Blog Re-Start 2015

Its time to re-invigorate this blog.

Since the post-university European travel that started the blog four years ago, I freelanced with very talented and diverse artists in Seattle. As of September 2014, I entered a postgraduate program called SEAD Bodhi Project in Salzburg, Austria. I have been here for the past eight months, creating work with international emerging choreographers. Through the program I have a year visa to study in Europe, tour the works we create, and go to auditions when I can. And most importantly: be surrounded by an international cast of characters that teach and challenge me daily.

I have long had many thoughts about contemporary dance, and dance education. They are constantly shifting, but they remain gathered around a central pulse that always brings me back to Europe. I don't think all the answers are here. But I do think there is a wealth of knowledge and differing perspectives on life and performance that should have a more fluid discourse with their American counterparts. There are many cultural, political, and historical reasons that I'm sure contribute to what I call this "Atlantic Divide." But I am not an ethnographer or anthropologist, and in this blog I will not attempt to be. I will simply offer my experiences, and what they made me think and feel as an American dancer living and working overseas.

In the end, there is no one style, context, or education system that is perfect. Was it not Martha Graham that said being and artist is actually that divine dissatisfaction that drives us forward?

I am led by this dissatisfaction. And I am led to write about it.

I think its about time I start.