MOVERS & SHAPERS: A DANCE PODCAST

The personal stories, experiences, and ideas from those who shape the dance field.

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Movers & Shapers: Remembering Jennifer Muller

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MOVERS & SHAPERS:

PODCAST No.155 – Remembering Jennifer Muller (1944-2023)

Release Date: 4.24.23

Original Release Date: 9.5.19

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

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ABOUT JENNIFER MULLER

JENNIFER MULLER (JMTW Artistic Director and Founder) has been an influence in the dance world for over 50 years, is known for her visionary approach and innovations in dance/theater, multi-discipline productions incorporating the spoken word, live and commissioned music, media, artist-inspired decor and unusual production elements. Muller has created over 118 pieces, including seven full evening productions, collaborating with such artists as Keith Haring, Keith Jarrett, Yoko Ono and Jeff Croiter. Muller is recognized as a “seminal influence on dance/theater.” Her prolific career has led to recent honors: Fortaleza’s 2010 Trophy of Cultural Responsibility and a 2011 American Masterpieces: Artistic Genius Grant, UCSB conference and exhibit and the publication Transformation & Continuance: Jennifer Muller and the Reshaping of American Modern Dance, 1959 to Present. An internationally renowned teacher and mentor of creative talent, Muller has developed a personalized technique informed by Eastern philosophy. TanzPlan Berlin chose Muller Polarity Technique as one of seven unique contemporary dance techniques for its publication/ DVD Tanztechnik 2010. Creating and re-staging pieces for 26 international repertory companies in nine countries, her commissions include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Tanz-Forum Köln, Lyon Opera Ballet, Bat Dor, Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Ballet Contemporaneo, Nederlands Dans Theater, NDT3 and Introdans in The Netherlands. An award-winning choreographer, Muller’s choreography for theater/opera productions include The Public Theater, 2nd Stage Theater, NY Stage & Film, and the New York City Opera. In 2011, she choreographed the new musical The Spiral Show in China. Muller is currently re-staging her 2015 piece Miserere Nobis on both Introdans in The Netherlands and UC/Santa Barbara, both to be premiered in early 2020. Her most recent work The Theory of Color, which premiered at New York Live Arts this past June, received overwhelming acclaim: “a dynamic, riveting work.” 

Above all, dance has been Ms. Muller’s passion and creative voice since she was a child. Creating pieces since age seven, she danced professionally at age 15 with the Pearl Lang Dance Company followed by nine years as Principal Dancer with the José Limon Company [while graduating from the Juilliard School] and seven years as Associate Artistic Director of the Louis Falco Dance Company. Now, as a result of years of productive creativity, her work has been seen on stage and television in 45 countries.

Movers & Shapers: Miguel Gutierrez

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PODCAST 154: Miguel Gutierrez


Release Date: 4.10.23

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

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Fierce, Fragile, Empathetic, Political, and Poetic Art with Miguel Gutierrez

Episode 154: Show Notes.

Our guest today, Miguel Gutierrez, is irrevocably passionate about making works of art and creates empathetic and irreverent spaces outside of traditional discourse.   Our conversation starts with Miguel sharing about his upbringing as the child of two immigrants, how he came to love the arts and dancing, and what he wanted to be when he grew up. He tells us about his time at Brown, Queer Activism, working with Paula Hunter, and later going full circle back to Brown. He also talks about his epic time in California in the 90s, what it was like to work with Joe Goode and John Jasperse, and what sparked his shift back to New York and making his own work. This is a jam-packed episode so stay tuned for this candid, introspective, and inspiring interview.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Miguel gives us a short introduction of who he is and where he is from.
  • How Miguel came to love dancing.
  • What he wanted to be when he grew up.
  • What happened when he showed up for school at Brown.
  • He shares about his time doing Queer activism.
  • He tells us about his time dancing with Paula Hunter.
  • What compelled him to go back to Brown and finish his degree.
  • He shares his Californian experience in the 90s.
  • What sparked the shift back to New York (and why Europe didn’t work out).
  • What it was like working with John Jasperse.
  • Miguel tells us about his own choreography journey.
  • The kinds of day jobs Miguel has had to support himself over the years.
  • His experience of when things started to take off, his work, and what life looked like.
  • Why he hates when propriety supplants honesty and when professionalism is used to maintain the status quo.
  • Projects he is working on now and what life looks like.

