 Photo by Kathryn Swayze Photography Empower One Another was a collaboration between Nozama Dance Collective and OnStage Dance Company. Here are a few thoughts from Jennifer Crowell-Kuhnberg of OnStage! Nicole Harris: Collaboration can be rewarding and difficult. What is one great moment and one challenge you’ve faced during this process? Jennifer Crowell-Kuhnberg: My collaboration with Erica Nelson was very rewarding and ran very smoothly. We worked so well together and I felt like we were able to mesh our ideas and styles quite well. I think we each contributed equally to the piece but also felt comfortable to suggest adjustments. Our dancers were also phenomenal in generating movement phrases and improv based on our prompts and allowing us to cherry pick our favorite pieces.  Photo by Kathryn Swayze Photography N: In addition to collaborating in the studio you have been collaborating with Nozama on this entire project. What is something you’ve learned through this experience? JCK: I have gotten to know Gracie Novikoff so well in the last few months and it’s been a joy to, not only work together on producing this show, but also to build a friendship. We have very similar sensibilities and goals when it comes to our respective companies and it’s been great to learn, share and reflect with her on both our mutual and varied experiences as dance company directors. That Director role can feel isolating sometimes so it was helpful for me to connect with her in that way.  Photo by Kathryn Swayze Photography N: Why was it important to you for OnStage to be part of this project? JCK: It’s my continuing goal to have OnStage be an open space for emerging dance makers and a safe space for experimentation. When Gracie came to me with this idea, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to provide those much needed resources and help support her goal of collaboration for this project. I think more companies and choreographers should be seeking out ways to collaborate or support each other. Since moving my company to Malden, I’ve also been on a mission to bring more dance artists into this city and hopefully get my local community more involved and more exposed to this type of performance art!  N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? JCK: We have so many exciting upcoming projects: Malden Dance Mile OnStage is collaborating with Monkeyhouse to produce the first-ever outdoor dance and movement festival to Malden. Find us on the Malden Community Trail on Saturday, April 27 from 12-3pm for performances, choreography games, dance class demos and more, featuring tons of local performers! Later that evening, OnStage will be performing at the West Medford Open Studios event at 4pm at 400 High Street in Medford! I will be showing work at the AS220 Modern Movement Festival in Providence, Rhode Island on April 25 and 27. OnStage Dance Company’s Season Seventeen Performance will be held at the BU Dance Theater on June 15! And I am currently auditioning dancers for a reboot of a special project called “What Is Love?” which will debut in July at OnStage!  N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why? JCK: Obviously I want to encourage everyone to check out the other performers in this series and support the other projects they have going on! 
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 All images by Olivia Moon Photography by Nicole Harris Here's another interview with the wonderful Lacey Sasso! On Saturday go see her and her company at Empower One Another on Saturday at 4pm to catch a Skort (post show conversation) with ME! Then join us at the Dance Complex to see An Animated Addition of the Dictionary of Negative Space at 8pm! Nicole Harris: Collaboration can be rewarding and difficult. What is one great moment and one challenge you’ve faced during this process? Lacey Sasso: As a unit, we decided to fully collaborate, meaning that every dancer has contributed movement, ideas, choices, etc. This decision greatly shaped our creative process by opening the door for everyone to have a voice. At times, we almost had too many ideas; this is where we had to step back as a group and really discuss what should come next, what made sense, and what might be an idea for later. The most difficult part of the process was scheduling. As artists, we all have multiple jobs and creative projects, so simply getting our bodies in the space at the same time was a large hurdle.  N: In addition to running a company you have a Masters in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy. How does your work in those fields impact your work as a choreographer? LS: As time moves on, the work I do both as a therapist and an artist blend more deeply together. Some of my choreographic work tackles specific psychological ideas such as the theory of attachment, which is explored in our work, Deeply Rooted. Some of the repertoire is inspired by the themes, movements, and diagnoses that I work with on a daily basis. For example, the company is currently working on a piece entitled Entwined Days which will debut on May 10 and 11 at the Dance Complex. This piece is a visceral and emotional response from my work with clients who have experienced trauma, or who deal daily with intense anxiety and life altering depression. The movement is a method of processing my therapeutic work while also trying to honor the stories in which I am entrusted to keep safe as a therapist.  N: You used to dance with Undertoe Dance Project in New York City. My understanding from when I’ve seen their work is that they are a combination of jazz/contemporary and tap dancers. Are you also a tap dancer? If so, does tap dance ever appear in Sasso & Co? How does working rhythmically impact your current choreography? LS: Yes, I am a tap dancer! I performed as both a tap and jazz dancer in my first season with Undertoe Dance Project, then focused specifically on jazz for the remainder of my tenure with the company. There currently is no Sasso & Company repertoire where tap is featured, however I am always open to collaborating across genres. Rhythm plays a large role in my movement and teaching style. I often find myself teaching movement with sounds or specific attention to parts of the music, rather than focusing on counts. I love syncopation and greatly enjoy finding ways in which movement can both support and oppose music.  N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? LS: Sasso & Company has a fun and exciting performance schedule this Spring! Our spring season culminates with our full evening length performances of Days Gone By at the Dance Complex on Friday, May 10th and Saturday, May 11!! We will be debuting new work as well as performing some of our favorite pieces of repertoire. You can also catch us at goodTHANGpassing on Friday, April 19 at 2:30 pm in Somerville, and we are performing at the Providence Movement Festival on Thursday, April 25 and Saturday, April 27th at AS220 in Providence, RI.  N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why? LS: Lynn Frederiksen and Paul Kafka-Gibbons also known as Lynn and Paul Dance - they create work that has a classical modern base, but often has a humorous element involved. I love humor in dance and find it incredibly hard to create. Colleen Roddy - creates innovative partnering mixed with athletic framework. She's always pushing the bounds of movement and never afraid to try something new. Erin McNulty -- she has a gift for combining technical elements with gesture and creating a dynamic is both bold and smooth all at once; it's beautiful. 
