act/re/act (Daniel Burkholder)

In this, the final episode of the second season of act/re/act, Cass Tunick returns, but this time to interview Daniel - a bit of a role reversal.

We touch on an array of subjects including dance improvisation, performance, the Feldenkrais Method, freedom, making choices, how to relate to music when improvising, and a story about my grandfather who was a bricklayer.

Find out more about Cass here: http://www.cassieterman.com

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

Enjoy!

 

PS. if you have any ideas of people whom I may want to interview for the third season of act/re/act podcast, please send suggestions to daniel@danielburkholder.com Thanks!

I am than thrilled to share this conversation with K.J. Holmes. In many ways K.J. was my main teacher of contact improvisation, mostly while I was living in the San Francisco/Bay area, many years ago. K.J. is one of the most important contemporary improvisational based dancers working today, and I deeply respect her approach and love to see her in performance. In this conversation we get into her approach to creating work, her pedagogical approach, and the many artist that inform and influence her work. It is a really enlightening conversation. 

Here is a quick biography about K.J.:

K.J. Holmes, dance artist/performer/teacher has been exploring improvisation as process and performance since 1981, traveling nationally and internationally teaching, creating, directing. K.J. currently teaches at NYU/Experimental Theater Wing, Movement Research, the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, and her own private classes in Yoga, Somatics and Ayurveda. Recent projects include performing in the film Redoubt and the performance installation Catasterism in 3 Movements of artist Matthew Barney; choreographing and directing Somatopia on the Polish dance theater group Living Space Theater, and continuing to develop her solo + immersion 900 Bees are Humming.

I hope you find this conversation as delightful as I did. Enjoy.

You can find out more about K.J. here: http://www.kjholmes.info/

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

Welcome to act/re/act podcast, where we explore improvisation through conversations with remarkable artists.

In this episode I talk with Keith Hennessy, a dance artist who I have admired since I first saw him perform with Contraband, a seminal dance company from San Francisco, in the mid-1990s when I was working at Dance Place in Washington, DC. Keith is someone I’ve always seen as a visionary, provocateur, and really thoughtful and visceral artist. It’s really great to have him on the podcast.

Here's a bit about Keith: 

Keith Hennessy, MFA, PhD,  is a dancer, writer, choreographer, witch, and teacher. Raised in Canada, living in Ramaytush Ohlone territory (San Francisco) since 1982, he tours widely. Using improvisation, ritual, collaboration, and protest, Keith instigates queer embodied experiences that respond to political crises and heartbreak. Hennessy directs Circo Zero, co-founded the performance/culture spaces 848 and CounterPulse, and was a member of Sara Mann’s Contraband, 1985-1994. Awards include Guggenheim, NY Bessie, USArtist, and a few Bay Area Isadora Duncan Awards.

 

You can find out more about Keith Hennessy here: http://circozero.org/

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

In this episode of act/re/act I have the pleasure of talking with Dr. S Ama Wray, a dance artist and founder of Embodiology - a dance improvisation practice developed from Dr. Wray's expertise in jazz dance, African arts, and creative practice. This was an exciting conversation that touched on many aspects of the importance of art making, and a wonderful expression of the breadth of dance improvisation out in the world. 

Here’s a bit more about Dr. Way:

Dr S. Ama Wray is the creator of Embodiology® - a movement method, based on West African principles of human communications, that leads to human flourishing. She is a Professor of Dance and founder of the Africana Institute for Creativity Recognition and Elevation at UC Irvine. Embodiology’s distinctive breath-informed, rhythmic movement and music concepts have shown evidence-based efficacy in elevating vitality, well-being, and resilience, along with emboldened activation of community responsibility. Her virtual classes, Joy in Motion, begin with breathwork, supporting everyday people to transform their indoor spaces into experiences of 'co-liberation'. Wray has been a guest speaker/lecturer at the United Nations, Institute of Advanced Studies, TEDx, and other globally renowned organizations. Her roots in art making have been informed by collaborations with artists including Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Mojisola Adebayo, and Derek Bermel. Embodiology®  is registered as a trademark, rendering its creator and beneficiaries’ ethical responsibility to reciprocally return acknowledgment and resources to the Ewe community in Ghana, where its principles were uncovered - each time this work is shared. Her writing about Embodiology is published in edited volumes by Routledge and Oxford Books.

