Come see Ruth’s work on Friday, March 3rd at the Foundry, 101 Rogers St, Cambridge, MA! Tickets are pay what you can. Reserve yours here today! Nicole Harris: You are a NACHMO pro by now. Do you have any advice for newcomers or those who have been nervous to take the NACHMO challenge?
Ruth Benson Levin: I would say to any newcomer, just relax and enjoy it! It’s the most supportive, low pressure artistic endeavor you could ever do. And it’s a good place to try something you’ve always wanted to try. Plus, if you choose to perform, you get an audience provided for you, which as a choreographer is a wonderful gift. N: For most of your past NACHMO experiences you worked with your longtime collaborator, Lynn Modell. Due to her schedule she won’t be with you this year. (We will miss you, Lynn!) Can you talk a bit about what you will be doing this year? RBL: I am creating a solo for a a dancer named Amy Caine. We’ve gotten to know each other as we both dance for Lynn Modell. Amy was also in one of my pieces for across the ages several years ago. Amy has chosen the theme for the dance and we are going to work together on the movement. N: You made a joke during your conversational application about working with a younger dancer and the things that your body no longer does. As more and more of the dance world is moving away from the idea that all dancers must be young, skinny, and bendy, what advice do you have for choreographers working with artists whose bodies have different abilities than their own? What are some of the tools you are using to communicate what your vision is besides demonstration? How are you creating in a way that leaves room for translation and interpretation by different bodies? RBL: Amy told me she likes to “fly high and fly low”. Meaning, she likes to roll around on the floor and leap in the air. I can do neither of these things anymore. But I am determined to try to come up with movement that will be satisfying for her. I’ve asked her to create some movement motifs based on words that describe our theme. I like choreographing when I get to start with somebody else is movement rather than my own.
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Learn more about NACHMO Boston and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: This is your first time doing NACHMO together. (I believe this is Teresa’s first NACHMO!? WELCOME!) What are you most nervous and most excited about the experience of creating work in a month? A&T: We’re so excited!!! Alexa: We’re using a large prop for our piece, which is always a challenge in itself, but creating a piece around it in a month adds an extra layer of difficulty! I’ve had the concept for this piece for about 8 years now so I’m stoked that I can finally put my thoughts to action. Teresa has a WILD passion and drive for dance that I admire so much and I’m thrilled she’s co-parenting this concept with me. Teresa: I’ve been aware of NACHMO for a few years now and it’s just never worked out to participate until now! Alexa reached out and asked if I’d be interested in collaborating on a piece and I took it as my sign to just go for it this year. I’m really looking forward to getting in the studio and exploring both working with a prop and working in this partnership. N: How did you meet? What made you decide to collaborate this year? How will your collaboration begin? A&T: We actually only met 4 months ago at auditions for OnStage Dance Company! Alexa: I’ve never seen anyone submit choreo and do FIVE pieces in their FIRST season at the company. We were in a small piece together this season that involved partnering, which is how we got to know eachother better…except that we weren’t actually partnered together! I noticed a lot of similarities in our quality of movement and I was like “I gotta work with her!”
N: Teresa - When you signed on to the conversational application you were listed as ASL Interpreter instead of just your name. Are you, in fact, an ASL Interpreter? If so, how did that come about? Are there ways that you feel speaking ASL impacts you as a choreographer and/or a dancer? Teresa: Yes, I’m an ASL Interpreter! I went to college to become an interpreter and have been working professionally for about 5 years now. During my career I’ve actually had the privilege of working with many talented Deaf dancers and performing artists which has definitely widened my worldview about what dance can be. I enjoy the visual movement aspect that ASL, dance, and choreography all embrace. N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? Alexa: I’ve been a big fan of Nozama Dance Collective for years and I’m always fascinated by their work. Every time I leave a show, I feel inspired to create something. By Nicole Harris
Nicole Harris: This is your first time choreographing for NACHMO. (WELCOME!) What are you most nervous and most excited about the experience of creating work in a month?
Libby Bullinger: Thank you for the welcome! The element of NACHMO Boston that stands out to me in particular is the amount of mentorship opportunities involved. As a fresh-out-of-college choreographer, I have definitely struggled with the transition from strictly laid out assignments, weekly choreography classes, and constant peer and faculty feedback that I received in my dance department to being an independent choreographer with free rein and minimal creative feedback. NACHMO has opportunities for group meetings, individualized mentorship, and peer-mentoring that seem to simulate the environment I learned to choreograph in. I anticipate this month will help ease my personal progression from student to working in the professional world. I’m, of course, nervous that my choreography won’t be “good enough” or “up to standard,” but I have come a long way in terms of how I frame my own achievement. I look forward to this journey being about the process of creation and a catalyst for creativity, with some guidance along the way from a variety of sources. Low stakes, huge opportunity for growth and fun! N: You returned to Boston during Covid after your college graduation. What made you want to come back here? What have you been doing since you returned? LB: I’ve always loved Boston, and as soon as I realized I didn’t want to pursue dancing professionally I knew I wanted to move back to my favorite city post-graduation. There are so many opportunities for creative humans here in Boston, and I have been jumping at every chance I can to get reconnected with the arts community after four years away at college. Dance education and choreography are my passions, so I have been teaching dance at studios around the city and started my artistic collective, Dance LAB, over the summer. Since then, my work has been performed at two separate events: at the Dance for World Community Festival and as a guest artist in Nozama Dance Collective’s DISSENT show. I can’t wait to keep creating and learning from the artists around me, and NACHMO is the perfect combination of those goals with a friendly push to get to work! N: Having started your career during Covid how are you building community in Boston. How can programs like NACHMO Boston help artists who are starting out in a Covid world? LB: I’m a people-oriented person, so the physical limitations that COVID placed on interactions, especially creatively, definitely impacted the way that I approach choreographing. My goal as an emerging choreographer is to make as many connections with other creative people as I can. One resource that has been invaluable is my membership with Boston Dance Alliance. I was able to attend their Open Call Audition and discovered some incredible dancers that I get to work with in my piece for this year’s NACHMO performance! Word of mouth and social media have also been great catalysts for growing my own network. Of course, the concept of the location-based NACHMO chapters is another example of fueling meaningful connections among the dance community, and I am eagerly awaiting the chance to work with this year’s cohort of choreographers. COVID definitely altered our perspectives on the idea of community, so involvement in community-based programs like NACHMO is a way to reenter that aspect of the creative process. N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? LB: This summer I saw KAIROS Dance Theater’s work in progress showing of “Folktales, Fables, and Feasts.” The athleticism and variety of the dancers’ movement was astounding, and their ability to convey the plotline of the opera fit right in with their collaboration with RenMen. I can’t wait to see the premiere this year!
Learn more about NACHMO Boston and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: This is your second time doing NACHMO. (WELCOME BACK!) What did you learn through this process last year? What do you hope to do differently this year?