Nicole Harris: Collaboration can be rewarding and difficult. What is one great moment and one challenge you’ve faced during this process? Jackie Bowden: One great moment we had in our collaboration process was finding our vision for the piece itself. We had a great time coming up with topics and discussing issues we have in society today. One challenge we faced with this collaboration was communication. It’s difficult to translate feelings and ideas associated with a piece since we do not share a brain, a lot of thoughts and feelings get misconstrued in the process. N: Kaleidoscope was started by yourself and Jessica Prince just a couple of years ago. What made the two of you want to create work together? What are the commonalities between your individual choreographic styles? JB: We both danced together throughout our years at Salem State University. A few times before we even graduated we joked about creating a company together and how great it would be. Once school was over, we wanted to find an outlet for our choreography. What once felt like a far future dream turned into a current reality and we decided to finally put in the work and get Kaleidoscope going! We both enjoy the process so much of choreographing pieces. Our work has both similar elements that bring us together and unique elements that set us apart.  N: As co-directors, how do you create work? Do you choreograph things together? Do you each tackle different projects? If so, how much impact does the other choreographer have on your work? JB: As co-directors we have a sort of give and take approach to our work. We do keep our pieces separate for the most part and it’s also great for when we have a block in our creative process to bounce ideas off of each other.  N: What other local companies and choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why? JB: We recommend people check out Angelina Benitez and her work. She helped Kaleidoscope Dance Company get started as a dancer and has since ventured off to create her own work and perform in various performances!   One of my favorite things about my job is that amazing people like Gracie (Nozama) and Jen (OnStage) reach out to me when they have exciting projects like Empower One Another and ask me to interview the artists and host their post show conversations! Get your tickets to see six female run dance companies/choreographers on April 13th. You can catch the matinee, check out the Spork (post show conversation) with yours truly and then head over to the Dance Complex just in time to see karen Krolak's I-ARE Residency Showcase in the evening! It's a perfect day of dance! But first, check out this fabulous interview with Gracie Novikoff about Nozama's role in this show and her experiences in collaboration! (More show at ticket info at the bottom of this post!) Nicole Harris: Collaboration can be rewarding and difficult. What is one great moment and one challenge you’ve faced during this process? Gracie Novikoff: When Jen (of OnStage Dance Company) and I were coming up with the concept for “Empower One Another”, we were primarily driven by the idea of bringing Boston dance companies and independent choreographers together. We wanted to not only promote collaboration, but support for one another and to build a network in which directors can share the highs and lows of managing a company in Boston. With that, the overwhelming reward of “Empower One Another” has been to see six companies share their visions, talents, and experiences to work together and create beautiful new art. I am also thrilled to see the companies creating works under the themes of female empowerment, as this is what drives my company Nozama Dance Collective’s entire mission. At the same time, working with others can be tricky when you all have strong, powerful ideas that are worthy of being shared. With our partner company, Kaleidoscope Dance Company, they are also directed by not one but two incredible women. Along with my co-director Natalie, that makes four collaborative partners with bold ideas. Finding space and time for all four of us to be heard in this process has been tricky, especially when even the co-directors disagree with one another! But overall, that challenge has made me even more proud of this process.  N: In addition to collaborating in the studio you have been collaborating with OnStage on this entire project. What is something you’ve learned through this experience? GN: Working with Jen from OnStage Dance has been a gift. She is not only an experienced instructor and choreographer, but studio owner. She also single-handedly runs a 60 person company, which is a phenomenal feat. Jen juggles all of her tasks and jobs so seamlessly, and I have learned an incredible amount from her. She has taught me about prioritization, time management, and how to push beyond one’s limits. Our partnership materialized into “Empower One Another”, which is such a dream and accomplishment to me. I cannot wait to see what else our partnership creates!  N: Where did the idea for this concert come from? GN: Unfortunately in the Boston dance community, there is not nearly as much support between companies as we would like to see. Companies do not often attend one another’s shows, or take one another’s classes. Companies are insular, and do not often collaborate or help one another with things such as fundraising or networking. Jen and I wanted to tackle that, and bring companies together to collaborate and share one another’s gifts and creative visions. At the same time, we wanted to help form a network between Boston dance company directors and choreographers. Managing a company is hard work, and doing it without any support is nearly impossible! Having the six company directors meet for a Round Table Discussion about how we all tackle the challenges of managing companies was a massive priority for Jen and I. The “Empower One Another” performance is the exciting culmination of this collaboration, but we know that the partnerships will last beyond the show as directors continue to lean on one another for support.  N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? GN: Nozama Dance Collective has a lot of exciting things coming up! We are launching our Spring Company Class Series, in which we will teach master classes at Green Street Studios on 3/18, 4/19, 5/6, and 5/20. Additionally, we have our annual concert “Uplift” at Green Street Studios on August 9th and 10th. We are also looking forward to performing in a few festivals and concerts around Boston, so keep an eye out for us!  N: What other local companies or choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why?
