Creating a Technique that Honors the Individual with Susan Klein Today’s guest Susan Klein is a true luminary, having shaped the modern dance landscape with her groundbreaking theories as creator of the renowned Klein Technique. In this episode, we explore her transformative journey as a movement pioneer, uncovering her dance background, the hurdles she overcame following a series of debilitating knee injuries, and her return to the world of movement. We discover how her experience ignited her p...
Jun 19, 2023•43 min
Activism, Dance, and Co-Leadership with Hope Mohr Dance, movement, performance, and art-making can play many roles in one’s life. And how they are expressed can change shape over the course of a career. Our guest today, Hope Mohr, has woven together a life of art and activism as a choreographer, curator, and advocate. She has had a fascinating career journey, dedicating herself to both dance and activism and finding new and innovative ways to integrate the two. We talk with Hope about the inexor...
Jun 05, 2023•35 min
Building a Dancer with Rosalynde LeBlanc Rosalynde LeBlanc built her career dancing for some of the biggest names in dance. Today, she is Professor and Chair of Dance at Loyola Marymount University. Social justice awareness has always underpinned her work as a choreographer, which is why she creates pieces that are related to the world and not the mirror. During today’s conversation, she shares her perspective on what it truly means to build a dancer beyond just the physical. Tune in to hear the...
May 22, 2023•55 min
Remembering Agnes De Mille with Elizabeth Ferrell and Jenna Rae Herrera Today’s episode is a special one, where we look back and remember world-renowned dancer, choreographer, writer, lecturer, and director, Agnes De Mille. Agnes had a successful, yet tempestuous, career that spanned almost 70 years through the world of 20th-century American theater and ballet. We take a look at her through the eyes of Elizabeth Ferrell, formerly a member of the American Ballet Theater, and Jenna Rae Herrera, a ...
May 09, 2023•34 min
Remembering Jennifer Muller (1944-2023) Today’s podcast is a re-airing of an interview with Jennifer Muller on Movers & Shapers from September 2019. Jennifer was the Artistic Director/Founder of Jennifer Muller/The Works, and was an influence in the dance world for over 50 years. Jennifer passed away March 29 peacefully in her home. A maverick in the dance field, in this episode you will hear from the determined, tenacious, and passionate Jennifer Muller of Jennifer Muller/The Works. From he...
Apr 24, 2023•56 min
Fierce, Fragile, Empathetic, Political, and Poetic Art with Miguel Gutierrez Our guest today, Miguel Gutierrez, is irrevocably passionate about making works of art and creates empathetic and irreverent spaces outside of traditional discourse. Our conversation starts with Miguel sharing more about his upbringing as the child of two immigrants, how he came to love the arts and dancing, and what he wanted to be when he grew up. He tells us about his time at Brown, Queer Activism, working with Paula...
Apr 10, 2023•46 min
The Art of Improvisation with Margaret Beals For today’s guest, dancing without inhibitions is what has fed her soul for more than 8 decades. Joining us on Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast is the incredible dance improvisation innovator Margaret Beals to tell us all about her years of dancing and her new documentary, Dancing Without Steps . Tuning in, you’ll hear all about our guest’s privileged upbringing, her longing to be free, dancing in her home and the streets of New York City, and wh...
Mar 27, 2023•43 min
The Magic of Creativity with Renée Jaworski Being a successful dance performer requires a combination of technical skills, artistry, professionalism, dedication, and networking. In today’s episode, we sit down with Renée Jaworski, the Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director of the rebellious dance company, Pilobolus, as she shares her experience working there throughout her illustrious 20+ year career and unpacks the magic of creativity, risk, collaboration, artistic expression, and the valu...
Mar 10, 2023•47 min
Sharing the Power of Dance with Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter The power of dance can be harnessed and shared with people from all walks of life. The connection facilitated by the art form is undeniable when witnessing the fortuitous friendship between Lynn Peterson and Kate Sutter. The two visionary leaders behind SYREN Modern Dance join us today to share their respective dance journeys, and the process of starting, sustaining, and now celebrating 20 years of SYREN. We learn about their roles in...
Feb 27, 2023•39 min
A Legacy of Dance with Alessandra Corona Today’s episode is sure to inspire you! Joining us in conversation today, we have a joyful spirit, Alessandra Corona. Tuning in, you’ll hear about her time as a principal dancer for Ballet Hispánico, overcoming a language barrier, and falling in love with modern dance. Alessandra shares how Ann Reinking was a revolutionary influence on her, and invited her to join the international Fosse tour. Alessandra’s life took an unexpected twist when she started he...