Carli DiMeo & Claire-Solene Becka: Thank you for having us back! We are so excited. Last year, we worked on a piece about laundry; from this experience, we learned about the intricacies of everyday or quotidian movement and gestures. The mentoring session was crucial in our understanding that domestic labor like laundry is so evocative and at times contentious. As we are again working in a duet, we hope to lean into the vulnerability and intimacy of our connection as perceived by the audience. N: For last year’s NACHMO you did a piece centered around laundry. There have been several other artists recently looking at invisible labor (including NACHMO Boston mentor Kim Holman’s Common Circus) in their work. Why do you think that is such a relatable theme in our community at the moment? CD & CSB: With COVID-19 and the following lockdown, our lives were suddenly jammed into our homes. Zoom invited the outside world inside our homes, and so invisible and domestic labor became increasingly visible. Now the boundaries between traditional work and domestic labor are blurred as people work remotely – we ourselves do our laundry in between (or during) meetings! N: Your laundry piece, Did You Check The Dryer?, was based around the use of props (socks and a laundry basket). Will you be working with props again this year? How do you decide where to begin when starting a new work? CD & CSB: We will not be working with props again though we are considering having a musician on stage with us – and therefore be part of the piece! Last year, we began by journaling on the theme of Lost and Found, which is how we arrived at the idea of using socks on stage. This year, we are doing a “physical journal” based on some images we have collected to explore how those shapes manifest in our bodies. This will be the basis of our movement vocabulary. By Nicole Harris
Learn more about Jessica and her work here. Learn more about NACHMO Boston and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram. Nicole Harris: For NACHMO this year you are choosing a non-performance track. How do programs like this benefit your process? Are you working towards a specific project outside of NACHMO that you are using your NACHMO time for? Or is this purely exploratory?
Jessica Roseman: NACHMO is the perfect reboot for the start of my year. I love its casual creativity, playfulness, and the supportive environment. This year, I am combining several repertory dances into one longer piece, and I am playing with an interactive installation concept. At this point, both projects are in exploration phases, as I have yet to figure out where or when they will actualize. N: If this is purely exploratory, or in other places without a clearly defined end product, how do you make sure the process is meaningful? JR: Working by myself, I have zero tolerance for tortured process. Alone, I am responsible for meaningfully shaping my work to suit my vision. So I think a lot about what motivates me to dance, what excites me. I am inspired to use stories from my family and identity, by using my senses, and my location. N: What are your tools for prioritizing process at least equally to product? JR: Scheduled time in the studio. In rehearsal, I set my stopwatch for 5 or 20 minutes, for example, to play out a beginning, middle, and end around an idea. I may do timed dances several times throughout a rehearsal. Often the dance is aimless; some sessions I choose to do nothing. Sometimes I phone a friend in rehearsal, or bring in stimulating props for encouragement. Regardless of what happens, by putting in my studio time, I can trust that my process is growing the dance. Over enough weeks, I come to understand a sense of the story I am shaping. Inevitably, I develop a dance I can live in. My process becomes product. N: You’ve built three distinct pieces for fairly high profile programs in the last year. Do you have any advice for choreographers to care for themselves in the midst of those high pressure situations? JR: Choreograph wellbeing into your dance. If the piece is emotionally or physically taxing, put a recuperation section in there, or creatively modify the action! Work with things, people, costumes, music that make you happy. Bake care into your artistic process and business practices - schedule daily writing, life coaching, affirmations, play, and rest time to keep grounded. Surround yourself with people who you easily share with and trust. Be honest with yourself. Don’t be afraid to say no, or to ask for what you need. N: Thanks to a conversation from you a few years ago we started offering childcare during mentoring, tech, and performances for choreographers who need it. Are there other ways that programs like NACHMO Boston can be supporting artists who are parents? JR: One of my biggest challenges as a parent is balancing my time and energy. I really appreciate how NACHMO offers flexible options in scheduling dates for mentoring sessions, and how to participate. I would love programs for parenting artists to consider offering open, cumulative scheduling, allowing the artist to choose a schedule that works for them. It would be ideal if other programs asked accommodation questions to parent artists up front, even if they’re unable to provide. Parents need to feel welcomed to ask for support; so thank you for asking! N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? JR: The work of Laura Sánchez really resonates for me, among many other local choreographers. Laura is creating new ways to incorporate all aspects of her being in her dances, including beyond her expertise in flamenco. I am excited to see what she’s doing next! By Nicole Harris
Learn more about NACHMO and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: You are a NACHMO pro by now. Do you have any advice for newcomers or those who have been nervous to take the NACHMO challenge? Marissa Chura: Remember that NACHMO Boston is one of the most welcoming and supportive dance communities around! No one is being competitive with each other, or trying to tear anyone down. Something I love about NACHMO is that there’s no hierarchy among the participants- everyone has something to offer, everyone’s contributions and creations are valued and appreciated. Also, don’t put too much pressure on yourself! That’s something I have to remind myself a lot when choreographing, and it’s especially true in NACHMO. This whole process of creating something in a month can feel really intimidating, and it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of creating that “perfect” final product- and for me, that’s not what NACHMO is about. Don’t get so stressed about your final piece that you miss out on the overall experience, because this really is such a great opportunity to experiment with movement and connect with so many other artists. N: You generally create solo work for NACHMO. What draws you to creating for yourself? How do you keep yourself feeling connected to a community when your rehearsals are just you? MC: For NACHMO specifically, one reason for solo work is just practicality- this is a very fast-paced endeavor and with my current schedule and location, it just makes more sense to create solo work than to try and coordinate with a group. On a more general note, I’m often drawn to creating solo work because it gives me an opportunity to explore movement that feels satisfying in my own body. Sometimes in a class or rehearsal for something, you’ll find that one movement that just feels really satisfying, but then you might have to move onto the next thing without getting to explore that movement as much as you might want to. So I guess in a way, creating solo work is my “me-time” when I get to revisit those sensations that interest me and keep digging deeper into them. It’s an opportunity to focus on what feels good to my body, and then figure out how to build more movement around that. I think NACHMO Boston makes it really easy to feel connected to the community even when I’m creating something by myself. There are so many opportunities to directly connect with other people, especially through the various mentoring opportunities. I love group and peer mentoring. It’s always so interesting to hear about other people’s processes and see what they are working on throughout the month, and it’s just a great opportunity to connect with other local artists! Another thing that helps me feel connected is the daily prompts. I don’t necessarily use all of them for my actual piece, but I definitely like to play with them. To know we’re all getting the same daily prompts to play with, and then to be able to see how other choreographers are interpreting the prompts through social media, makes me feel really connected to the larger NACHMO community.
MC: I’ve been really grateful this past year to be able to present my work in some different places. I took the solo I created for NACHMO 2022 (“Intentions, or Lack Thereof”) to the Salem Arts Festival last summer as part of their Tiny Dance Stage series. That was a really interesting experience adapting that solo for that particular setting- taking a relatively somber piece that I initially performed on a full stage with low lighting, and then performing it on a 4’x4’ wooden platform outdoors on a sunny day. I also recently collaborated with Chloe Carlson of GUSTO Dance on a duet called “Dialogue…Or Who’s in Charge Here?”, which we presented in Metamorphosis Dance’s Works in Progress Showing in December. That piece is heavily driven by audience interaction and includes elements of humor and improvisation/adapting material on the spot, which is very different from the work I usually present. That’s something I’ve had a lot of fun working on, and we’re now looking for opportunities to expand the piece and continue performing it together, so I’m excited to see where that takes us!
