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NACHMO Boston Interview - Tess Liddy

1/3/2023

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By Nicole Harris
Picture
We are so thrilled to have so many folks from aMaSSiT, a program Monkeyhouse runs in collaboration with The Dance Complex, participating in NACHMO this year! Tess Liddy was part of the most recent aMaSSiT cohort and we have loved watching her work grow since then!
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!
N: Monkeyhouse first met you at aMaSSiT in 2022 (where you worked with Kaylee Mahan and Lila Klaus, who are also NACHMO Boston participants!). Since then your work has been presented in a number of places.
Purple haired dancer holds a one handed backbend in forced arch
By @umbriannamedia
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. ​​
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NACHMO Boston Interview - Kaylee Mahan and Collective Moments Dance

1/2/2023

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By Nicole Harris
a person standing behind someone, holding onto their forehead from behind, with the other person leans her weight forward, into It.
Photo by Nikki Lee
Today we have been discussing just how lucky we are to have met so many incredible artists through NACHMO Boston over the years. Kaylee Mahan of Collective Moments Dance Company is no exception!

​
Monkeyhouse had the honor of partnering with Kaylee for Empower One Another and Kaylee was an aMaSSiT choreographer in 2022. We are thrilled to once again have her in NACHMO this year!
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. 
  • Going with your gut is important - you have to be your biggest advocate but also allow others to help/ support!
  • You never know until you try, so try! and not every “success” is a “yes” so, be gentle and not attached to results!  
  • Connections and community is everything. To fall in and embrace - all and any. 
​My goals moving forward is to just take more chances and dive in more. I tend to let my brain and mental chatter if you will really hold me back from personally following through with some projects, grants, applications, which is okay its part of the journey, but, I think goal wise: apply to more things,  keep performing, and hopefully making new work.  

​
​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.
standing in contact oppositional, one with eyes closed is resting their head on the other while they hold them
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…! 
White man with tattoos looking over his shoulder
Brett Bell by Najee Ayman Visuals
Blonde haired woman with blue, purple, and pink hair tips stares at the camera, chin on her knee. She wears pink, blue, and yellow eyeshadow with yellow lipstick. Behind her is a record player, comic books, and novels on a shelving unit.
Tess Liddy by Tess Liddy
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 
​
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