“When you are younger, as a dancer, you think that if you aren’t dancing professionally by the age of nothing, you’re never going to make it. It’s like this BS idea of what dance is, and it’s fed to you from when you are little.” — Miguel Gutierrez 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Miguel Gutierrez

Miguel Gutierrez on Instagram

Miguel Gutierrez on Vimeo

Miguel Gutierrez on Soundcloud

Joe Goode Performance Group

Trisha Brown Dance Company

John Jasperse

New York Live Arts

NYU Skirball Center

Danspace Project

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

Movers & Shapers: Margaret Beals

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PODCAST 153: Margaret Beals


Release Date: 3.27.23

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple Music: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Stitcher: Subscribe and Listen HERE

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    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

The Art of Improvisation with Margaret Beals

For today’s guest, dancing without inhibitions is what has fed her soul for more than 8 decades.  Joining us on Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast is the incredible dance improvisation innovator Margaret Beals to tell us all about her years of dancing and her new documentary, Dancing Without Steps. Tuning in, you’ll hear all about our guest’s privileged upbringing, her longing to be free, dancing in her home and the streets of New York City, and why she always stood out as a dancer. She walks us through her early adulthood, dance classes, club and cabaret days, and teaching before explaining how she dealt with being so different. With an amazing ability to perform improvised solo concerts that combined dance, text, music, and humor, she tells us how she realized she was so unlike others in her generation. Finally, Margaret shares her experience of creating her film with us. So to hear all about improvisation and to be inspired to embrace your authentic self, tune in now!

Key Points From This Episode:

·       Margaret tells us about her upbringing and how she started dancing.

·       How she knew her lifestyle was different and why she wanted to be free.

·       Her experience of dancing in her front hall, moving to New York, and dancing in the streets.

·       She tells us her opinion of the definition of ‘talent’ and why she always stood out.

·       What Margaret wanted to do when she was in her 20s and her time doing cabarets and clubs.

·       Margaret tells us about how she got started with teaching.

·       She shares the secret to moving and talking at the same time.

·       How she navigated the challenge of feeling like she doesn’t belong.

·       Getting the rights to Sylvia Plath’s works and performing poetry in an original play.

·       How Margaret shares her methodologies with dancers.

·       Margaret shares what she is working on in her field now.

·       How her movie, Dancing Without Steps, became a reality.

·       The importance of accepting your unapologetically unique self.

“I don’t think I danced to please. I danced the way I danced and hoped everybody would see it.” — Margaret Beals

ABOUT MARGARET BEALS

Margaret Beals, an American dancer, choreographer and theatrical performer, was self-taught during her early years. She later studied choreography with Louis Horst and Lucas Hoving, modern dance with Martha Graham, Jose Limon, and Paul Sanasardo; African-Caribbean dance with Syvilla Fort and ten years of ballet with Maggie Black. She developed an individual approach to dance through improvisation and later added the use of her speaking voice, developing a technique of performing poetry by speaking and moving simultaneously. This skill was used in her dramatic presentations of the works of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sylvia Plath and Carl Sandburg.

In the 60’s, she continued her exploration of dance improvisation, performing at cabarets and nightclubs in New York and Chicago. She worked with the jazz musicians Collin Walcott, Badal Roy, Sam Rivers and Stan Strickland, among many others. Her continued passion for improvisation led her to form her own company, Impulses – three musicians, singer, dancer and lighting designer. Between 1969 and 1976 the group created fully improvised evenings in the style of jazz sets.

During the 70’s, Ms. Beals appeared with the modern dance companies of Jose Limon, Anna Sokolow, Jean Erdman, Lucas Hoving and Valerie Bettis. She is acclaimed for her interpretation of Ms. Bettis’ classic dance solo, The Desperate Heart (1974). As a solo artist, she performed her own work, Margaret Beals in Concert, appearing at Jacob’s Pillow; the NY Dance Umbrella; the Delacorte Theatre; The Place, London; the International Festival de Danse, Paris; and the Het Theatre Festival, Holland, among other national and international venues.

