Dance is, for me, a kind of spatial poetry, a descant on the verbs of life.
As a choreographer and performer I begin a work with certain essential human emotions in mind, eventually bringing one or another into vivid focus by turning them to light, contrasting their shadows, and opening myself to possible rhymes and resonances.
My process involves researching a subject, writing about it, and reflecting on it, adding to this my own personal experiences and those of my dancers. At the root of my process is an honest awareness of the body. Material is developed through improvisation that then leads to movement vocabulary refined for its relevance to the specific work at hand. Clarity, simplicity and attention to detail are my touchstone. Drawing on my background in movement, film, opera, theatre and music, I frequently collaborate with composers, visual or theatrical artists, and writers. My dances are at once abstract and literal. I aim to bare the essence of our everyday laments and elations through movement that is by turns formal, intricate, impulsive, pedestrian, and risky.I am devoted to timely and meaningful work, and my objective is to place abstraction within the grasp of visceral feeling, to make movement that connects with the viewer’s heart and intellect.
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