Feb 06, 2023•39 min
Sustaining the Legacy of the Limón Dance Company with Dante Puleio and Michelle Preston The Limón Dance Company is approaching its 75th anniversary and in today’s episode, we are joined by its Artistic Director, Dante Puleio, and Executive Director, Michelle Preston. Dante and Michelle’s passion for their work is palpable and over the next few years they plan to inject new energy into Limón while also preserving the company’s rich heritage. Tune in today to hear how dance changed the lives of th...
Jan 23, 2023•47 min
Stepping Out into the World with Davalois Fearon Today we bring you a beautiful and inspiring conversation with Davalois Fearon, whose work as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer brings together her family history, early years in Jamaica, and a dedication to moving the art form and community forward. Expect to come away with some fascinating insight into her process of connecting the different parts of her life and experience into a unified artistic voice. Make sure to join us for this great ep...
Jan 09, 2023•45 min
Dancing Across Continents, Finding Your Body, and Discovering the Ilan Lev Method with Annie Rigney Who you are as an artist is undoubtedly influenced by the teachers you encounter along the way. Similarly, being exposed to different artistic practices can have a significant impact on your development. Today’s guest, Annie Rigney, started dancing at the tender age of three and hasn’t looked back since. In our conversation, Annie recounts how she was first introduced to new techniques (like Graha...
Dec 26, 2022•53 min
Performers are always looking for fulfilling artistic endeavors and creative communities. In this episode, we hear from three incredible people, Elizabeth Yilmaz-Dobrow, Mara Driscoll, and César Abreu, who have come together to form an exciting new project with a shared vision for performance. Art Bath is an immersive performance salon series that fosters community, exploration, and exchange within the community. Our guests share how they met while dancing at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and wh...
Dec 12, 2022•55 min
Dance artist Carmen Caceres – passionate, driven, and inspiring! Hear what it was like for Carmen to: Move to NYC from Buenos Aires, Argentina and her deeply personal immigrant experience as a dancer and choreographer pulled between two cultures. How a childhood dream came true with an encounter with world-renowned dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. What it’s like to follow your artistic voice and create important immersive creative work today. “When I'm dancing, I get to be this person that's free fro...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Choreographer, dance educator, arts leader Amanda Selwyn - resilient, hard-working, and inspiring! Hear what it was like for Amanda to: Grow up wanting to be a performer, and then eventually finding her niche as a choreographer and arts leader. How her college experience at Northwestern University shaped her as an artist as well as connecting with her Jewish roots and spending a year living in Israel. What it was like for her to create and develop a thriving dance organization with an active dan...
Nov 14, 2022•1 hr 9 min
"I'm grateful for the whole journey" - McClaine Timmerman, Founder and Artistic Director of the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival (CDCFest) Today's guest is McClaine Timmerman. McClaine is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival (CDCFest) in Orlando, Florida. She is an awarded choreographer, Nationally Certified Pilates instructor, business owner, and dance educator. Applications for CDCFest are open now, and due January 25th! For guidelines and m...
Oct 31, 2022•57 min
"Dancers dance because we have to, I don't know how else to explain it." - Austin Hartel, MSP 142 Today's guest is Austin Hartel. Austin is a former longtime member of Pilobolus Dance Theater, and has been connected with the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond for almost 20 years as teacher and founder/artistic director of the University's School of Dance. As Artistic Director of Dalton-Hartel Dance and Hartel Dance Group, he toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. His ch...
Oct 03, 2022•1 hr 25 min
"I've always chased that thrill." - Adele Myers on her lifetime in dance Today's guest is Adele Myers. Adele is a Miami based dance maker and Artistic Director of Adele Myers and Dancers (AMD), a national touring contemporary dance theater company made up of female athletes of the heart. For over a decade, AMD has been presented throughout the U.S with funding from the New England Foundation of the Arts, National Dance Project, and National Performance Network. Since relocating to Miami, she rec...
Sep 19, 2022•57 min
"We are the carriers of the culture." - Ranee Ramaswamy Today's guests are Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy, the Artistic Directors of Ragamala Dance Company, a pioneering company rooted in the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam. Over the last four decades, Ranee and Aparna have forged a path for culturally rooted performing arts organizations and made Ragamala a standard-bearer within the American dance landscape. The New York Times says, “ Ragamala shows how Indian forms can be some of the mos...