You can find out more about Dr. S Ama Wray at the following links:

Embodiology: https://www.embodiology.com

Joy In Motion: https://www.joyinmotion.io

2023 Summer Embodiology Intensive: https://events.embodiology.com

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

Join me for this wonderful conversation with dance-maker, somatic practitioner, writer, and activist Nicole Bindler. Our conversation is quite wide-ranging, and I'm sure you'll find it as insightful and delightful as I did!

Correction: The correct title for the Sandberg Instituut's program that Nicole references is "Ecologies of Transformation".

 

For more info about me check out: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

For more info about Nicole: Nicole Bindler is a dance-maker, Body-Mind Centering® practitioner, writer, and activist. She has been presented at festivals, conferences, and intensives throughout the U.S., Canada, Argentina, and Europe, and in Tokyo, Beirut, Bethlehem, Mexico City, and Quito. Recent projects include teaching about consent culture and disability justice in contact improvisation; somatic research on the embryology of the genitalia from a non-binary perspective; collaborations with Diyar Theatre in Bethlehem, Palestine; teaching experimental classes such as Embodying Neuroqueer/Neuroqueering Embodiment and Polyvagal Theory and Protest through freeskewl; and presentations at the Future of CI Conference and the BMCA Online Somatic Symposium about rebuilding in-person dance and somatics communities in ways that tangibly address the inequities laid bare by the pandemic. In the coming year––goddess and pandemic-willing––she will present her work at Asociacion Cultural Guandul in Quito, The Body IQ Festival in Berlin, Somatic Kin in Bern, the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, and through Contact Improvisation Warsaw. https://www.nicolebindler.com/

photo by Kenzi Green

Join me for this fascinating conversation with Elena Day about physical theater, clowning, the Jacques Lecoq method, teaching, performing, and, of course, improvisation. Elena offers a unique perspective on how one uses or employs improvisation in pedagogy, the creative method, and performance in a context previously unexplored on this podcast - circus. 

Here's a bit about Elena:

Elena Day is a physical theater teacher and director. Currently the Protrack Director and Head of Physical Theater at The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) in Brattleboro, VT, Elena explores how play, presence, mask technique, and creativity intertwine as she supports the next generation of circus artists to reach their highest performance potential. A graduate of L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, Elena has performed with Cirque du Soleil & Cirque Mechanics, directed and movement-directed award-winning shows, and taught physical theater, including clowning and Lecoq technique, to people of all ages and backgrounds. She studied Lecoq-based pedagogy with Giovanni Fusetti. Other influential teachers include Ronlin Foreman, Gardi Hutter, Joy Zinoman, Shri Ekan, Nir-gun-ava-thi Ananda, Dody DiSanto, Beth Davis, Chris Bayes, Avner Eisenberg, & Philippe Gaulier. To increase your play quotient, check out www.elenaday.com.

ou can find out more about Elena Day at the following links:

Personal Website: https://www.elenaday.com/

New England Center for Circus Arts: https://necenterforcircusarts.org/

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

Join me for another episode of act/re/act where I talk with Susan Murphy about her amazing career that includes working with aerial dance pioneer Terry Sendgraff, Action Theater creator Ruth Zaporah, Authentic Movement creator Mary Whitehouse, and even worked with Willem de Kooning.  We talk about all her adventures in a wonderfully delightful conversation. Susan offers a wonderful example of a truly creative life. Enjoy! 

Here's a link to find Susan out in the world: https://themarshstudio.com/

And, if you're interested in finding a bit more about me: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

**Please subscribe on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or YouTube. Thanks!

In this episode of ac/re/act, for the first time, we have two guests at the same time - musician and composers Jessie Montgomery & Eleonore Oppenheim. They are both fabulous artists in their own rights, but also make up the duet, 'big dog little dog' - which uses improvisation at the heart of its creative and performance processes. 

This was such an amazing opportunity to get to know these two artists, hear about how they make music, and reflect on the creative process. 

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! 