As far as next steps for me: I have this piece that I’m creating now for NACHMO, which I wish I could say more about, but if I’m being completely honest, I still know very little about what the final product is going to look like. Which would have stressed me out a lot in the past, but right now I’m kind of excited that I have so many different ideas of where I could be going with this. I guess we can all be surprised together when the live performances happen (March 3rd-5th)! I’m also in my second season of dancing with Urbanity Underground, and we have our Creative Class show coming up Feb. 17th & 18th. We’ll be performing new work created by members of Underground, as well as Urbanity’s Junior Apprentices. Other than those performances, my main goal for this year is just to push myself to choreograph and create more. I’m excited to see what the year will hold! N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? MC: There are so many incredible local artists that it’s hard to choose! One of my personal favorites is Duets for a Lifetime- Lynn Modell and Ruth Benson Levin. The first time I saw their work was NACHMO 2021- they created a dance film called “Basement Airlines” that still makes me smile every time I think of it. Their work is really clever and full of surprises, and you can feel the genuine connection and friendship between them when they perform together. If you haven’t seen their work yet, definitely check them out! By Nicole Harris
Nicole Harris: Madison, this is not your first time participating in NACHMO. What did you learn last time that will help you this time around? Is there anything new that you are doing this year? Madison Florence: This year is my third year participating as a choreographer. Last time, it was 2021 and we were creating entirely for video. Choreographing for the stage feels very different and I became very comfortable performing and creating for an audience I could move and choose what angle they could see the piece from while creating video. I'm doing a little unlearning of that this year but I am excited to do some partnering, get creative with music, and push the boundaries of my comfort zone. N: You will be collaborating for NACHMO this year. Is this the first time you’ve created together? How do you know each other? How will you begin your collaborative process? MF: This is our first time creating together but not the first time dancing together. We are both dancers with Nozama Dance Collective and became fast friends since the day we first met. Lucky for us our thoughts are very aligned and developing a concept was a simple conversation. Sarah Ready: Yes, this is our first time creating together but we have been fortunate enough to dance together with Nozama Dance Collective. I met Madison when I auditioned for Nozama and instantly hit it off and found that we work very well together. We began our collaborative process by having a seamless conversation where our concept was developed.  By Tim Avery N: The last few years have been challenging for everyone, especially in terms of creating and connecting. What have you been working on to get you through Covid and how have you been staying connected? What did you learn from that time that you’re taking with you as we find our new normal?
MF: COVID has been tough to maintain connection but I am very grateful to have a dance community to have met virtually and safely in-person for regular rehearsals and video dance projects. I've learned I can't do as much as I used to and I need to slow down to take care of myself and enjoy the things I am doing. There's plenty of time and there is no reason to rush or over do it. SR: Covid pushed me to make some changes in the communities that I keep. I found dance communities that provided safe rehearsal spaces. Movement is a big part of who I am, so being able to connect through dance in safe spaces was very beneficial to me. That time taught me to take a step back and see what is not working. It taught me to seek out communities that share similar interests and provide support. N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of the community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? MF: I can never pick just one but currently I'm loving the energy and perspective Brett Bell brings to the stage. SR: One of my long-time favorite local choreographers is Lacey Sasso because of the effortless feel she gives to her movement. You can truly see her passion for dance shine through as she captivates her audience. by Nicole Harris
Learn more about NACHMO and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: This is your first time choreographing for NACHMO. (WELCOME!) What are you most nervous and most excited about the experience of creating work in a month? Katrina Conte: I have been wanting to create a piece based off the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham for awhile now and I’m excited to explore some abstract funky movement to match his whimsical book. I'm nervous about completing a piece in a month that I feel is complete, but I am trying to think of this show as a test run before it's shown again in our ALIVE show in April. N: You are choreographing this year as part of Alive Dance Collective and your piece will be inspired by their season theme of books. Can you tell us about what book you’re using and how you’re planning to use it? What first drew you to the book? KC: I was first drawn to this book when I went to see How the Grinch stole Christmas the Musical touring at my university a few years ago. There was a fun fact page about Dr. Suess in the program and it mentioned he only uses a total of 50 words rearranged to create the story of Green Eggs and Ham. This sparked an idea! I will be generating a move for each word in the story and choreographing it in the structure of the book. I am also having my musician be inspired by a similar idea.  N: In addition to dancing for Alive you have worked with The Click and Kim Holman in the last year. All of those choreographers have very different practices. What have you learned about your own choreographic process and how has it changed through 2022?
KC: I have also danced with Kairos Dance Theatre within the last year! My choreographic process has become a lot more collaborative with the dancers I'm working with. I have also learned it's okay to not know where you're going and trial and error leaves room for exploration and new ideas. I have noticed recently that I am very inspired by literature and using it to explore words and phrases in movement to create my works. N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? KC: I am still new to this city and would say I haven't seen enough work from different choreographers to have a favorite. But two Choroeghers whose work I admire are Shen Wei (NYC Based) and Rosie Herrera (Miami Based).
Learn more about NACHMO and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: It’s so exciting to have you back to NACHMO! We have certainly undergone a lot of changes since you were with us in 2020. What have you been doing during that time? How do you feel your practice has changed? What things have you discovered to be vital to you and your work? Jo Troll: It's exciting to be back! NACHMO 2020 was actually my last live performance before the lockdown. I think that's the real change that's happening. I struggled a lot during the pandemic and had to refocus much more on my teaching instead of performance. In terms of creation and performance, I feel like I'm just coming out of a multiyear hibernation. This pandemic has taught me a lot in terms of the value of virtual work in terms of accessibility. I never thought that I would teach only on zoom, and yet, I see how much the virtual world has allowed more people to be able to access dance. Now, I'm trying to bring these lessons into my solo creative practice as well. I'm playing a lot more with video and the idea of performing live in a virtual way. I've been thinking a lot about space recently - my main rehearsal space is still my bedroom. So what does it mean to see a space differently or experience a space when we're not physically in it? N: You have a background in a variety of traditional percussive dance practices. Can you tell us a bit about what you’ll be working on for NACHMO this year? JT: Nothing noisy or virtual! I'm working with Irish light shoe dancing, which can feel very percussive but doesn't have the accompanying sound.I'm not quite sure what it is I'm actually doing yet, but it seems to involve a chair. I've always been fascinated by how music for dance can change our perception of time and that has been my main starting point. I struggle between the desire to simply dance and the need to say something with my dancing. I'm a trans, aroace, disabled Irish dancer and if I don't frame my work, someone else will do it for me and usually miss something important. But sometimes, I just want to put on good music and dance. I think that tension is an underlying theme in my work at the moment.  By Olivia Moon Photography N: Your practice focuses on building connection and community and creating safe spaces for queer dancers. How can programs like NACHMO help support this goal for you and others?
