| Q |
Briefly describe your background/training. |
| A |
 I started dancing in high school, studying jazz, ballet, and tap in local studios and twirling flags in the color guard of the marching band. When I decided to go to the University of Southern Mississippi, dance was what excited me most. Luckily, they didn’t have an entrance audition at the time, or I might be in a very different place now. But I learned quickly and earned a BFA in dance performance and choreography, as well as a BA in English. A few years ago, I went to Laban in London to get my MA in European dance-theatre practice. The program was in a transition year, moving toward its new focus on the body in performance. The exposure to new practices and views of the body completely redirected my interests and outlook on creating performance. While in London, I learned about a program in France directed by Xavier Le Roy, a choreographer whose work I was introduced to at Laban. I applied and was accepted as an artist in the 7-month choreography research program, ex.e.r.ce 08, at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier. |
| Q |
How old were you when you knew you wanted to be an artist? |
| A |
I’ve always been interested in creative things. I’ve wanted to be a gymnast, a fashion designer, a writer, an interior designer, a painter, and also an astronaut. I think it wasn’t until I was 18 and decided to major in dance that I said, “I’m going to be an artist” — meaning as a profession. |
| Q |
Who is your greatest professional inspiration and why? |
| A |
I don’t think I have ONE “greatest professional inspiration.” I’m inspired by different people at different times. Trisha Brown’s early works inspire me because of their simplicity and self-assuredness. The artists of 6MONTHS1LOCATION, the program that encompassed ex.e.r.ce 08, are inspirational because they are so immersed in their work, so enabling to others, so thought-provoking, and full of thought that they propel me to be and do as much as I can in that direction as well. |
| Q |
How do you manage wearing different 'hats' as a self-producing artist? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? |
| A |
Producing and promoting my work while continuing to be creative in my practice is the most difficult thing about being a self-producing choreographer. I’m still figuring out the balance. I’m good at digging around and finding opportunities or trying to make them for myself, but my weakness is that I let myself get too involved in the administrative side and it takes away from the work on the art itself. |
| Q |
As a self-producing artist, what qualities make for a good show idea in your opinion, and what is typically your first step in realizing your artistic vision? |
| A |
A good show idea for me is one that feels like an interesting exploration. One with layers and dimension. My first step in a new creative process is research: reading and watching, finding out what has been done around the subjects that I’m interested in working with, and using that as a springboard for comparing my thoughts to theirs and discovering what to do next. |
| Q |
How much material do you prepare for a show, and what percentage of it typically makes it into the final performance? |
| A |
It varies. For my work “Franko B killed me or An exercise in self-control” (2007), I’d say that 95% of my ideas for the work went into the actual performance. For “Splitting the Difference,” it’s more like 30%. “Franko B...” was a performance idea that popped into my head almost fully formed, which is something that had never happened before and probably will never happen again. It was dependent upon the performance of the work being a first-time event. “Splitting the Difference” is one that went through several phases of research in order to narrow down its focus and interests. Since it started out as a very broad and vague line of questioning, it took a lot of trying to find its direction. |
| Q |
Speaking as a spectator, what do you look for in performance? |
| A |
I like to see questions, things that make me think. |
| Q |
What makes your work unique? |
| A |
It’s direct and open. Specific. Relatable. Bold. Questioning. There is a close relationship with the audience that the work cannot exist without. |
| Q |
What does 'success' mean to you? |
| A |
Response. I feel that my work is successful if people have a response, if they find themselves thinking about it afterward, whatever those thoughts may be. If an audience feels neither here nor there, I have a lot more work to do. |
| Q |
Why are you doing the Capital Fringe Festival? |
| A |
It’s important for me to feel immersed and engaged in my local performing arts community in order to thrive as an artist here in DC. I want to see what others are doing, and I want the community to know my work as well. Dialogue is essential to creating quality work. We need conversations that continuously ask and answer questions, propose ideas, and relate to the past and future of our field, and our field within our society. Capital Fringe is an organization that makes dialogue possible and that cheers us all on. |
