Academy Dance Company II with me, their director, before their performance of Paquita

Apparently it is still spring, but we are already in triple digit temperatures here in Texas.

Super quick update!

I choreographed a few dances for our FWAFA Faculty Talent Show, including one of my favorite modern musical theater numbers, “Seize the Day” from Newsies.

I collaborated with 2 of my favorite people (Cory Curvin and Lindy Davis) and choreographed our Middle School Musical, Honk. It was exhausting and rewarding and the kids were AWESOME!

Yes, Paquita was also awesome!

I made a goal to take 2 dance/movement classes per week. And I mostly did this during the Spring, with the help of FurtherDance Fort Worth, Big Rig Dance Collective’s workshop You Are Not My Enemy, and my good friend Laura Barbee.

I saw Hamilton in Chicago. Twice. (I know, I’m the worst)

I was honored to robe a senior prior to her graduation, a wonderful FWAFA tradition.

I finished my first year of full time teaching at FWAFA by directing our high school and middle school spring dance concert.

It was the second year of the Texas Dance Conservatory and our second annual recital was a success, very proud of my students there too!

I choreographed a solo for myself and just found out that I was accepted as a performer/choreographer for Big Rig Dance Collective’s 2017 Co-Op Performance.

And so, this summer I have decided to sleep a lot, start planning for my fall set of choreography, consider a new personal creative work, review all of my college materials from my dance teaching methods courses, go to a bunch of happy hours on patios, read (so far I’ve read 10 books in 2 weeks), update my resumes and reels, teach class at a few local programs, and prepare my curriculum for our new change to block scheduling in the Fall.

See you at the end of the summer! Or in the Fall. Or sometime.

July was a big month for me. 3 different performances, 5 shows, 2 dances created, and lots of new dance friends made.

There were also 5 different reviews, 4 of which were published online. In the grand scheme of things, I’m still a fairly young, emerging, and maybe it’s even fair to say “inexperienced”* choreographer, so to be reviewed is simultaneously humbling, honoring, and surprising. Each review was very fair and well-written, and again, it’s an honor, though it’s definitely tinged with anxiety.

First, imPULSE dance project’s performance of My Beating Heart. Having danced in 3 works on this program, I was thrilled with the reviews that showed the strengths in the company’s performance and my choreography (“Flatango”) was well-received overall.

Theater Jones Review by Margaret Putnam

There was another review by Manny Mendoza for the Dallas Morning News, but it was only produced in their print version and is available online to subscribers, so unfortunately I’m unable to link to it.

Wanderlust Dance Project was the following weekend, also reviewed by both Mendoza and Putnam. Wanderlust featured a dozen dances and almost as many choreographers.

The DMN review combined thoughts on Wanderlust as well as a performance that same weekend of Made in a Day by Muscle Memory Dance Theater. I was  disappointed that our dates overlapped since I would have liked to either participate in or at least enjoy the performance myself. The concept was to make a dance in just 12 hours which sounds like a long time but is not.  Anyway, due to the density of all that needed to be reviewed (Easily each show could have been its own long-form story) my work does not make it into the mentions in this review, but it’s still a nice slice of what happened that weekend.

Theater Jones Review of Wanderlust by Margaret Putnam

And last, I was fortunate to be able to present my work, “Flatango” at a performance produced by Big Rig Dance Collective. I love the work that Big Rig does, their spirit of collaboration and community. It was awesome to be able to present my work for a second time. And this time I had to dance in it, yikes!

Also very fun, having someone review the dance after seeing it a second time. So thank you again to Theater Jones and Margaret Putnam for providing a way for others to experience my work without seeing it themselves.

*(It feels wrong to call myself inexperienced that since I actively choreograph in a variety of ways throughout the year and have been experimenting with dance creation since I was 16 years old, almost half my life. Still I have never created something for a company that I myself did not dance in, been commissioned to create work outside of an application process, etc., et. al. And the alternative is to call myself experienced. I don’t know, am I?  When did this become a journal entry?)

Hi Friends,

I posted this to my Facebook this morning at 5:30AM Central Time and wanted to post it more permanently here.

Thank you for reading.

I go to bed early on Thursday nights- I teach a class in like half an hour.

but now I’m up. and heartbroken. And mad. and just needing to say that 2 things can be true at once. Actually a lot of things can be true at once.

I don’t spend much time blogging any more, but I always want to write something on my birthday… So, things I learned or practices I adopted in my 20s(and maybe before):

Be kind

work hard

usually people are just trying their best. Assume that.

you can unfollow people on fb and still be their friend (on fb and off)

it’s good to do things by yourself

if you want to do things with other people, be the one to plan it

if you want to do things with other people then say “YES!” when they ask you, even if you’re not sure you will like what they want to do or it isn’t “your thing”

It’s ok to take a rest day and decide that you need to be alone 

sometimes people ask you for things even when they know you’ll say “no.” and you should totally not feel guilted into saying anything but “no.”