JT: NACHMO already does a lot of great work in terms of just being able to build connection with other dancers. I'm really excited to see the new (to me) peer mentoring system, as just a great way to build connection. Similarly, I'm impressed by building up the diversity of mentors. Feedback is such an important thing for creators and can become so fraught because it becomes so tied up in personal aesthetic and identity. NACHMO has done great work in building up a body of mentors who have the experience and skills to serve a large group of dancers. The main way organizations can support queer artists, particularly trans dancers, is not to settle. You have a trans choreographer? Awesome! What about two or three? And, more importantly, are they happy? Can you make their time here more comfortable? As someone who has been the "only one", nothing makes me more uncomfortable than being the excuse for an organization not to continue working on queer inclusion. And of course, queer dancers are all around doing incredible work for our dance community. How can you support the work already happening? N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? JT: Choosing one is very hard, but Kieran Jordan, my teacher, has always been at the top of my list. Kieran has been central Irish dance for so long and done such incredible work in that time. By Nicole Harris
Curious about aMaSSiT? Applications will open soon for the next cohort! More information will be available at The Dance Complex’s website! Learn more about NACHMO and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: This is your first time doing NACHMO. (WELCOME!) What are you most nervous and most excited about the experience of creating work in a month? Tess Liddy: I’m most excited to be creating with a group of dancers who I really love and respect! I’m also excited to have gotten permission from the artist of my song to use it; as it was my top most played song of 2022, it feels like a great way to start 2023. I’m most nervous about creating a jazz piece in such a short time. I’ve created contemporary pieces in a crunch before but I’ve recently become much more interested in jazz dance and upbeat songs. I haven’t ever choreographed jazz so it’s a double challenge to choreograph jazz and to do it in a month! N: You are relatively new to the Boston area. Where did you come from before here and what brought you to Boston? TL: I grew up in Plymouth, MA dancing since I was 6 at Center Stage Dance Academy in Sagamore, MA. I went to undergrad in Madison, NJ at Drew University which is where I first choreographed! The pandemic closed everything during my senior year and I returned home to live with family on Cape Cod. After a year of working on Cape Cod, I was offered a job teaching for the Boston Public Schools and I made the move in July 2021! I now live and teach in Dorchester; I teach 7th/8th Grade Applied Behavior Analysis. Working for the public school system and moving a bit farther from home was what brought me to Boston but the dance community is what has kept me wanting to be here!
Can you talk a bit about your choreographic journey in the last year? When did you feel most successful? What are you looking for to keep your momentum going into 2023?
TL: I love this question because it is actually what my NACHMO work is about - the last year of my life in dance! The aMaSSiT program felt like a shot in the dark for me and when I was accepted, it introduced me to the large dance scene here in Boston; before that, I hadn’t choreographed since my senior year of college - spring 2020. I was able to continue my aMaSSiT piece, “In A Minute”, for the OnStage 360 show in July. From there, I took a break from “In A Minute” and began choreographing a piece entitled “Falling” which was a duet danced by Kaylee Mahan and Gwen McGovern - it was presented at the 2022 Dance for World Community Festival in September and I then adapted it again for the DanceWorks In Progress show through Metamorphosis Dance Company in December 2022. To keep my momentum going into 2023, I am looking to broaden the amount of dancers I work with. Coming to the Boston dance community was intimidating at first because of how well connected everyone felt and how little I knew; I’ve made some amazing friends along the past year and I’d like to continue building those relationships. N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? TL: At the OnStage 360 show, I was absolutely blown away by the dance “Rain in the Ravine”, choreographed by Pearl Young (IG: @pearlyoung21). While I haven’t had the opportunity to see any of Pearl’s work since, I would love to see more! It was a beautiful, dynamic performance with amazing synergy between the dancers. By Nicole Harris
Nicole Harris: This is your first time doing NACHMO. (WELCOME!) What are you most nervous and most excited about the experience of creating work in a month? Carmen Rizzo: I’m most excited about creating something relatively quickly that I am proud of and that genuinely reflects my artistry. I’m also very excited to witness everyone else’s process and learn from the community. I guess with that comes some nervousness to deliver up to my own standards. N: You talk about the importance of collaboration in your work. Will you be collaborating with anyone for NACHMO this year? How do you usually find collaborators? Do you have anyone in particular that you normally work with? CR: My goal is to collaborate with a musician for NACHMO and potentially one or two more dancers. I am in communication with the composer I want to work with and ironing out details. I usually collaborate with artists I admire and know the quality of their work. Many times they are colleagues, friends, references or artists whose work I have already seen in some other setting. Most commonly I have some connection to the artist before the collaboration begins. With that being said, I don’t have anyone I always work with. I like diversifying my collaborators as a way of diversifying my work and to find authentic artistic connections to each work’s subject.  Photo by Jessie Jeanne Stinnett N: Your bio ends with the line “Carmen also typically engages in deep scientific research before conceptualizing dances.” Can you tell me more? How does science overlap with your work?
CR: I typically go down a research rabbit hole on a subject relating to psychology, neuroscience, anatomy, and general human biology linked to dance. The most recent deep dive, for example, was a comparison on how language, movement and dance are interpreted/processed in the human brain. I read multiple scientific papers and research studies on the innateness of movement and language as forms of communication, on the regions of the human brain that are responsible for producing language and the ones responsible for interpreting language, on how other animals communicate, and so much more. That research led to the creation of a work called “Lost in Translation”. I am very interested in all facets of the human body and appreciate all the scientific research there is available on different aspects of our bodies. Because of that and my more obvious appreciation for dance, I like to combine those and appreciate them even more. I like looking at something so “factual,”“real,” and many times “flat” like science with a dance perspective, with a creation process in mind. The opposite is also true, that I like looking at something so abstract, complex, filled with dimension like dance with a scientific perspective. It’s something that has always sparked my creativity and ignites my inspiration. N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? CR: One of my favorite local choreographers is Victoria Awkward because not only is her choreography the kind that I could watch forever and never get bored but she is also an inspirational figure for me. I love how she is able to accomplish so much, maintain her honesty, be fair with her company’s dancers and collaborators (compensating them adequately, among other practices), support the community around her, and be such a welcoming person always. She truly has so many elements that I look up to and use as a guide for myself as I navigate the Boston dance scene as a young choreographer. By Nicole Harris
Learn more about NACHMO and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! Nicole Harris: This is your third NACHMO which means it’s Collective Moment’s second birthday this month! What have you learned through the process of starting a company? What are your goals moving forward? Kaylee Mahan: I am so excited for our second birthday month and am so excited to share it with you all!!! I have learned so many incredibly things.