Links to find these artist out in the world:

Jessie Montgomery: https://www.jessiemontgomery.com/

Eleonore Oppenheim: http://eleonoreoppenheim.com/

big dog little dog: https://bigdoglittledog.bandcamp.com/releases

And, if you're interested in finding a bit more about me: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

**Please subscribe on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or YouTube. Thanks!

Join me for the final podcast of this season, where I featured 8 artists who approach improvisation in their own unique ways - from dance to music to theater to performance. It has been an exciting season with lots of new connections made, and fascinating perspectives explored. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have!

In this episode I talk with Kata Kovacs, a Berlin-based sound artist and interdisciplinary artist who has presented work internationally. Her work ranges from performing in bands, to sound installations, to improvisational performance work. It was wonderful to get to know Kata and learn about her work, which is intellectually rigorous, but also deeply embodied. I'm sure you'll enjoy our conversation as well!

Find more about Kata on the webs here: http://katakovacs.org/

Find me here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Until I return with more episodes (in the fall) - take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

 

Photo by Frank Nagel

Join me for the final episode of this season, and my conversation with Baakari Wilder. 

Baakari is one of the most dynamic tap dancers of his generation and is known for his musicality and subtly, as well as his ability to explore complex rhythms. It was a pleasure to finish this season of act/re/act with this thoughtful and insightful conversation. 

Baakari's bio:

Baakari Wilder is internationally known for starring in the Broadway musical Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk. He received a Bessie Award for his performance, and later assumed the lead role for a year. He received the Pola Nirenska Award for achievement in dance, and the “Hoofer Award” by the American Tap Dance Foundation. Baakari's dancing has delighted audiences around the world in places such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, France, Africa, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and Russia. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from the University of Maryland at College Park. He shares his knowledge of tap dancing through his role as assistant artistic director of the Washington D.C. based companies Capitol Tap and District Tap.

Find out more about Baakari here: https://www.baakariwilder.com/

And, here: https://www.capitoltap.com/

Find Daniel's website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Stay tuned for more episodes coming this fall!

Until then, take care, be well, and live spontaneously. 

Join me for this engaging conversation with my friend and colleague Maria Gillespie. She and I have known each other for over 7 years, ever since I joined the faculty here at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. We have also performed improvisationaly together on multiple occasions, so it was wonderful to dig into her thoughts about improvisation, performance and pedagogy. Enjoy! 

Here's a bit more about Maria: Maria Gillespie is a choreographer, performer, dance and somatic educator. She is a CLMA Laban Bartenieff Movement Analyst and directs MG/The Collaboratory and Hyperlocal MKE, dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration and improvised performance practice. She developed the community teaching project Parts of the Whole, sharing kinesthetic learning and expressive experiences with youth impacted by the carceral system to strengthen communities. She works with long time collaborators, Nguyễn Nguyên and Kevin Williamson, currently developing a new work, to get there from here. Regionally, Gillespie has collaborated with Present Music, Nirmal Raja, Portia Cobb, Sonja Thomsen, Glenn Williams, Nathaniel Stern, Joelle Worm, Christal Wagner, Tim Russell, and Mike Rea. Gillespie founded and directed LA-based Oni Dance (2003-2015) and was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". Her work has been presented nationally and internationally at venues including The Ford Amphitheatre, The Getty Museum, REDCAT, UCLA, Cal Arts, The Fowler Museum, Highways Performance Space, Joyce SoHo and CounterPULSE. Gillespie has performed and taught in Beijing, Guangzhou, Tokyo, and Mexico City.  She has taught at UCLA Department of World Arts & Cultures, Cal Arts, Loyola Marymount University, University of Iowa, Dance New Amsterdam (NY), Beijing Modern Dance Festival and was a choreographic and teaching resident in Mexico City with Apoc Apoc. Choreographic commissions include Loyola Marymount University, Scripps College, Pomona College, Cal State Long Beach, Utah Valley University, University of Florida, and Santa Monica College dance departments. In 2019, received the 2019 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. She teaches dance at UW-Milwaukee.  

To find out more about Hyperlocal MKE: hyperlocalmke.com 

To find out more about Parts of the Whole: partsofthewhole.org 

To find out more about Daniel Burkholder: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

 

Joint host Daniel Burkholder for the primier episode of act/re/act, a podcast exploring improvisation through conversations with improvisationaly based artists. 

In this first episode, Daniel is joined by musician and author Stephen Nachmanovitch, who you may know through his excellent book, Free Play. Daniel & Stephen discuss improvisation, the role of contraints and experience, as well as how an improvisational artistic practice relates to one's everyday life. 