Apply for the thing.

Mr. Clean magic erasers work so well, as do the Target off brand version and a combination of vinegar and water (for carpet and rugs)

Laying out your clothes for the week (or at least the day) feels lame but is really helpful

Dogs are awesome

most animals are awesome

Try.

If the book/tv show/movie/et al is no longer interesting… stop reading/watching/listening. 

If it’s not working turn it off and on again.  Still not working? Unplug it and plug it back in.

If you’re day isn’t working, decide to start over. Take a nap, a coffee break or a shower and pretend that anything prior to that happened yesterday.

Before you buy a clothing item or accessory, think of 3 things you can pair it with in your closet.  If you can’t do that then don’t buy it.

When you buy something for yourself, get rid of something else (give it away, donate, throw it out)

You can give advice but people don’t have to take it.  Also, you can receive advice but not actually follow it.  IT’S ALLOWED.

x begets x and y begets y… so if you want more of something you have to do more of that thing.  Like if I want to dance and be better at dancing I need to dance more. This seems obvious but sometimes I pretend that Netflix begets productivity and that is very wrong.

One day a month go on your phone/computer camera roll and organize/back up your photos.

Never leave anything in the computer recycling bin, empty it or put it somewhere if you think you’ll need it again (er, you probably won’t though)

A completed to do list is just the best thing ever.

Dressing monochromatically is so chic and will never go out of style

paper planners > ical

Iphones are kind of great

when you’re not sure how to proceed, try to do the most loving thing

photo credit – Lacy de la Garza
Gee, I’m doing great at this whole keeping up with the blog thing… Once a season will have to do for now!

I gave you my update on my plans for the summer, and the summer was FULL of teaching, and patios, and barre classes, and trying to take class, and dog days, rompers and jumpsuits and making way too much choreography. But all the programs turned out great, and the choreography was presented, and the rompers were worn.

Oh, and we had another successful performance at imPULSE dance project!

And now Fall. I realize that actual fall is not for another month. And Texas fall doesn’t actually begin for 2-3 months. But for me summer is over, and here’s what’s next.

Dance Faculty – Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts and Texas Dance Conservatory

My new job!  If you follow me on social media, you’ve already read the update, but the short version is that in the spring I was approached to interview for a dance faculty position at FWAFA. This was a unique position in that it called for normal teaching hours, as well as hours teaching for their new after school dance conservatory program.  Taking this position has meant that I’ve had to leave or cut back at many other jobs, which is of course bittersweet, but the opportunity to train dancers in a great environment that is so close to home is extremely exciting to me. This position also allows me to complete my Texas teacher’s certificate and choreograph.

Smart Barre – Open Level Barre Classes!

I’m still teaching 3 classes/week and the occasional fill in at my favorite workout studio in Fort Worth! Check out their website to find out when I’m teaching.

Other stuff I’m still doing that’s sort of in the works and I don’t have much specific stuff to share, but I’m going to share anyway:

imPULSE dance project – holiday performance of Snow
directing one of the student dance companies at FWAFA
top secret project with my brother
new projects with FurtherDance Fort Worth
going to TCU football games
wearing jumpsuits
trying the new Pumpkin Spice lattes that supposedly will have real pumpkin in them now

Bring on Fall!

…a dance inspired by the fairy tale the 12 Dancing Princesses for imPULSE Dance Project a very short excerpt of this work that is very much in progress.

Just some articles I’ve been perusing and contemplating over the past month or so. I don’t agree with everything that’s said, but they all bring up important points and items to consider.  I truly believe that dance is a legitimate field of study for university students, but  students need to make sure they understand WHY they are studying dance. What are their goals? What do their dance studies translate to in other fields?  And dance programs must also be realistic, present students with many possibilities (beyond performance and choreography) for using their degree, and encourage them to diversify their learning experience as well as their perception of what a dance career can/should look like.

I could go on… or you could read on.

Is American Modern Dance a Pyramid Scheme? – Sarah Austin

A Call for R/evolution – Jennifer Edwards

A Philosophy Major Rants on Dance as a Pyramid Scheme – Nancy Wozny

How to Pick a College Dance Program That Will Work for You – Ashley Thorndike Youssef

More later.

Yesterday I watched the first hour of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s livestream of a conversation and rehearsal with William Forsythe.

At one point a dancer, going through his paces, found himself in the wrong spacing, too far away from his partner. He had only a few steps to get back. He was smiling, laughing at himself, and Forsythe laughed too as he flew across the stage and made it back right on time.

Mr. Forsythe then explained to the audience that the dancer had found himself flying, pulled away by physics, but he’d recovered, that he’d just figured out how to do it in a split second, unconsciously.  His body knew what to do, and took over.

He “unleashed his unconscious competence.”

And anyway, I like to do that too sometimes.