N: You were part of the aMaSSiT program in 2022 (alongside Circe, Lila, Tess, and Soumya who are also part of NACHMO this year!). The piece you created has developed quite a bit since then. Can you talk a bit about your choreographic journey from aMaSSiT to now? When did you feel most successful? What are you looking for to keep your momentum going into 2023? KM: Man oh man - first and foremost being apart of aMaSSiT was and is still one of the best experiences of my life, as a person, choreographer, dancer! I found community, happiness, and good healthy dance connections! It was so lovely to be in a shared space of artists of all styles and just share! As for my choreographic journey - I’ve taken a lot of time and put more thought into recent works, allowed myself to really slow down with some movement and approaches. I’m honestly not to sure where I have felt most successful - thats one that I think I have to ponder on! To keep my momentum going into 2023 I think is to just really keep diving into making connections and communication with my fellow artists! To create and move for nothing else other than to just move - I’m really excited to follow the daily prompts of NACHMO - i enjoy being able to follow along prompts and see what comes up and out of it.  By Nikki Lee N: The piece you made for aMaSSiT was a solo and has since included more people. Can you talk about the process of development, especially with the topic being so personal for you? KM: he original work I envisioned expanding from aMaSSiT didn’t happen in the way I expected - I shifted it towards a duet which I hope to eventually grow into a possible evening length work from duet - group slowly continuously adding people in as the work progresses. I feel very fortunate to be surrounded around people who get being human and allow the space and room for it . I originally looked at the duets I was making as if they had nothing to do with the original solo, which I’ve come to be entirely incorrect in that I just didn’t see their embrace yet, if that makes any sense at all! N: You live in Worcester and frequently make the trek back and forth to Boston/Somerville/Cambridge for rehearsals and performances. How can programs like NACHMO Boston better serve artists who live in the middle of the state, not just in the greater Boston area? KM: Personally I don’t mind the drive but it is often quite a trek! I think maybe keeping in mind when scheduling events that some artists may being driving an hour plus back, sometimes late at night. It’s a choice that I choose to make but in reflecting to see if I had anything valuable to share, and thats something I think! However scheduling is so difficult…!
N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why?
KM: JUST ONE! Oh my goodness well I’d like to name a few if able and you can pick and choose if you’d like, in no order what so ever: I saw these two separate artists work at a show that we were in together this past July, I believe, and I often think about how lovely it was to see their creations. Core memory made! Pearl Young: insta @pearlyoung21 Brett Bell: insta @bmbe11 Also: Tess Saoirse Liddy @tess.saoirse Gwen McGovern @gwen_mcgovern By Nicole Harris
You can learn more about NACHMO Boston and take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! (P.S.You can support Christopher and all of Monkeyhouse’s fiscally sponsored artists here!) N: This is your fourth NACHMO, making you a pro! Do you have any advice for first time participants or artists who have felt nervous about taking the challenge? Christopher Croucher: Honestly, I feel like NACHMO is the perfect way to shake off those nerves. The way that NACHMO Boston supports the choreographers really makes it a choose-your-own-adventure kind of challenge. Put in as much or as little energy as you have to give, really, it’s okay! As Brenna Banister and Alive Dance Collective say, we’re full time humans and part time dancers. It’s okay to jump in at the deep end or stick a toe in the wading pool. No matter what, you’re going to take something from this experience! I think the most important things to remember are that 1. This should be fun, otherwise why do it? and 2. You’re stepping into one of the least judgmental and most supportive communities you’ll find in the dance world…enjoy it. You never know what will come out of it until you shake it off and go for it. N: You have been incredibly busy in the last year working on Letting the Land Lead. Can you tell us a little more about it? Where are you hoping it goes from here?
There’s a lot of growing to do but when I look back on all that’s happened in 2022 and particularly since NACHMO 2021, I know that growth is absolutely possible!
N: With all the site specific work you’ve been doing, how are you translating work that is made to be done outside in nature to an indoor traditional performance space? CC: Site specific work is very important to Letting the Land Lead and its function of connecting folks to their ecological environments, however, the backbone of the creative process for LTLL is actually pretty translatable. It starts with a somatic meditation practice that I do with participants and performers and we create the movement from there. It may be that, for this NACHMO, instead of starting in-studio and bringing the movement outside to let the land lead, I’ll start outside and bring it in…we’ll see! N: Monkeyhouse and NACHMO Boston believe that we wouldn’t be here without the support of our community. Who is one of your favorite local choreographers and why? CC: I’m going to cheat a little and mention two choreographers because I met them both through the National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellowship this year and I really love the work they’re both doing. There are certainly more, including more I met during the Fellowship, but I’ll keep it as brief as I can. The first is Ellice Patterson who is the Artistic Director of Abilities Dance Boston. Ellice is a wonderful person and also an incredibly powerful activist for social change. The company not only creates dance work that centers dancers who identify as disabled, telling the truths of their own stories, but also works towards extending true accessibility to all people of all needs in the performing community and beyond, even to the point of fighting for changes to legislation that will support this work. I am truly humbled by the force of change that is Ellice Patterson. (abilitiesdanceboston.org) And Amanda Whitworth. Amanda is a co-founder of Articine, an organization that brings together the worlds of art and medicine to both support health care workers and inspire them to treat their patients from a place of deeper compassion and humanity. The ideas and research behind this work are truly fantastic and Amanda herself is an incredibly kind and supportive person who clearly loves the work she does. Her excitement for it is palpable and infectious and makes me smile whenever I get a chance to speak with her. (articine.org) Truly, the dance world, and the world as a whole, is better for the work these two choreographers are doing.
Learn more about Cassandre here. To learn more about NACHMO, take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge, and learn about where you can see these artists’ work, follow NACHMO Boston and Monkeyhouse on social media! Nicole Harris: What will you be working on for NACHMO this year? In what ways will you be pushing yourself in new directions? Cassandre Charles: This year I will allow myself to embrace stillness and smallness in my process. I’ll be continuing on the Dance on Film track for, This Black Artist, A Digital Visual Journal. This TIME based dance film is my arts journaling experience, prompted by working with NACHMO last year. I am pushing myself to have complete choreography for a “transition” vs. using improv to “tell a story”. I would love to see words like “and” “therefore” and the sound of breath in my body. ‘I am asking my body and brain to use the breathing, dance and reiki training I have received, (and continue to receive) to come together with joy and gratitude in choreography and self healing. And I want to dance!’
CC: My film was shown at the virtual 8th Annual We Create Festival (June, 2021) the Festival of You, Us and Them, The Dance Complex (September, 2021), and the City of Malden Winter Festival (December, 2021). N: You have been BUSY in the last year! Tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to and what you have coming up! CC: I reconnected and performed with my neo-burlesque troupes, Lipstick Criminals and Slaughterhouse Society. It was fun to choreograph a 90s hip hop piece for the Crimz show and sociopathic clown act for the Society in October. It was a chance to just have fun and be silly after being away from each other for so long. Luckily, both troupes have members who are casted in The Slutcracker, a burly holiday tradition that usually keeps us very busy during the season. We had a smaller cast this year and all were vaccinated. Unfortunately, we followed suit of many theatre shows and cancelled our last closing weekend performances after a Covid exposure. Our producers were always about safety first. We were required to be vaccinated and they provided rapid tests. But, like much of indoor stage life, the pandemic is driving the artists’ calendar. It’s a lesson in accepting the new normal in exhibiting dance. After a long, unexpected time-off, (thanks quarantine life) I am looking forward to using my Fall 2022 Monkeyouse @ ArtsAssembled Space Grant to work on filming for the NACHMO February event. I’ve peeked at the prompts and think this a perfect time for a ‘transition’ reel in my dance film journaling that challenges my choreographic skills.
