Artist Statement

My work as a performance artist takes shape at the intersection of dance, theater, music, and film. Through the integration of these mediums, my work examines the question: when are we (not) dancing? This question hovers on the periphery of my awareness when wrapping myself with winter layers to meet January outdoors. It pokes at me when I see athletes maneuvering the field in the unfolding drama of that improvisation we call “a very good game.” At the end of the day when I collapse into bed, the question is still whispering, “When are we (not) dancing?”

In both screen dances and stage works I use props, games, and sometimes even stillness to investigate this question. Cast collaboration is essential to my creative process. The most exciting work emerges when disparate experiences meet head to head over that same question: when are we (not) dancing? I employ kinesthetic empathy to invite the audience into an embodied sense of the performance experience and as an invitation to join the collaborative inquiry.

My work smudges clear distinctions between dancing and non-dancing bodies and performance and non-performance spaces. It draws the audience towards recognition that dance is always happening and is more accessible than we might think, and perhaps more interesting than we think. Perhaps it’s something we already do but don’t know we are doing it. I mean, really, when are we (not) dancing?