Artist statement

As an interdisciplinary artist, my primary modes of expression are text & movement; dance & storytelling. While my movement practice is not limited to partner-ballroom dancing, that does take up quite a bit of my time. While I love poetry and prose, they often take a back seat to the emails I have to write, the grant proposal that’s due, and other kinds of humdrum administrative tasks (like writing one of these). I am interested in the relationship between ballroom dancing and the personal essay, as they seem to accomplish opposite assignments: either craft an external image of yourself, or reveal your interior life. And under the usual circumstances, never at the same time. 

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There are three components to my business card. It says I’m the director of Steps in Time®, a producer of Dancing Queerly, and if you flip it over, there’s a picture of me wearing sequins and sunglasses, performing my protest piece against the Fourth of July. Steps in Time® brings adaptive ballroom dance programming to elder care communities. Dancing Queerly is a platform for queer artist support. My current performance project, Insider Ballroom is a solo-turned-duet with Holly Stone, in which we blend ballroom dance routines with storytelling about our experiences as Queer people navigating the same heteronormative industry. My current writing project, Coming to Terms with the American Smooth expounds on that topic and others. My MFA work in Decolonial Art Praxis at Goddard College continues to influence my thinking. Central to the broader inquiry as well as the daily praxis: what can be communicated with and through the dance? And when do I need to use my words?