I am in love with ensemble aesthetics, storytelling, grace as minimal effort, and movement as a form of being. I guess you could say, therefore, that I am a dancer. I am much more interested in people than I am in technique. Technique is only useful as a doorway to new sensations or new ways of perceiving.
“To understand what I am saying, you have to believe that dance is something other than technique. We forget where the movements come from. They are born from life. When you create a new work, the point of departure must be contemporary life -- not existing forms of dance.”
—Pina BauschI involve dancers and actors in ensemble creation where each is co-author and the final product an emergence. I hope for the group to discover something about their way of being together that is then translated into performance. The art, for me, is predominantly in the process of finding connection - learning to listen, move and respond as one. In this way, art represents on a micro level the utopia of a harmonious society. It expresses what is possible for humans.
Everything in the universe moves. We enact that reality in the form of play as children and in the form of art and athletics as adults. Children are often wiser than adults because they seek out play, which is a learning state where much is possible.
The ideal ensemble is composed of individuals from all walks of life. I think of a creative ensemble as an opportunity for the coming together of people that would otherwise not move together nor communicate.