CC: For me the difference I have noticed is the “when” I want to practice or produce in each medium. As I continue to view my dance journal I see that I am able to draw and dance, but not dance and draw. I don’t let myself go on the latter. Perhaps because I am a visual learner, to “see” a movement or shape then embody it is easier. I am excited about using NACHMO to explore dance then drawing as a prompt for creating work. I think it will help me let go of worrying about technique and just dance! N: We love our local community! Who are some of your favorite local choreographers? And why? CC: Marsha Parrilla, Danza Organica - I have learned a huge amount from Marsha’s workshops and was honored to be part of her first and most recent We Create Festival, celebrating women of color. Marsha has truly been a social justice warrior through her company’s work. Her dance aesthetic is strong and graceful, and she is generous with her curriculums in cultural storytelling and research. Jenny Oliver, Modern Connections - Jenny’s choreography makes me feel like this is what I am supposed to do in the world. Her classes are fun, hard and you will walk away each time so proud of yourself because she has told you to “live” when you perform her center choreo. She answers every question and when you are lucky enough to see her perform, it is magical! Jean Appolon, JAE Expressions - Jean takes me back to first Saturday dance classes in Haitian Folklore. I did not know all the connections to healing this grounded dance style has as a child. I learn and practice through JAE. His company members are just as kind in teaching and welcoming the community to move into healing. I am SO excited to see Wisty Andres on the list of NACHMO participants. Wisty is a beautiful dancer with such control of their body. I have experienced their choreographic genius as a dancer, and their healer’s spirit in their mindful workshops. And have to shout out Boston choreographers McKersin Previlus, LaKai Dance and Ronnie Thomas, Mystique Illusions. Both have a quality of movement that back up their beliefs and dance styles. It was an honor to see their growth as company founders and creative directors. They also promised I could jazz hands in their shows, a flare I think is underused.
Being from Boston, a predominantly white city, I saw a need to focus solely on Black dancers & choreographers in my first archival project. Boston’s black dancers deserve a space to know their works are exhibited with the best intentions and stored in ways that will preserve them for true historical research and reference in all the mediums possible.
It will also be a space for honoring our lost and living legend of multidisciplinary artists, who can be researched at the BPL. I want to support and honor black artists of all mediums. Please join my website or follow me on instagram for project highlights and how you can help Cassandre bring The Black Arts Sanctuary to public and private institutions across Massachusetts and beyond. Insta: @charleyarts Cassandre Charles The Black Arts Sanctuary
Between now and the performance in February we will be sharing interviews with the 30+ choreographers who are taking the NACHMO Challenge with us this year! First up is Brett Bell, who is back with us for his second NACHMO in 2022! Nicole Harris: We are so excited to have you back for NACHMO again this year! What are you hoping to build now that we’re (hopefully) looking at live performance once again? Brett Bell: I am hoping to build a beautiful piece for the stage. My dancers are so talented and I’m thrilled to have them.
N: You do a lot of teaching all over the Boston area. What draws you to education? What do you hope your students take away from your classes? BB: Education is life, there is more to teaching just movement. I hope my students take away a sense of discipline and the importance of repetition. These are important life lessons that will keep you moving in the right direction.  N: What else are you working on these days? Can people see your work any time soon?
BB: I’m working on building my youtube channel in the hopes of my work will get out there for people to see. I would love to have more opportunities to create with other artists and build a decent repertoire. I’m also closely working with Jeryl Palaña on a new project she is developing which I am excited to be a part of. By Nicole Harris  Alive Dance Collective - Photo by Olivia Moon Photography January is National Choreography Month. We are working with NACHMO Boston again this year. I can’t wait to introduce you to all these incredible artists! First up is Alexandria Nunweiler from Alive Dance Collective. Follow NACHMO and Monkeyhouse on Instagram to learn more about this month’s events and participate in the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge! N: Your work is described as being “rooted in community, history, and daily life.” What does that mean for you? How do you involve those things in your process? AN: As the Alive Dance Collective we create dance for the human experience. We use that art to process and connect with others to better understand each other and grow as a community. Connecting that overarching theme to me and my process, I root my work in relatability and storytelling. Whether that be something as universal as your arm falling asleep, or the life of Henri Matisse, or the lore surrounding the Loch Ness monster I seek to surprise and connect with my audience on every level. N: I understand you grew up in a dance family. What was it like to be part of a studio owned by your mother? How did she impact the dancer you became? AN: Great question! I see my mom as the center pillar in my dance training and a wonderful mentor to how I create and teach today. I always refer to myself as a "studio brat" because I did my real growing up in a studio... and when I say "growing up" I mean from the womb until high school graduation-- my mom was still rolling around on the floor teaching Graham technique 9 months pregnant with me! My mom put a strong emphasis on education as well which pushed me to pursue my college degree in dance. I regularly return to Dance Theatre of Greenville to set work for my mom's students, teach master classes and attend performances. She runs a truly special program in the upstate of South Carolina and many (including me!) have benefitted from her education, approach and experience. N: This year’s NACHMO is different than anything we’ve done in the past, holding all events entirely virtually. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2020 brings us? What is the first thing you will do when the month begins?
N: Alive has been part of NACHMO for many years, and you performed in 2020, but this is your first time choreographing for NACHMO. What are you most excited about in this process? What are you most nervous about? AN: I am most excited to take on the challenge of a new work in one month. I love the open-endedness of NACHMO and that as long as you're creating you're right. Additionally, being a somewhat new member of the Alive Collective, I'm nervous/excited to work in the group as a choreographer for the first time and make something new with them. N: Who are your mentors? What makes those relationships special to you? What are you doing to pay forward the gifts they have given you? AN: I lean a lot on my mom as a mentor and I will be paying that one forward for the rest of my life. Outside of that relationship, I rely on a lot of peer-mentors. One person in particular is my collaborator Ashlea Sovetts who I am currently working with on a research project. She is the ultimate sounding board and creative yin to my yang. I'm able to pay this forward by participating in things like NACHMO where peer-mentorship is encouraged and growing the tightness of the dance community is a must. N: It is important to us that we continue to lift up other artists in our community. Who are some of your favorite local choreographers? Why? AN: Kristin Wagner has been a real inspiration to me personally. Her work is always so truthfully raw and I'm constantly reminded to dig deeper while working with and watching her. I'm also very inspired by Brian Feigenbaum. He really gave me my dance family in Boston when I first moved here and started showing up to his classes. He is so gifted in a way that transcends words and makes movement the only language that matters. 
N: What are you most excited about for this year’s National Choreography Month?