Find out more about Stephen Nachmanovitch at http://www.freeplay.com 

Find out more about Daniel Burkholder at http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

You can also follow actreact on Twitter @actreactpodcast  

 Also available on Google Play Music, iTunes & Stitcher. 

Please subscribe to get future episodes! 

Join me to start a new season of act/re/act with this amazing conversation with Ruth Zaporah. Active in improvisational performance since the 1960s, Ruth shares her wealth of knowledge about improv, Zen Buddhism, and navigating the world as an improvisational artist. The creator of Action Theater, Ruth has a unique lens as an expert performance and a highly regarded teacher. Check out this conversation as I'm sure you'll find much to learn within.

 

Welcome to another fabulous episode of act/re/act. I was so thrilled to talk with this episode's guest, Sharna Fabiano, who I've known for years but never had the chance to get to know well. In this conversation we talk about her improvisational roots in Tango and how those skills transfer to her current work as a coach, consultant, painter, and author. It was so wonderful to hear about tango, which I don't have any experience with, as well as how improvisation manifests itself in so many ways in Sharna's life.

 

A bit more about Sharna: Sharna Fabiano is an Argentine tango dancer-turned-professional development coach, and author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork. After teaching and performing dance for nearly twenty years, she now designs experiential team development programs for organizations and coaches individuals through a wide range of career challenges. Her improvisational practice currently takes shape most often in her home painting studio in Long Beach, CA.

Some links from Sharna:

www.sharnafabiano.com www.florabowley.com www.barbarakellerman.com   To find out more about me and my work: https://www.danielburkholder.com/  

Welcome to act/re/act, a podcast exploring improvisation through conversations with remarkable artists.

In this episode I had the pleasure of talking with vocal improviser Rhiannon, someone I did not know before this conversation, but someone I really enjoyed getting to know a bit and hearing about her improvisational practice. It is always illuminating to talk with improvisational-based artists who practice in different art forms than I, and this conversation is no different. Rhiannon is an extremely accomplished performer and teacher, and this conversation is filled with insights. I'm sue you'll be inspired by this conversation as much as I was. 

Here is Rhiannon's bio:

Rhiannon is a vocal artist with a vision of music as a vehicle for innovation, healing, transformation, and social change. A vibrant, gifted singer, performance artist, composer, and master teacher, Rhiannon has been bringing her unique and potent blend of jazz, world music, improvisation and storytelling to audiences for over four decades paving a unique path as an independent artist. Collaborations include the all-women’s jazz ensemble Alive!, a cappella ensembles SoVoSo and WeBe3, Bobby McFerrin - Voicestra and Gimme5, the instrumental trio Spontaneous, duets with pianist Laurence Hobgood, and improvised performance pieces with Japanese dancer Shizuno Nasu:The Ocean Regards Us All As One. Rhiannon’s book about her life and teaching methods, Vocal River, The Skill and Spirit of Improvisation, was published in 2013. Rhiannon lives and works on her farm on the Big Island of Hawai’i, currently building a teaching/performance space, Ha Lau Leo Nani, The Gathering Place, honoring culture and community.

Find Rhiannon on the web here: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

In this, the fifth and final episode of season one of act/re/act, I have a conversation with multi-media artist and DJ, Alvin Hill . In this conversation we discuss how Alvin began DJing in the 80s, how he prepares for a gig, the relationship he tries to develop with a crowd, DJing as an improvisation art, and his multi-media performance group, Alvin Hill Media Ensemble.

Find out more about Alvin Hill here: https://www.alvinhill.com

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

Alvin's Bio:

Alvin Hill is a technology based artist whose work takes the form of performances and installations and often combines sound, still image, video, projection, light, physical computing, and DJ arts.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to my conversation with Audrey Chen, a wonderful and captivating musician who I have had the pleasure of first seeing her perform in the early 2000s in the DC/Baltimore area, where we both lived at the time. I have also collaborated with Audrey in a work commissioned by The Kennedy Center and have had the opportunity to perform with her a number of times, but not in a number of years. It was a pleasure to catch up with her, hear how her improvisational practice has evolved, and what she's up to these days.

See Audrey's complete biography below. 