Her full-length works include Stings (1976), based on the Ariel poems of Sylvia Plath; 39 Margarets(1980), a revue directed by Broadway’s Donald Saddler; The Teak Room, stories from a dancer’s life (1982), written and performed by the artist and directed by Tony Tanner; and Improvisations to Chopin (1985) with pianist Thomas Hrynkiv. In the 90’s, she created 4 Images (1993) an evening of poetry, music and dance, with flautist Judith Pearce, directed by Tony Tanner; and Pathways(1997), written and performed by Ms. Beals and directed by Obie award-winning playwright Lee Nagrin.

Recently, Ms. Beals presented Films and Stories, a series of evenings in which she shared films from her extensive career interspersed with stories about the creation of the works and her collaboration with other performing artists involved.“The films are a remarkable record of a remarkable career.” – Jean Tait, May 2016

 

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 

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

Movers & Shapers: Renée Jaworski

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PODCAST 152: Renée Jaworski

Release Date: 3.10.23

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple Music: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Stitcher: Subscribe and Listen HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

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The Magic of Creativity with Renée Jaworski

Being a successful dance performer requires a combination of technical skills, artistry, professionalism, dedication, and networking.  In today’s episode, we sit down with Renée Jaworski, the Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director of the rebellious dance company, Pilobolus, as she shares her experience working there throughout her illustrious 20+ year career and unpacks the magic of creativity, risk, collaboration, artistic expression, and the value of hard work. Hear why she began pursuing dance and being a performer, the lessons she learned working for a company, the emotional struggles of learning the business end of dance, and how she forged ahead in her dance career while also a mother.  We discuss how she integrates her various passions into dance, how Pilobolus acts as a gateway to the art form, why you should not take dance too seriously, her upcoming projects, and much more. Tune in, and discover industry insights and the value of pursuing your dreams with Renée Jaworski.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Background about Renée and how she became interested in dance.
  • The influence attending the University of the Arts had on her.
  • Why she chose to be a performer as opposed to continuing in academia.
  • Her experience transitioning from being a student to working for a company.
  • How she juggled pursuing a career with raising a family.
  • The motivation behind joining the Pilobolus team.
  • Find out why she has chosen to stay at Pilobolus for most of her career.
  • We discuss Pilobolus’s reputation and the collaboration with the rock band OKGo.
  • What it takes to make collaborations work and complete projects.
  • The biggest challenges and highlights of her career.
  • Learn about her past, current, and exciting upcoming projects.

“As I am getting older I am realizing that the more we can have those role models in place who have [raised a family while working] and want to support people who want to [have a family] the more the art form is going to thrive.” — Renée Jaworski

RENÉE JAWORSKI (Executive Director / Co-Artistic Director) has had an extensive creative career working with Pilobolus since 2000 and in 2011 was honored to have been chosen by the founding Artistic Directors to lead Pilobolus into and beyond it’s post succession evolution. She served as choreographer and creator for exciting projects and collaborations for stage, film and video such as the 79th Annual Academy Awards, the Grammy® nominated video for OKGo’s All is Not Lost, Radiolab Live: In the Dark, World Science Festival; Time and the Creative Cosmos and works with myriad outside artists through the International Collaborators Project, as well as overseeing the daily functioning and longterm planning for the company’s creative endeavors. As a teacher she facilitates workshops and group projects in diverse communities with dancers and non-dancers alike. In 2010, her alma mater honored her with the University of the Arts Silver Star Alumni Award for her work as an artist in the field of dance. She has performed and toured the world with Momix and Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. Renée lives in Connecticut with her husband and a menagerie of animals.

Upcoming: March 12, 2023 NJPAC Performance + Ticketing

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

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

Movers & Shapers: Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter

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PODCAST 151: Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter

Release Date: 2.27.23

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

    • Apple Music: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

    • Stitcher: Subscribe and Listen HERE

    • Spotify: Follow and Listen HERE

    • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

Sharing the Power of Dance with Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter

