, Staycee Pearl Dance Project(Pittsburgh), and Jamie Erin Murphy (Pittsburgh) to name a few.

SHANA SIMMONS DANCE (SSD, est 2009), creates immersive contemporary dance and is a Pittsburgh based dance organization. Simmons is a movement artist who creates immersive dance theatre works that have a heavy focus on research as practice. Her work aims to engage the viewer in thoughtful ways, encouraging active participation, and absorbing them into the piece as part of the final meaning of the work. SSD provides opportunities for outside choreographic voices to be heard as part of the collaborative process.

Connect:

Shana Simmons Dance Website

Instagram: @shanasimmonsdance

 

ABOUT Peter Kope

Peter Kope is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Attack Theatre. Peter began his dance career working with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. He also toured internationally with Jacob Pillow’s “Men Dancers: The Ted Shawn Legacy.” Prior to founding Attack Theatre with his partner, Michele de la Reza, Peter danced with Pittsburgh-based Dance Alloy (Mark Taylor, Artistic Director) and NYC-based Perks DanceMusicTheatre (Rebecca Stenn, Artistic Director), creating and touring new works throughout the US with both companies for seven years. Together with Michele de la Reza, Peter is the recipient of three Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowships and the Hardie Educator of the Year award. 

Peter’s work with Attack Theatre led the company to honors of “Best Dance Company” (Pittsburgh City Paper 2007-2011, 2016), “Best Dance Performance” (Post-Gazette 2006, 2010, 2011), and the National Dance Project touring award for Games of Steel. Peter is also on faculty Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music, where Attack Theatre is the dance company in residence.

About Attack Theatre:

Founded in 1994 by Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope as a collaboration between two dancers and a city, Attack Theatre fuses modern dance, original live music, and interdisciplinary art forms to create engaging dance performances. We aim create work at the intersection of art and community, resulting in productions that are personal, authentic, welcoming, and fearless. It is our mission to explore artistic expression in our commitment to remain curious in our investigation of new ideas; to artistically collaborate through deliberate, interdisciplinary partnerships; to connect with local and global communities to provide accessible, creative learning opportunities.

Connect:

Attack Theatre

ABOUT Brittany Nettles

Brittany Nettles (she/they) is a freelance choreographer and dancer originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They received their BFA in Dance from Point Park University, where they now find themselves as an adjunct faculty member. Brittany has also performed as a dancer with Shana Simmons Dance for the past 3 years. Recently, she has presented choreography with Shana Simmons Dance, PearlArts and inter PGH. They also work as a dance educator and choreographer for Act One Theater school, where they have the pleasure of choreographing/co-directing their 2nd-8th grade musical. Currently based in Pittsburgh, she continues to explore work that centers queer, femme identities through interdisciplinary theater for diverse audiences.

Brittany Nettles Website

 

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

MSP 176: Clare Cook

By Podcast

PODCAST 176: Clare Cook

Release Date: 9.30.24

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Cultivating Genuine Connections with Clare Cook

Episode 176: Show Notes

Our guest today is the remarkable Clare Cook. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, Clare is the Founder and Creative Director of Basin Arts, a non-profit arts incubator dedicated to helping Louisiana artists develop sustainable creative practices. Basin Arts aims to expand access to professional contemporary arts experiences while fostering genuine connections between artists and the broader community. In our interview, we explore how dance was positively cultivated in different spaces throughout her life, what she’s grateful for, and unpack her decision to pursue a life in dance. She shares insights into being the youngest in her NYU Tisch Dance program, her passion for storytelling and collaboration, and her interest in the theatre-dance hybrid. We also discuss her experience with an observership, the decision to return to Lafayette, and go deeper into the heart and vision behind Basin Arts. For all this and much more, be sure to tune in!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • We’re introduced to our guest Clare Cook and her life and dance journey.
  • She reflects on how dance was cultivated in different spaces throughout her life and what she’s grateful for.
  • Clare unpacks her decision to pursue a life in dance.
  • How she thought of dance as a way to become more of herself.
  • Being the youngest dancer in the NYU Tisch Dance program.
  • Her love and interest in storytelling and collaboration.
  • How she got her first gig choreographing a musical.
  • She talks about her interest in the theatre-dance hybrid.
  • Clare shares about her opportunity to do an observership.
  • The impetus to move back to Louisiana and what it was like navigating that transition.
  • How the concept for Basin Arts started to unfold.
  • She speaks to the idea of trajectory as continued evolution along the path of creative process, collaboration, and community.
  • Clare breaks down what creating authentic relationships with the community looks like through Basin Arts.
  • What Basin Arts is all about and the heart of their goals.
  • Clare shares what she’s excited about and upcoming events.

