BY BONNIE EISSNER On a Sunday night last November, about 250 people, many of them dance enthusiasts and experienced social dancers, packed the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City to learn salsa moves from choreographer, dancer, teacher, and musician Sekou McMiller. Accompanied by the reverberating rhythms pumped out by DJ John John, the lesson and subsequent dance party topped off a works-in-process presentation of McMiller’s latest choreography. Titled Shine, the jubilant performance featured a mash-up of choreographed partnered Latin jazz dances, such as mambo, salsa, and cha-c ..read more

An Interview with Ana Maria Alvarez, director of CONTRA-TIEMPO BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT Ana Maria Alvarez is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in Los Angeles and the director of CONTRA-TIEMPO, a multilingual activist dance theater company. Here, Ana Maria reflects on some of CONTRA-TIEMPO’s history and influences, how the company draws on dances from the Afro-Latine diaspora, and why she believes in dance as a tool for building a more loving and just future. CONTRA-TIEMPO performs joyUS justUS at USC, Photo by Steve Wylie ~~ Can you share with me a little about your dance history? What ..read more

BY BONNIE EISSNER The Jellicle Ball, that frisky feline song and dance number at the heart of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbusting musical Cats, will take on a whole new meaning in June when the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City restages the play as an LGBTQ ball. The concept is the brainchild of Bill Rauch, artistic director of PAC NYC. The idea came to him, he said, as he was preparing to mount a queer version of Oklahoma!, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he was previously the artistic director. He first imagined the song Memory bei ..read more

BY CLEO PERSON; ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH GROTH The way a body moves conveys its soul- Its hidden power to soothe, present, delight Full knowingly bemused and in control Each finger paints the space like form and light   A subtle tilt of cheek, the turnéd face Craft salsa and romantic ballet’s flair The port de bras is curved in soft embrace And toes unclenched just touch the ankle there   Through every newborn day, grant space to twirl In qualities of vital blue and pearl Inversions spiral round as limbs unfurl Loose from French-twisted hair a rogue, wild curl   Now chance to ask ..read more

BY AURA FISCHBECK-WISE; ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH GROTH In doorways and canyons and empty rooms, on the edges of cities and in the middle of traffic or a thunderstorm At the ocean, by a lake, near the road and under bridges.   (Our) feet land on terra firma with minds like antennae scanning the atmosphere Seeking out the substance of space and time and a way to make it matter   With a sort of open eyed listening, seeking the meaning of energy, force, propulsion, rhythm and effort with a lightness that is more divining than exacting.   This is a certain way to live in the world. &nbs ..read more

An Interview with Robert Moses and guest choreographers Natasha Adorlee, Khala Brannigan, and Robert S. Kelley II              BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT Robert Moses is a Bay Area-based choreographer and the director of Robert Moses’ KIN. In the company’s upcoming shows, New Legacies: One Act Dances, the company is commissioning a collaborative triptych by bringing on three guest choreographers, three guest composers, and three guest writers. Guest choreographers Natasha Adorlee, Khala Brannigan, and Robert S. Kelley II have been task ..read more

An Interview with Yvonne Montoya BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT Yvonne Montoya is a choreographer currently based in Arizona with a long family history in Northern New Mexico. She is a 23rd generation Nuevomexicana and a decedent of the Mexicanos that the border crossed in 1848. Her newest work, Stories from Home, dances the oral traditions of Northern New Mexico, as well as tells more specific stories of her family history, like working as migrant farmworkers or being displaced by the Manhattan Project. Here, she details why this specific culture and history feels important to share, and what performin ..read more

An Interview with Marla Durden and Christine Gautreaux about Dances on Behalf of Peace BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT Marla Durden and Christine Gautreaux are both leaders and participants in the InterPlay community. InterPlay is a national and international organization that facilitates improvisational experiences for people to feel embodied and to connect to each other. Marla recently had the idea to create a Dances on Behalf of Peace online event and is producing it with the help of her colleague and friend Christine. Here, they share the impetus for the event, how people can get involved, and what d ..read more

BY KATIE FLASHNER, a.k.a. The Girl with the Tree Tattoo; ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH GROTH   It feels wrong to dance when there are people out there who prioritize weapons over the welfare of their children, Who choke on power and greed while the rest of us struggle to breathe.   It feels wrong to dance on the graves of the thousands of people who die daily from war, from hate, from fear gone viral.   It feels wrong to dance when respect for ourselves, our neighbors, our country has been reduced to a sad, tattered rag flapping in the wind.   It feels wrong to dance on the surface ..read more

BY TRACY BROYLES; ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH GROTH It happened laying on my back Under an aggression of stars A realization That I can be inspired and awestruck by the sky Because I lay on the earth And my earthy body gives me everything I need To localize to a point That can perceive In the way that earth matter holds me I can be wrecked divine By what the stars can show me ~~ Tracy Broyles is an embodiment facilitator, dancer, energy worker, writer, artist, and storyteller. Tracy is invested in creating experiences that allow people to engage with her life-long research into how the unseen world ..read more