People tend to believe that the eyes are the window to the soul, but what if you could feel your soul in your fingertips? in your knees? I have come to realize that dance is about taking this lump of flesh that so often, perhaps without even knowing, we see as a vessel, a temple…
Category: Ideas on Art
Dance Exploration
Exploration is at the heart of “good” dance. Yes. There is such a thing as good and bad dance. There is so much more to it than good and bad, black and white, but like any instrument there is technique not just to movement but to exploration. You have to know how to be free….
From Down and Out, Straight Home
I’m visiting my family home in New Jersey for the first time since last winter. The house is up for sale right now, my father being the only person left living here. He, myself and my sisters all agreed last year that it would be best to sell the place so that we could all…
An Artistic Haven in Brookneal, Virginia
I am currently working on a project involving the start-up of a dance program, a promotional concert, and a little spot of arts heaven out here in rural Brookneal Virginia. Moving down here to Brookneal for a teaching job, I had feared greatly that I would be leaving my dance ambitions behind for at least…
Those Who Can’t Do, Teach
I’m sitting with friends in the recording room of Sweet Briar College’s music department trying to decide which of our many old projects to pick up and start work on. Since I began teaching 7th grade English this August, I haven’t touched any real art. With this breath of freedom we have, ironically due to…
The Gaia Movement
Often artists aim to make a difference with their art, they want to inspire change in people, and in the world. Erin Fowler and Nick Graalman created the dance film Gaia for this purpose. The film is a powerful statement about the environment in the largest sense possible. This film takes a serious look at…
The Fire that Drives me
I have had an amazingly inspiring week in Australia so far, and it has spurred up many feelings and thoughts. My dance professors often tell me that whether I will make it as a dancer depends on if I have “the fire” or not, the passion and drive. They say this as experienced professionals who…
The Noblest Art
The noblest art is that of making others happy – P.T. Barnam I have been told that I take life very seriously. I believe that this is something my close friends admire in me, and I believe it to be a very important virtue that I want others to emulate. I believe that there are…
Is Burlesque Art?
This past weekend I attended my first ever burlesque show. However, far from women in peacock feathers kicking in a line, this show was what they call “Neo” Burlesque. The performance was pre-cursed with an overview of what the host and burlesque teacher at Burlesque school Boom Boom Basics, Diana Danger, called “Burletiquette.” She explained…
Ugly Art
A friend asked me the other day if I thought that dance, like music, contains the possibility of movement that is simply objectively wrong. He said that in music there are certain combinations of notes that are this way. Certainly, there are movements that if done on stage in dance would cause uproar. But before…
Not Just Words 