Sep 05, 2022•58 min
"This is who I am. I am a dancer and this is what I have to offer the world." - Gloria McLean Today's guest is Gloria McLean. Gloria is artistic director of LIFEDANCE/Gloria McLean and Dancers. LIFEDANCE is dedicated to the integration of body, mind and spirit through the creative process. Gloria's dances often collaborate with new music, art, language and the environment. Her choreography has been presented in NYC and internationally, including the American Dance Festival, festivals in Ireland,...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Today’s guest on Movers & Shapers are Joan Myers Brown and Kim Bears-Bailey of Philadanco. Joan is the founder of Philadanco which was created in 1970 out of a need to provide performance opportunities and training for Black dancers. PHILADANCO! has since grown into a professional dance company that is recognized around the world for its artistic integrity, superbly trained dancers, and captivating performances. Of her many honors, she is the honorary chairperson for the International Associ...
Aug 08, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Today's guest is Lar Lubovitch. Lar is one of America’s most versatile and widely seen choreographers. He founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968. Over the course of 54 years, it has gained an international reputation as one of America’s top dance companies, produced more than 120 dances and performed before millions across the U.S. and over 40 countries. Many other major companies throughout the world have performed the company’s dances, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City ...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Today's guest is Nadia Adame. Nadia is a Spanish multidisciplinary award-winning artist with a spinal cord injury and the Artistic Director at AXIS Dance Company. She was a company member with AXIS (2001-2003) and Candoco Dance Company (2007-2008). In 2004, she co-founded and was the Co-Artistic Director of Compañía Y in Spain, a multimedia and performance collective. Nadia’s credits include dance, theatre, commercial, and independent film projects in the UK, Spain, US, and Canada. As a performe...
Jun 06, 2022•42 min
Today's guest is Erica Hornthal. Erica, a licensed clinical professional counselor and board-certified dance/movement therapist, is the CEO and founder of Chicago Dance Therapy. Since graduating with her MA in dance/movement therapy and counseling, Erica has worked with thousands of patients from age 3 to 107. Known as “The Therapist Who Moves You,” Erica has truly changed the way people see movement with regard to mental health: moving people toward unlimited potential, greater awareness, and p...
May 23, 2022•59 min
Today's guest is Shamel Pitts. Shamel is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, as well as performance, conceptual, and spoken word artist. Since 2019, he is the artistic director/founder of TRIBE, a New York-based multidisciplinary arts collective which was a 2020-21 Artist-In-Residence at 92Y Harkness Dance Center. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started his professional dance career with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and BJM_Danse Montreal. Between 2009-2016, he was a company member of...
May 09, 2022•58 min
Today's guest is Cara Hagan. Cara is a mover, maker, writer, curator, champion of just communities, and a dreamer. Cara's adventures take place as live performance, on screen, as installation, on the page, and in collaboration with others in a multitude of contexts. In recent years, Cara and her work have traveled to such gatherings as the Performática Festival in Cholula, Mexico, the Conference on Geopoetics in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Loikka Dance Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland, the Taos P...
Apr 25, 2022•40 min
Today's guest is Peggy Baker . Peggy Baker has been a vivid presence in contemporary dance since 1973, performing internationally in the work of Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris (with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project), Doug Varone, Tere O’Connor, Molissa Fenley, and Charles Moulton (NYC); with Fortier Danse-Creation (Montreal); and Dancemakers, Toronto Dance Theatre, and James Kudelka, (Toronto). She established Peggy Baker Dance Projects in 1990, and for the first 20 years she dedicated ...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Today's guest is Moses Pendleton. Moses has been one of America’s most innovative and widely performed choreographers and directors for over 40 years. A co-founder of the ground-breaking Pilobolus Dance Theater in 1971, he formed his own company, MOMIX, in 1980. Mr. Pendleton has also worked extensively in film, TV, and opera and as a choreographer for ballet companies and special events. Moses is an avid photographer with works presented in Rome, Milan, Florence, and Aspen. Images of his sunfl...
Mar 27, 2022•53 min
Today's guest is Netta Yerushalmy. Netta is an award winning choreographer and performer originally from Galilee, Israel. Based in New York City since 2000, her work aims to engage with audiences by imparting the sensation of things as they are perceived, not as they are known, and to challenge how meaning is attributed and constructed. Most recently recognized with a 2022 United States Artists Fellowship, Netta has also been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, Princeton Arts Fellowship, Research F...
Mar 13, 2022•18 min