In this conversation, Audrey and I discuss practical considerations in artistic decisions (or, how one's life can dictate artistic choices), parenting, being surprised, the importance of exercise, training, her use of voice and cello, and the difference between performing in an ensemble, a duet, or solo. Was a great conversation! 

Find out more about Audrey here: www.audreychen.com

Listen to some of her music here: https://soundcloud.com/audreychen

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

Enjoy!    Audrey Chen's Bio: Over the past 16 years, Audrey Chen's predominant focus has been her solo work, joining together the extended and inherent vocabularies of the cello, voice and analog electronics. More recently, she has begun to shift back towards the exploration of the voice as a primary instrument, delving even more deeply into her own version of narrative and non-linear storytelling. She derives her sound material in a continuous process, championing the "in-between" and overlooked. Regardless of instrument, her mode of experimentation touches both the abstractly beautiful and the aggressively unsettling, creating a kind of curiously imagined architecture, non-prosaic song or ritual that reaches beyond gravity or language.   Recent projects, aside from performing solo, include her long-running voices duo with Phil Minton, duos HISS & VISCERA with modular synth player Richard Scott, BEAM SPLITTER with Norwegian trombonist Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, and the “romantic noise duo” AFTERBURNER with Doron Sadja (electronics/light projection). Past projects include work with German conceptual artist John Bock, a duo with NYC abstract turntablist Maria Chavez, and a quartet with Nate Wooley, C. Spencer Yeh, and Todd Carter. Her new projects include a double duo/quartet with BEAM SPLITTER and STREIFENJUNKO’s, Eivind Lønning and Espen Reinersten and MOPCUT with Lukas König and Julien Desprez.    Among her more recent album releases include, "By the Stream" with Phil Minton - Subrosa (Brussels), "Hiss & Viscera" with Richard Scott - Sound Anatomy (Berlin), "Rough Tongue", BEAM SPLITTER'S debut LP - Corvo Records (Berlin) and her long-awaited new solo album "Runt Vigor" - Karl Records (Berlin).   American born but currently based in Berlin, Germany, Chen has performed across Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and the USA. 

Welcome to my conversation with Cass Tunick, a senior teacher of Ruth Zaporah's Action Theater, and an amazing performer in her own right. 

In this conversation we talk about, of course, improvisational performance, but also training, collaboration, what happens when you walk on stage with absolutely no plan, Buddhism, and the practice of getting lost. 

Find out more about Cass here: http://www.cassieterman.com

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

Enjoy!   

Welcome to my conversation with Ed Sarath, a Professor of Music in the Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, as well as the director of the U-M Program in Creativity and Consciousness Studies. He founded and serves as president of the International Society for Improvised Music, and has written two books on music, improvisation, and consciousness. 

In this conversation, Ed and I discuss jazz, free improvisation, Integral Theory, teaching improvisation, and how meditation supports an improvisational practice. Was an amazing conversation. 

Find out more about Ed here: http://edsarath.com/wordpress/

Find out more about his work here: https://www.jazzcosmos.com

Find out about the International Society for Improvised Music here: http://www.isimprov.org

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

Enjoy! 

In this, the fourth episode of act/re/act, I have a conversation with Founder and Artistic Director of Ko-Thi Dance Company, Ferne Bronson. In this conversation we discuss West African dance, improvisation, how Ferne finds the dance in the transitions between the steps, and some wonderful clay pots she found while traveling in Africa. It all adds up to an amazing conversation - I'm sure you will find this converstion with Ferne as insightful and delightful as I as did! 

Find out more about Ferne Bronson and Ko-Thi Dance Company: http://www.ko-thi.org

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

 

Ferne's Bio: Caulker is the founder and Artistic/Executive Director of the Ko-Thi Dance Company, Wisconsin’s oldest African American arts organization. Ko-Thi, founded in 1969, is dedicated to the preservation and expression of the performing arts from the African Continent, Caribbean and United States. She taught at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee since 1971, where she was a Full Professor in the Peck School of the Arts – Dance Department until she retired as Professor Emerita in 2016. Her research is focused on links between traditional African danced and musical forms throughout the African Diaspora. She is particularly interested in the relationship between arts training and exposure, increased self- esteem and social behavior. She is a Fulbright Scholar. Her Fulbright award allowed her to study and travel in Tanzania, East Africa for 3 months. Caulker has served on many panels including the NEA and WAB. She served on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Arts Board for one 3-year term.