Q: I'm most excited about dancing alongside some of Boston's very best Choreographers and dancers but also I'm reeeeally excited to present a piece of work I believe will move and transform all in attendance very very deeply and profoundly. N: Can you talk about the dancers you’ll be working with? What are you looking forward to and what are the challenges of working with this particular group? Q: This is a solo performance. The reason for a solo performance is to highlight the context of the music and lyrics by maintaining a solitary focus on a isolated emotional stimulus. It's more of a challenge as such but, in this case, very appropriate. I'm looking forward to presenting this very emotionally relevant new Piece and rising to the challenges that comes with a solo performance. N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers? Q: Wow! There are so many! At the top? In the Contemporary Hip Hop genre? Ricardo Foster Jr. ..without a doubt the finest Instructor and Choreographer of his genre having worked with a number of famed R&B artists, Usher, Lady Gaga etc!!! Next is Papa Sy, PaSy Modern West African Dance Company, of which I'm a proud member. Lastly, Loraine Chapman who witnessed my teaching abilities in the area of healing movement, Contemporary hip-hop and hired me as a Contemporary Hip Hop Instructor for a special project. Her work is simply gorgeous!
N: Can you talk about the dancers you’ll be working with? What are you looking forward to and what are the challenges of working with this particular group? C: I'm actually creating a solo for myself. This is fairly outside of my comfort zone, as usually I like to work with a big cast and I don't like to perform in my own work. This summer I created and performed a solo for the first time, and it's a form that I'm excited to continue working in. In this process I have found that as a dancer it is a lot harder to listen to my own direction than it is to listen to the direction of others.
N: Kinetic Synergy covers a lot of different dance styles. That’s very exciting! What do you feel is the core of who you are as a company? L: KSDC loves featuring all our dancers talents, which is why we showcase all styles of dance. We strive to reach our inner dancers dreams of the art we love and let dancers learn and teach each other. As a group, contemporary dance is a style we feel all of our dancers excel in. Contemporary dances allows dancers to interpret movement and music in their own way, making each piece whole. N: What are you most excited about for this year’s National Choreography Month? L: Being able to collaborate as a group to create a piece for this show. We worked as a group exploring the movement and patterns to create the sequences throughout the dance.
N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers? L: Survey Says: Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, JoJo Gomez, Matt Steffanina, Kyle Hanagami, Gregory Hines, Travis Wall
N: What are you most excited about for this year’s National Choreography Month? C: This is the first National Choreography Month that I’ve participated in so I’m excited for the experience and to see what kind of work the choreographers come up with. I’m really excited to be getting my work out there in a public setting. Since I graduated from Bard College about five years ago I’ve been dancing as a company member in Dance Prism, a small ballet company in West Concord, MA. It’s a wonderful company and community but with a degree in modern choreography I only really get to showcase any of my own work during our summer studio performance. Most of my solo work is done on pointe so I’m also interested to see what the general reaction is to my kind of work with a man dancing on pointe, being that it’s my first time putting it in front of a wider audience.
N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers?
C: My favorite choreographer is Antony Tudor. I love his understated style of ballet. It is so smooth and yet says so much. I often show clips of his Jardin aux Lilas and The Leaves are Fading to my dancers when I start a new piece, to give them a sense of the subtle arms and understated emotional cues that I love to see. I also love a lot of Twyla Tharp’s work because of her use of pointe shoes in a more modern setting. I love to see subtlety in a choreographer’s work. My “wow” moments happen most often when a choreographer hits all the right notes, in movement design, music choice, and their ability to elicit just the right response from a dancer. When a choreographer is able to make all the pieces fall together, it is just magical. N: What changes in your process to build a piece in such a short time span (one month)? How long do you usually take to create work? C: Honestly, I am fairly well used to creating work in less than a month. For the summer performance that I mentioned earlier I am usually working on up to four of my own pieces while learning other choreographer’s pieces as well in an equally short time. I’ve been doing this for five years now so I am no stranger to this process. I do like to have time to go back and modify the work if the piece needs it. Having more time allows for more precision but the shorter rehearsal period, as I said before, has forced me to let go of my perfectionism. It has actually allowed me to produce a piece to which I feel surprisingly connected thus far because I don’t have time to obsess over the details. I’m also working on a piece now that won’t be performed until the summer and I am setting it on two dancers from Dance Prism which means that I am experiencing two very different kinds of process at the same time. It has certainly been an interesting experience to hold back to back rehearsals, one in which I can take all the time in the world to communicate the piece to my dancers, and one in which I struggle over trying to let go of detail enough to fall in love with my own movement in a very short period. It has been a very enlightening month of choreography and art.
We interviewed you back in 2015 when you were part of 24Hr ChoreoFest. What sort of amazing things have happened in your life since then? I am grateful ChoreoFest sparked the re-birth of Freedom Dances in the Northeast, following my return to Rhode Island from North Carolina. Since then, I have created many new works, co-produced a concert at AS220 with Heather Brown Dance in January 2016, produced “Verge” at the Providence Fringe Festival (FringePVD), and collaborated with composers Kirsten Volness, Dan VanHassel, and Verdant Vibes. Freedom Dances has also performed new work in a number of shared dance events including José Mateo’s Dance for World Community, AS220’s Dance Works in Process, The Dance Complex’s Friends and Faculty Showcase, Tiny and Short, Festival of Us, You, We and Them, and NACHMO 2017. In fall of 2016, as one of the guest choreographers for the Providence College Dance Company, I created “Silver Threads Among the Ashes”, inspired by the 15th anniversary of 9/11. I have joined the dance faculty at AS220 and am completing my 2nd year of the Boston Feldenkrais Training Program.
Freedom Dances’ mission is about creating works that explore individual, social, and cultural identities. This last year has been a doozy in dealing with those departments. How has the climate of the country impacted your work of late?
Last year’s NACHMO piece was very much a reflection of the results of the 2016 Presidential election, set to Kirsten Volness’ composition, “Complacency Will Kill You – (Contentment Is a Choice)”. There are so many incredulous and baffling things happening in our country and world recently, it is hard to grasp onto one strand before the next thing happens that leaves me with my mouth agape. There are a multitude of topics which infuriate me and pull on my heart strings promulgating a call to action. However, amidst the chaos, and changes in my personal life, I find myself logistically and emotionally much closer to my family. In troubling times, I find it important to remember that when push comes to shove, what is most important are the connections with those we love, those we can help in our day-to-day lives, and those who bolster us in times of need. Who are some of your favorite choreographers? Christopher Wheeldon, Alvin Ailey, Dwight Rhoden, George Balanchine What changes in your process to build a piece in such a short time span (one month)? How long do you usually take to create work? I find every process creates itself out of necessity of the parameters surrounding it. As dancemakers, we never have the luxury of time or money to pay for a lot of space, dancers, etc. so in that way, all processes are restricted by time. Of course, when in university, we are afforded free dancers and space, and a semester to make a piece or maybe two. In the past couple of years, most of my dances are created in less than 15 hours, unless the work is one of my longer multi-media productions. In that way, this process isn’t much different in total hours, but shorter in overall duration. We had our first rehearsal on January 15th! My dancers are great – they love dancing and being in the studio, so they are super generous, amazingly talented, and a joy to work with! We have been meeting twice a week, a total 4 hours per week, plus company class.
N: I’ve noticed a theme with several of the choreographers participating in this year’s festival splitting time between New York and Boston. How has living in such close proximity to two major cities changed the way you build work? What are the cons of splitting your time between two cities?
