Appetite for moving,
curiosity, initiative, and above all, drive; he or she has to love everything
about the process of becoming a dancer, including the most difficult aspects.
That varies from situation to situation, so be ready!
Anger and frustration
towards oneself and one’s body are totally counterproductive.
3. How would you describe the technique that you teach?
It is a hybrid modern
technique rooted in the family tree of Cunningham and Graham techniques and
Paul Taylor’s movement style, always with reference to the most systematic
technique of all and my first language, ballet.
4.What is the most memorable thing Paul Taylor said to you?
“You dance with size.” He
was not referring to my stature.
5. What were your favorite and least favorite roles you performed?
Least favorite: Anything of
Martha’s or Paul’s that was not a masterpiece, and fortunately there were few
of those.
Most favorite: Anything that
allowed me to explore and then demonstrate the very different aspects of my
dancing self. It didn’t have to be a principal role, although in a company as
small as Paul’s there were plenty of those.
6. What is your favorite memory from your years of teaching at Butler?
I don’t have one favorite,
and there are so many that I can’t recount them. But I do have favorite
moments. One is when I feel that a class of first years is finally unified and
beginning to understand my work. That is always an “and away we go” moment.
Another moment, and this has happened twice, is when the dancers finally own a
dance. I have set two of Paul’s most challenging masterworks on the students,
“Cloven Kingdom” and “Le Sacre du Printemps”, and the moment that the whole
thing comes together and is ready to go on stage is one of the most thrilling I
have ever experienced. I have set his work on many professional companies,
including on ABT four times, and while that is terribly exciting, of course, it
cannot compare to getting students to professional level in a dance made for
professionals. Then there are the daily satisfactions of teaching and coaching
and sharing ideas with colleagues. I am a very lucky woman.
7. During the rare instances that you have free time, what do you like to do?
I sometimes think that I could live outdoors,
and cycling and hiking are two of my favorite things to do, especially now that
I have two new and pain-free hips! As for indoor activities, spending time in
good conversation with good friends,
including the members of my family, is
number one, then reading, listening to music and watching movies, not necessarily
in that order.
8. What is the top thing on your bucket list?
I have toured all over the
world, lived in New York City, Berlin and London, but the Adirondack State Park
is my favorite place in the world besides NYC, and to be paddling a canoe on
Blue Mountain Lake or hiking in the mountains is first on my list. It has been
many years since I have been free to do that and I crave it!
9. Guilty pleasure?
Haagen Daz, of course!
10. Animal you most identify with?
Antelope
11. Anything else you would like the students to know about you?
There’s no place I’d rather
be than right where I am.
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