In this, the third episode of act/re/act, I have a conversation with Artistic Director of Washington Improv Theater Mark Chalfant. We discuss a multitude of elements of improv theater and WIT, as well as seek to find some common ground between theater improv and dance improv. I loved this conversation and I'm sure you will as well! 

Find out more about Mark Chalfant here: http://witdc.org

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

 

Mark's Bio: Mark Chalfant is the artistic & executive director of Washington Improv Theater (WIT), a mission-driven not-for-profit performing and teaching throughout DC and based at Source (14th & T, NW). Since helping to refound the company in 1998, Mark has spearheaded WIT’s robust growth into a teeming community of collaborative creativity and transformative impact for people throughout the DMV. WIT serves over 23,000 audience members and the company’s comprehensive longform improv classes enroll nearly 1,600 students each year. Mark is a founding cast-member of WIT company ensemble iMusical (now in its 11th year) and regularly directs, teaches, and facilitates workshops for WIT@Work, WIT’s organizational training arm. Twice honored with an Artist Fellowship Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Mark is a member of Leadership Greater Washington’s Class of 2017. Mark lives in Columbia Heights with his partner David Steib.

Finally, the beginning of the second season of act/re/act!

To start this second I have a fascinating conversation with Melanie George, a dancer/choreographer who's artistic practice is rooted in jazz dance. She is one of the few jazz dance artists, that I'm aware of, who actively incorporates improvisation in her teaching and choreography. In this episode we discuss why Melanie explores improvisation in her jazz dance practice, what she means by shared movement vocabulary, improvisation as a choreographic tool, and how to explore the known knowns. 

Find out more about Melanie George here: https://melaniegeorge.org

Find out more about Melanie's Jazz Dance Direct project: https://www.jazzdancedirectory.com

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

In this, the second episode of act/re/act, I have a conversation with long-time collaborator and friend Sharon Mansur. We discuss a range of subjects from why and when Sharon started exploring dance/movement improvisation as a performance form, to our collaborations, and her current projects. It was a wonderful conversation I'm sure you'll love!

Find out more about Sharon Mansur here: http://www.mansurdance.com

Find out more about me here: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org

Find out more about the podcast here: https://actreact.podbean.com

NOTE: This interview was recorded before Sharon's recent project, Dreaming Under A Cedar Tree, and my intention was to release it before or during that project. Unfortunately that did not happen - consequently we talk about the project in the future tense, when, in fact, it is not in the past. You can find more information about it, as well as a short video, at https://www.outpostwinona.org/portfolio/cedar-tree/

 

Sharon's bio: 

Sharon Mansur is a Winona, MN based contemporary dance and visual artist, movement architect, experimentalist, educator, curator, mover and shaker. Originally from Boston, MA, Sharon’s creative practice and research integrates improvisational techniques, somatic (body/mind) practices, and interdisciplinary collaborative approaches. She has a keen interest in site responsive art, weaving the visual and visceral, body and space, internal and external landscapes. She is also committed to dance as a transformational and healing catalyst for individuals and communities. 

Her performance projects as well as dance films have been presented throughout the United States and abroad. During 2017 she's been awarded a Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council Established Artist grant, presented at the Inverse Performance Art Festival in Arkansas, and selected for a Springboard for the Arts- Hinge Arts Residency in Fergus Falls, MN. She has taught as a full-time dance faculty member at Winona State University and the University of Maryland-College Park, and recently as a guest dance artist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Luther College. Sharon is also a therapeutic bodyworker at Infinity Chiropractic Wellness Center. 

Welcome to the new season of act/re/act, a podcast exploring improvisation through conversations with remarkable artists.

In this first episode I have the pleasure of talking with Chris Aiken, a wonderful dancer who has extensive experience in improvisational performance, contact improvisation, and improv pedagogy. He is truly an expert in weaving together the intellect and the visceral. I loved this conversation and I hope you do as well! 