The power of dance can be harnessed and shared with people from all walks of life. The connection facilitated by the art form is undeniable when witnessing the fortuitous friendship between Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter. The two visionary leaders behind SYREN Modern Dance join us today to share their respective dance journeys, and the process of starting, sustaining, and now celebrating 20 years of SYREN. We learn about their roles in the organization and their principal source of inspiration, as well as their intention to share the value of modern dance as widely as they can. Lynn and Kate always have been and always will be dedicated to dance and, in this episode, we are reminded of the importance of placing creativity at the center of any art form, despite the distraction of building a business around it. Tune in for this inspirational conversation with two women who didn’t idly wait for opportunities to come their way, but rather seized the reins and did it their way!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Kate and Lynn’s respective dance backgrounds, and what initially drew them to dance.
  • The process of starting SYREN Modern Dance together.
  • The various jobs they’ve done along the way to support their dance careers.
  • SYREN’s development over the years.
  • Kate’s role in the company and what gives her the most energy in her role.
  • Lynn’s college audition and selection process.
  • How Kate and Lynn connected and how it transferred to their work.
  • What caused them to make the intentional shift to stop auditioning and start Syren.
  • Their intention to share the value of modern dance.
  • The story behind the name, Syren.
  • Their growth strategies for the organization and the challenges they’ve encountered.
  • How they’ve merged dance and science.
  • SYREN’s current projects and plans for the future.
  • The power of dance and the source of Lynn and Kate’s inspiration.

“The past five years have really started to feel like we have this organization that is being supported by many different prongs of programming, and the cycles of inspiration and work continue to feed each other and grow.” — Kate Sutter

SYREN Modern Dance is a New York City based company Co-founded by Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter. Now celebrating its 20th year of sharing dance, SYREN exists to embrace dance as a conduit of connection, communication, curiosity, and collaboration.

In February 2022, SYREN performed on behalf of the U.S. State Department as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador at Expo 2020 Dubai (the first “World’s Fair” ever held in the Middle East).

SYREN has shared dance where people gather in classrooms, theaters, churches, temples, over Zoom, in the grass, in art galleries, libraries, and museums in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Texas, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Paris, France.

In addition to hundreds of individuals, SYREN has received support from Mid Atlantic Arts through USArtists International, a program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Trust of Mutual Understanding, Aleph Fund, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Dance/NYC, Jewish Community Fund, and Queens Council on the Arts, Particle Fever, Harkness Space Grants (92nd Street Y), The Chelsea Art Museum, and by residencies at DanceNOW/NYC’s Silo and DTW’s Outer/Space.

SYREN has been exploring the intersection of science and art since 2015, which led to the premiere of “Red and Blue, Bitter and Sweet” in 2017. This dance was inspired by quantum mechanics, specifically entanglement, uncertainty principle, super position, and duality. SYREN’s most recent work “Ticktock” is performed in collaboration with Astrophysicist Paul Sutter, and is an exploration of time using dance and narrative sequences, “Ticktock” has been presented at Expo 2020 Dubai, Bryant Park, Museum of Science-Boston, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and New England Biolabs. In an effort to share the process of this intersection of science and art, SYREN created “Science in Motion”, and has since shared it with The American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington D.C., Society of Physics Students at NYU, Women in Physics at Yale, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, American Physical Society’s New England Conference, IONA College, The Chapin School, St. Paul’s School for Girls, Cambridge Science Festival, High Tech High School, OSU Dance Department, The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria, and Girl’s Inc. of NY.

In New York City, SYREN has been presented by Gibney Dance Center, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, Green Space, Arts on Site, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Riverside Theatre, Symphony Space, 92ND Street Y, Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place, Queens Theatre in the Park, d.u.m.b.o. Arts Under the Bridge Festival, and St. Mark’s Church.

SYREN has self-produced performances at Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, University Settlement, John Jay Theater, and St. Francis Xavier. SYREN’s visual arts partnership with The Art Students League of New York was exhibited at The Office of the Manhattan Borough President.

SYREN’s commissioned work by composer Galeet Dardashti was presented by JCC of Manhattan, 92Y Tribeca, and Le Poisson Rouge.

SYREN has worked with students in NYC at P.S. 123, Ballet Tech, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, and Mark Morris Dance Center.

Outside of New York City, SYREN’s has also been presented by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Cité Universitaire in Paris, Purchase College, Bach Society of Houston, Sacred Music at the Red Door, Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, White Plains Performing Arts Center, Educational Center for the Arts, New Haven Ballet, and Grounds for Sculpture, among others.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

SYREN Modern Dance

SYREN on Instagram

Lynn Peterson on Instagram

Kate Sutter on LinkedIn

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

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