“[Basin Arts] was this idea of how can we, in the simplest, least encumbered way, find a space for people to come together and do their work.” — Clare Cook

ABOUT Clare

Clare Cook (Choreographer) is a hyphenate artist working simultaneously as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and arts administrator through her work as Founder & Creative Director of Basin Arts, a interdisciplinary arts incubator in Lafayette, La. Throughout Louisiana, she can be found creating dances, facilitating artistic opportunities for others, advocating for new models integrating the arts, and envisioning a more sustainable arts ecosystem for all. Past dance projects include presenting choreography at Joe’s Pub/DanceNOW Festival, the New York Musical Theatre Festival, Triskelion Arts, Opera Slavica, Columbia University, NYU, and the New School for Drama. Clare was the choreographer for the First National Tour of Bullets Over Broadway, re-setting Susan Stroman’s Tony-Nominated choreography, and traveled to Bulgaria with the Drama League of NYC to choreograph the Sofia Puppet Theatre of Bulgaria’s American Musical Theatre Showcase. Recent performance projects include Full Head of Hair with Elana Jacobs (CabinFever Live Art), The Panic of Fixing Things with visual artist Hagit Barkai, Paige Barnett’s A Song of Visions, and Ten Tiny Dances – Lafayette. She has presented work at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Hilliard Art Museum, with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, and for UL Lafayette’s Dance Program. Clare has been on the faculties of LSU, UL-Lafayette, NYU Tisch Dance, and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. She holds an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Connect with Clare Cook

Basin Arts

Clare M Cook

Clare on Instagram

Basin Arts on Instagram

Clare Cook on Vimeo

 

 

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

Movers & Shapers: Summer Break

By Podcast

PODCAST: Summer Break Announcement

Release Date: June 2024

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Thank you for listening to Movers & Shapers! As we celebrate 9 years of our podcast and look toward year 10, we’re excited to announce some changes on the horizon. We will be back with updates at the end of summer. In the meantime, enjoy our archive of 175 interviews with a magnificently wide array of artists who shape the dance field. Stay tuned!

 

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

MSP 175: Rachel Damon

By Podcast

PODCAST 175: Rachel Damon

Release Date: 6.3.24

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

When Decisions are Commitments with Rachel Damon

Episode 175: Show Notes

Joining us today is Rachel Damon, a choreographer, theatrical designer, performer, and co-founder and artistic director of Synapse Arts, a Chicago-based dance theater company. Rachel’s self-made career is a testament to her multidisciplinary talents, blending onstage and backstage roles to create dynamic performance works through collaboration, improvisation, and teamwork. In this episode, Rachel shares her remarkable journey from lovable weirdo at musical theatre summer camp to internationally-renowned production stage manager and performer who lives her life by making decisions as commitments. Tuning in, you’ll discover how her dual passions for choreography and crafting have fueled her personal and professional growth, the power of educating performers to negotiate their value, ensuring that art is recognized as legitimate work, and why diversity is a cornerstone of Synapse Arts’ identity. We also explore Rachel’s love for theatre production, her innovative partnership with the Chicago Park District, and the unique site-specific performances born from this collaboration. Join us for an engaging conversation that covers all this and more!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • An overview of Rachel’s background and what sparked her interest in dance and theatre.
  • The importance of exposing young people to theatre and the creative arts.
  • The immediacy that she loves about theatre production work and stage management.
  • How Links Hall in Chicago acted as a springboard for her career.
  • Insight into Synapse Arts, how it got started, and how it has evolved since.
  • Synapse’s partnership with the Chicago Park District’s Arts & Culture Unit (ACU).
  • Rachel’s site-specific and outdoor performances that punctuate everyday life.
  • The significance of her interdisciplinary work, including her “textile dances.”
  • Challenges she has encountered in her onstage and backstage career.
  • How Rachel empowers artists and advocates for art to be valued as work.
  • Ways that you can contribute to Synapse’s 20th Birthday Bash Campaign.
  • Why a diversity of identities and lived experiences is important in the arts.

“Being with the weird people who are risky, accepting, and idea-driven [is] where I feel safe and inspired.” — Rachel Damon

ABOUT Rachel

Rachel Damon (she/her) is a designer, choreographer, producer, and performer whose career bridges onstage and backstage. As a cofounder and Co-Director of Synapse Arts she has been honored to receive support from MetLife, The Saints, The Illinois Arts Council, 3Arts, and DCASE for projects that have been presented at The Dance Center, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Detroit Institute of Art, Ingenuity Cleveland, TEK BOX Minneapolis, The Field Museum, Roy Hart International Arts Centre (France), and Vo’Arte (Portugal).

Damon has developed her dance-theatre, site-specific, film, and kinetic textile works through residencies with The Ragdale Foundation, The Morrison-Shearer Foundation, Links Hall, The Chicago Cultural Center, and South House (England).

A Stage Manager at Cirque du Soleil/Blue Man Group and a 2005 graduate of Columbia College Chicago, Damon loves to knit while watching action movies, and she eats dessert every day.

 

Connect with Rachel Damon

Synapse Arts

Synapse Arts on Instagram

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

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

Latest Events

Check out the latest upcoming events.

Booking

Get in touch and book The Moving Architects.