Here is Chris' bio:

Chris Aiken is a leading international teacher and performer of dance improvisation and contact improvisation.  Over the past four decades his work has evolved through ongoing investigations of performance, composition, ecology, movement technique, the perception, and design. Chris has performed and collaborated with many renowned dance artists including Steve Paxton, Kirstie Simson, Nancy Stark Smith, Peter Bingham, Andrew Harwood, Patrick Scully, and Angie Hauser, among many others.  He has received numerous awards for his artistic work, including fellowships from the Guggenheim, the Bush and the Jerome foundations as well as commissions from the Walker Art Center, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival and the National Performers Network.

Find Chris on the web here: https://www.smith.edu/academics/faculty/chris-aiken

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

 

Photo: Male dancer balancing on one hand with legs perpendicular to body, beige floor and background and wearing grey pants and long sleeve shirt. 

Welcome to act/re/act podcast, where we explore improvisation through conversations with remarkable artists.

I'm thrilled to introduce you to Stringz, as he is another artist I didn’t know before we sat down and had this conversation. It is always a pleasure to add another Detroit-based artist to the mix - since I grew up kind of half way between Detroit and Ann Arbor. So, nice to have another Michiginian in the mix. Earlier episodes of act/re/act featured three other artists with connections to Detroit and Ann Arbor - Alvin Hill, a DJ, composer and multi-media artist, Melanie George, a Jazz dance artist and dance dramaturge, and Ed Sarath, a jazz musician and professor at U of Michigan - so, you can make your Michigan artist experience complete by checking out those episodes as well.

Here’s a bit about Stringz:

Stringz began his dance career path in the early ‘90s focusing on Breaking, and his hometown dance form known as the Jit. He founded his company Hardcore Detroit in 2001. “Hardcore” is the success after the struggle and overcoming obstacles to achieve victory. He is a multiple artist-grant recipient, and travels worldwide as an official cultural ambassador through the U.S. State Department. His award-winning film documentary, The Jitterbugs: Pioneers of the Jit is on Amazon Prime and Tubi TV.

You can find out more about Stringz here: https://hardcoredetroit.biz/

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously! 

In this episode, I have the pleasure of having a conversation with Aysha Upchurch - an artist, educator, and activist. Hear how Hip Hop has informed and influenced how she approaches the world, as well as her insights about higher education, improvisation, activism, and how they all bump up against one another. It was such an illuminating conversation, I'm sure you'll love it!

A bit about Aysha: Aysha Upchurch, the Dancing Diplomat, is an artist and educator who creates, facilitates, and designs for radical change. She has shared her experience about artfully designing equitable and culturally relevant classrooms, the importance of dance and movement in education, and embracing Hip Hop as a powerful literacy as a consultant and speaker and most recently at TedxUConn.  She is a Lecturer and Artist-in-Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she is pioneering courses and initiatives on Hip Hop pedagogy and embodied learning.  Whether on stage or in a classroom, as a US State Department cultural envoy or professor, Aysha is making moves and demonstrating how to be D.O.P.E. - dismantling oppression and pushing education.

 

To find out more about Aysha: https://www.ayshaupchurch.com/

To get some D.O.P.E.: https://dopeisaverb.com/

To find out a bit more about Daniel: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

 

In this episode of act/re/act I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Andrew Suseno, a dancer and somatic practitioner who developed Parcon Resilience, and more recently Moving Rasa - a form of site-specific dance improvisation developed from his experience within the improv and dance community as a person of the Global Majority. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, I hope you do as well! 

Here is Andrew's Bio:

Andrew Suseno is a queer, Indonesian-Chinese American residing on the unceded land of Lenaphoking. He has a Physical Therapy doctorate, Laban Movement Analyst Certification, is a Feldenkrais Practitioner, and significant dance and Contact Improvisation experience. Andrew created Moving Rasa aka Parcon Resilience as  a form of site-specific movement improvisation and inquiry that centers his hybrid experiences as a diaspora person of the Global Majority. Rasa  is the Indonesian word for taste or discerning feeling through the heart. For Andrew, Moving Rasa is a dynamic connection to his Javanese, Indonesian roots leaning into the full extent of his somatic and improvisational background to dismantle internalized oppression and lift up hybrid practices that invite all people across ability, age, gender and sexuality to connect to their Rasa and roots.

You can find out more about Andrew Suseno at the following links:

Moving Rasa: https://movingrasa.com/

You can find my website here: https://www.danielburkholder.com/

Enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, and stay tuned for many more this season!

Take care, be well, and live spontaneously!