GN: SO many! It is so hard to pick just a handful. The Boston dance community is filled with incredible talent, visions, and creativity. Personally, I am drawn to choreographers who tell poignant, empowering stories about the female experience through their work. Putting the other artists of “Empower One Another” aside, I am forever drawn to Colleen Roddy’s choreography. I am also inspired by the work of Luminarium Dance, particularly because that is another company managed by two incredible women who collaborate together so well. But honestly, if you have a free night, just check out the Dance Complex or Green Street Studios and check out whatever is happening! There is no bad dance experience out there. Support other artists! They will support you back! Photo by Kathryn Swayze Photography Nicole Harris: What is the work you'll be performing at re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT}? Jennifer Crowell-Kuhnberg: I'll be presenting excerpts from "Selichot." The piece explores themes of wrong doing, repentance and forgiveness. Selichot ("s'lichot" in Hebrew meaning "forgiveness") precedes the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. It marks a period of time in which we are encouraged to reflect on wrong doings of the past and consider how we can better ourselves, ask for forgiveness from those that we've hurt, and move forward into the new year with a fresh perspective and a motivation to be better. N: This isn't the first time you've shown this piece. Where/when did it premiere? JCK: This piece was originally commissioned by Cantor Peter Halpern for Temple Shalom in Newton, MA, where it premiered in September 2017. It was created as a site-specific work for the congregation as a way to reflect on the themes of the holy day of "Selichot." N: What made you want to restage it now? JCK: I was struck by a recent conversation with Karen Krolak, in which we discussed an expectation in the dance world that seems to demand that choreographers constantly create new work. However, for emerging or smaller local companies, it means that a lot of old work is only performed once or twice for a small crowd and then never sees the light of day again. I felt excited by the opportunity to take a piece that I loved very much and allow it to be seen in multiple settings by as many different audiences as possible. This has also allowed me to take another look at certain parts of the piece and adjust, add, subtract, or just see how it evolves simply by being set on a new dancer. This piece was an unexpected joy to work on. The movement feels so natural and fun to do and I genuinely enjoyed creating it and setting it on my dancers. I’m excited for the opportunity to bring it back to life and present it to new audiences. Photo by Kathryn Swayze Photography N: Who are the dancers you are working with? JCK: Aside from myself, the other dancers performing with me are Marisa Cohen, Alaina Sawyer and Amanda Untracht. (Natalie Schiera is also in the new cast but will not be performing on the 29th.) N: This is the first time you've worked with some of these dancers. How has that process been? JCK: Yes! Marisa is the only other dancer from the original cast of this piece, and I’ve brought in Alaina to join. I’ve worked with both for several years through other OnStage projects. I’ve never worked with Amanda before, but she is currently in residency at OnStage and I thought she’d be a great fit for this. I met Natalie through recent collaborations with Nozama Dance Collective, but also never danced with her before. It has been an absolute joy working with these dancers. They’ve learned the work at lightening speed and are beautiful movers. I’m so glad that we’ll be able to perform the work several times together! N: Where can people see the full piece? JCK: The full piece will be presented at the AS220 Providence Movement Festival on Thursday, April 25 and Saturday, April 27!  Photo by Mickey West N: What other amazing things are you doing that people should know about?
JCK: Oh! Just a couple of things: - April 13: Empower One Another - A performance series focused on the themes of the female experience and female empowerment, co-produced by myself and Nozama Dance Collective. Featuring 6 dance companies, including work that we have choreographed collaboratively, at OnStage Dance Company. - April 27: Malden Dance Mile for Artweek Boston - An outdoor street festival celebrating dance and movement. Co-produced by myself and the lovely Nicole Harris and Karen Krolak of Monkeyhouse. Located on the Malden Walking Path between Ferry St and Maplewood. - June 15: OnStage Dance Company’s Season 17 Performance featuring original work created by emerging choreographers and performed by our company of 50+ dancers, at BU Dance Theater. |
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