“Since each and everyone of us is born in and of this universe, we’re linked to every single thing in it. There’s nothing to stop us from reaching out and touching the entire universe.” Kazuo Ohno
I make and perform dances in video, staged and site-specific spaces with my own sound compositions and costumes or in collaboration with other artists. My practice is informed by my training in dance theatre, improvisation, butoh and Noguchi Taiso; my education in performance art, drawing and philosophy; and, my research into improvisation as the embodied experience of attention.
My early training was in tap, jazz, ballet and modern dance. From 1987 until 1995, I was a dancer in the modern dance company, Wall St. DanceWorks, which toured and taught throughout the south east of the US. In 1994, I received a BFA from the University of North Carolina, Asheville NC, USA where I focused on performance art, drawing and philosophy. In 2010, I began studying and practicing butoh dance, receiving instruction from many internationally respected teachers and performers, including Seisaku, Yumiko Yoshioka, Yuko Kaseki, Sayoko Onishi, Julie Gillum and Mari Osanai.
Current projects include an evening length solo performance in progress, an ongoing series of drawings and a commission for a community dance project as part of the Sea AIR (Artist in Residence) Research and Development Labs for Seascapes.
2019/20: I premiered a new performance,The Beautiful Us, at the 13th Asheville Butoh Festival; performed in Fremd ist dein kleid (Strange is Your Dress), under the direction of Felix Ruckert at eXit’19 festival in Germany; and workshopped a new performance in progress at the Miniatures Butoh Dance Festival in Ruvo di Puglia, Italy.
Screen-based performances were included in the Asheville Art Museum’s Appalachia Now exhibition and in Beyond Knowing at the Asheville Area Arts Council.
As part of a month long residency at GAS Contemporary, North Shields, UK in February 2020, I produced and performed with six collaborators in four unique events. The laboratory style platform created the conditions for experiential investigations into the unique narrative of the performative body.
2017/2018: I was an artist in residence at Revolve Project Space. Residency projects include Entanglements, a collaboration with Linda Larsen, Adam Larsen and Kima Moore; ReSound, a collaboration with Sonic Parlor and Denice Carbonell; and Am I Who I Am?, a solo exhibition of screen dance + a live performance (and an album).
I also performed at the Black Mountain College’s {Re}Happening festival.
In May, 2018, I debuted a new performance, The Daydreamers’ Ball for Strange and Broken Things at Asheville Butoh Collective‘s show, Dirt, Dreams and Death. The piece was also performed at Breeze Creative’s Project Space, Newcastle, UK in July, 2018.
If you have an idea for a collaborative project, performances or workshop, I would love to hear from you.