I am able to find many dancers and build work for large groups. I mostly love it, after about 6 months I get bored of the same routine and need a change! The logistics of just remembering where I left things and maintaining relationships that include long absences. N: Can you talk about the dancers you’ll be working with? What are you looking forward to and what are the challenges of working with this particular group? I am doing a solo so for me the challenge is finding inspiration. I am working from the sound more than I usually do in a group work. With a group I generally bring the sound in later but [for this piece] I am building it with the movement. N: What changes in your process to build a piece in such a short time span (one month)? Mostly finding adequate time within such a short span of time to work on the piece. January is a particularly busy time for me because most years around this time we are finishing up a piece. I have been in NYC performing a new work which we will bring to Boston March 16-17th at the Dance Complex. I have packed up my NYC apt and moved back to start my spring semester of teaching this week. Getting my Boston place set up after subletters have departed and sorting thru all those details in the midst of trying to focus on creative work and starting classes. January is the busiest month of the year for me! N: How long do you usually take to create work? I usually take several months so I am finding that I have to be less precious about the details, a bit easier in a solo. There is a freedom not to worry about perfecting something so much.
Don't miss the NACHMO Boston Concerts at the Dance Complex on Friday, February 9th and Saturday, February 10th! N: We interviewed you back in 2016 when Boston Community Dance Project was participating in 24Hr ChoreoFest. What sorts of amazing things have happened since then?
It has been a world wind of excitement since 2016! In 2017 BCDP showcased in over 15 guest performances, held 8 workshops, continued our Thursday Contemporary Fusion class, had two successful CONTEMPORIZE! Intensives and sold out our 5th Annual Benefit Show! We solely have raised over 2,000 for charities and keep continuing to spread the love of movement through our hashtag #FollowTheArtistry. N: What are you most excited about for this year’s National Choreography Month? HEELS HEELS HEELS! We have ventured into some new ways to approach the stage and have worked very hard to bring a new dimension to our pieces! We have broadened our repertoire and explored some new moves to express which we are extremely excited to perform! We also have asked other dancers from the community to join us in this movement that highlights empowerment in young women to succeed and make life happen! N: What changes in your process to build a piece in such a short time span (one month)? How long do you usually take to create work? We seems to put ourselves in these tight matters a lot with producing a two hour show in just a few weeks each summer. BCDP seems to thrive in these situations and accept the challenge with open minds! To be honest, one month makes us feel better relieved and unstressed compared to the demand we go through to create for other events. We are sending so much love, creative juices, and positive energy to all the other artists as they put together for NACHMO 2018! Happy Dancing!
N: Can you talk about the dancers you’ll be working with? What are you looking forward to and what are the challenges of working with this particular group? J: Turning Key is excited to announce that we are working with Orchard House, home to Louisa May Alcott and author of Little Women, to present a Little Women piece this summer to celebrate the 150 anniversary of the novel. All of the movement will be generated from the original text. For this particular piece, dancer Melenie Diarbekirian will be dancing the role of Jo March, transposing the poem “My Beth” into a solo. In the novel, Jo writes this poem in response to her sister Beth dying of scarlet fever. I am intrigued to see how Melenie can bring the emotion of the text to the stage.
N: Can you talk about your college mentoring program? Why do you put so much emphasis on college programs for dancers?
J: Turning Key Dance Company supports dance in higher education, and offers a college mentoring program to young dancers seeking a career in the performing arts. We are passionate about informing students about all of the possible job opportunities in the field of dance. Our company has dancers that have graduated from undergraduate, and graduate dance programs, as well as dance conservatories. We have a good understanding of these programs and their differences. Artistic director Juliana Utz offers private lessons and seminars on finding the right dance program, choreographed solos for auditions, resume and application guidance and how to make a career in dance. We strive to present our students with the tools they need to thrive in higher education and the dance community. Turning Key Dance is proud to have successfully mentored seniors into prestigious dance programs such as Boston Conservatory, University of South Carolina and Marymount Manhattan College.
 Photo by Paradise Photo Today's interview is with our own Choreography Mentee, Elizabeth Powers! Learn more about her and see the awesome movement she's been creating on Instagram! To learn more about NACHMO Boston you can find them on Facebook and Instagram! You can also support this year's NACHMO Boston programming here! Want to be part of National Choreography Month? Take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallege. Every day we will be posting a new prompt on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Follow along on social media to get the prompts and see some incredible dances! Share your own videos (no previous choreographic experience required!) using the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge hashtag in order to be featured! Finally, don't miss the NACHMO Boston Concerts at the Dance Complex on Friday, February 9th and Saturday, February 10th!  N: You are participating in NACHMO Boston as part of the Choreography Mentorship program here at Monkeyhouse. What most excites you about creating choreography? E: I think that the most exciting part of creating choreography for me is watching a piece tell me where it’s going. I tend to base what I do off of the dancers that I have and how they respond to various tasks and structures. Sometimes I start off with a concept and other times I start off with one specific movement but however it happens, whatever is presented at the end is rarely indicative of that original idea. I am always amazed by the transition that occurs throughout the process of creating a piece and love that I can count on the process to inform me about what’s supposed to happen next. N: You have been working on how to include improvisation structures in your choreography. What is it about that idea that appeals to you? E: One of the things that I appreciate most about dance is its presence. Any movement is literally occurring the second that it is being done and then it is gone. Even in dances that are highly specific and choreographed with every detail in place, there is always a factor that will make it different each time it is performed. In college I was encouraged to allow different things to happen with each performance as a way to not get stuck in the choreography that we had been practicing for months. By incorporating improvisation structures into my piece I am looking to max out this concept. I am hoping that the improvisational elements will facilitate a feeling of exciting uncertainty within the dancers regarding what is coming next that it will read for audience members.  N: What are you most excited about for this year’s National Choreography Month? E: Honestly just having the opportunity to make a dance and move with people that I care about. I am super excited about the cast that I am working with and having the support and guidance of Monkeyhouse has made this process so positive. I love that NACHMO is in January because it gives us the opportunity to start off this new year by making and sharing art. I am also super excited to attend the NACHMO final performance and see what all of the other choreographers have been up to this month! N: Can you talk about the dancers you’ll be working with? What are you looking forward to and what are the challenges of working with this particular group?
E: The dancers that I am working with are connected to Monkeyhouse in various ways but most come from different dance backgrounds. What I am looking forward to and the challenges of working with this group are almost the same. Other than working with Karen and Nicole as either students or company members, there are not many past experiences that all dancers have in common. While this can be a challenge in figuring out how to explain certain tasks or improvisation structures, it also allows me as a choreographer to highlight the individual strengths of each dancer. Additionally, when dancers from different backgrounds come together and work on tasks, what comes out of them is often not at all what I anticipated which is really exciting to see from a choreographers perspective. N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers? E: There are so many! Two of my favorite choreographers whose work I was fortunate enough to see live when I studied abroad in London are Akram Khan and Hofesh Shechter. I’m a big fan of Heidi Henderson and Doug Varone as well. I also greatly appreciate the classic work and specifically the methods of creating movement of Trisha Brown. |
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