Qajaq Dancer

As I contemplate creating new choreographic work while I am in India, I decided to look back on some of my past creative work. I am reticent to describe myself as a choreographer when I think of the genius of works in which I was privileged to dance throughout my career.  This is also a chance for me to test out posting video content on this blog. These two solos were created twenty years apart.  Shapeshifting  was premiered in 1991 and was something of a “gift” to Matt who is speaking his own words in the video clip. Sadly, Matt passed away this year after living for decades with Multiple Sclerosis.  SHAPESHIFTING Brook  was a section of my MFA thesis performance installation in 2011, and was created in memory of a close friend who committed suicide the previous year. BROOK

A recent coffee date with a friend included extensive conversation about how we came to be the individuals we are today. It struck me how, sometimes, only the briefest of encounters can shape whole facets of our lives. So while I often focus on the many people whose lives have catalyzed shifts in my own, and with whom I have gotten to know personally, there are many who will likely remain strangers to me. Going to see live performances of any kind, is for me a kind of ephemera which will live on only in how I remember my responses in the moment to the work, the performers, the environs. And yet these experiences did not live/exist discrete from the rest of my life to that point. I have an idyllic home in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, where I am extremely lucky to live surrounded by original forest land. There is even a small bridge with a panoramic view of the pond that forms one boundary of the property. Most years, I stop on the bridge and take a picture to ponder

Based on recent conversations, I realize that saying on this blog that I am going to India with a Fulbright-Nehru “Academic & Professional Excellence” grant does not describe exactly what I intend to be doing there. The short answer is that I will be teaching “modern” and “ballet” classes at various dance academies in Mumbai and New Delhi. Additionally, I will be choreographing, running seminars for teachers, and offering masterclasses. Hopefully, in my six months there, I will have a chance to connect with other institutions as a “guest” teacher in some capacity, as time allows. Pictured teaching: 1986 kids in San Francisco, 1993 assisting Eleanor D’Antuono with young professionals (photo – Marbeth), 2003 conservatory graduates, Robbie Curtis and Nicola Leahey, at NZSD (photo – Steven A’Court) The genesis of this whole adventure was two years ago when a dance school in Mumbai sent a request to the Paul Taylor Foundation looking for a Taylor-style modern dance teacher to work

In 2011, I received a Fulbright “Specialist” grant as a part of their program that places professionals with proven excellence in their field for projects that are between six weeks and four months. That grant was used in support of a licensing project for me to stage Paul Taylor’s “Company B” on the graduating students at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington. This also happened to be one of the few opportunities for me to connect in person with Nigel, whom I mentioned previously as having just lost a very short battle with cancer. I came to view the Fulbright grants as supporting global opportunities to build an international network for future projects, and deepening established relationships with institutions and individuals. 2011 – NZSD students perform their school “haka” for me in a very moving farewell at the end of my visit (photo by Nigel Boyes). 2011 – NZSD students performing Paul Taylor’s “Company B”. What I did not know about Fulbright, at first, was

Transitions of any kind can be hard. After all, we work diligently to secure and surround ourselves with the familiar and that which makes us feel comfortable and safe. So why change if we don’t have to? Why create the need for change? For a variety of reasons I may be predisposed to being distrustful of a “safe” life with a “secure” future, but I do know that dealing with transitions goes better with practice. So, I consider that when there are choices to be made (what to eat, which job to apply for, whether or not to get out of bed), there is no truly “bad” choice, and I think it is better to choose and accept where that choice leads, rather than do nothing. I leave myself the option to change my mind, but at least I have made a step forward from where I was before I made a decision. And many times I have watched myself choose the seemingly more difficult route. There were many choices over decades that I believe led to my Fulbright-Nehru grant and my upcoming trip to India. An