Artist Statement

I think that even for those of us who love to talk about art and theories of art, artist statements are painful at worst, awkward at best. So, I would like to start mine by being honest about that. I love what I do, and as anyone who spends more than five minutes with me will attest to, I love to talk about theater and dance. But to come out and say what I do in very specific terms, to try to explain what it is like to wake up in the morning thinking about my current show, what it is like to constantly be trying to put the pieces of the world around you into some kind of whole to give back to that world, is hard. So here are some honest thoughts about that.

“Modern man must descend the spiral of his own absurdity to the lowest point; only then can he look beyond it. It is obviously impossible to get around it, jump over it, or simply avoid it”. I found this quote when I was first really getting to know Vaclav Havel a couple of years back, I wish I could tell you which publication/speech/interview it is from, but I cannot. It’s something I wrote down in a notebook and have kept around me for years. I love the physicality of this quote, I love that Havel instructs us to get to our lowest points, it is the only way to see. This quote has guided me to this meditation on performance, which is what I stick to for now:

Performance is the safe space where we descend, as Orpheus did, to test our mettle and merit, to find what lies beneath the masks & costumes we don to maintain normalcy. For me, this space is about people, often speaking various artistic languages, working within the social contract of rehearsal and process, setting out on a great journey. Sometimes this journey is literal, a site-specific dance for example, and sometimes it is the murky territory of relationships, a piece about nine friends at a dramatic party. It is the paradoxical act of both exploring a new world, and simultaneously creating it. It is the act of map-making. And though this is heavy work, I prioritize the safety and joy of my team. I work to create a room, and productions, that challenge each of us to trust each other, go somewhere new, and laugh or cry together at what we find.

I am driven by partnerships, believing that my collaborators are the most trust-worthy and able crew for each journey, each absurd spiral downwards, and the tired return – which of course, tends to lead us to another journey, for “tis’ not too late to seek a newer a world”*. I believe that actors and dancers are sme of the bravest amongst us, constantly making themselves vulnerable to the audience and industry alike. I work very hard to meet my performers in their spaces and methods, to assure their safety. It is my belief that it is my responsiblity to work with my designers to create a world we can all share, and to allow them to also feel safe enough to explore. My interest in dramaturgical methods is grounded in finding ways that actors and designers can work together in exploring and creating the world of the play.