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Dancing Through The Unexpected

June 4, 2020 by 4dancers

dancer practicing at home — Samantha Galler, dancing at home.

by Samantha Galler

In life, I was taught to always prepare for the worst. So, you do what you can and hope that it is enough.

With injuries, if mobile, a dancer can travel from place to place knowing there is an outside world to interact with. As an established dancer well into a career, transiting from dance later on needs to surface in the back of the mind at some point or another. It is important to be properly prepared for a transition when the time eventually comes. It can also help the situation become less frightening.

Most artists, are aware that this change may be quick, due to injury or personal situations, so it is important to maintain a level head and understand that nothing in this life is guaranteed. Committing to this career comes with those risks and sacrifices. Right now, the situation is very different and we are facing challenges we could not have entirely prepared for.

Now, the country is well over a month into this so-called new life. New life, meaning sheltering in place and adapting to no work and no consistent schedule. As a dancer, I can say this is definitely one of the hardest situations I have ever faced. It has forced me to break from my mold in every way and brainstorm new routes for normal activity. Going to the theater or the studio are not options. The strangest thing about this situation is that everyone around the world is dealing with the same circumstances. In a way, we are all in this together. There are those who do not have jobs and/or money to survive and there are those who are working from home. Either way, it is not the same. Right now, I believe artists are facing a new battle based off of the worlds’ needs. The health of people is at the forefront and professionals are forced to sacrifice their familiarities to save lives.

Artists are working through an unknown territory. I guess the future is always unknown, but what we are experiencing now is unfamiliarity in every way. What has hurt me the most, is seeing ballet schools, performing arts schools, and dance colleges come to a screeching halt. As professionals, we are more likely to have the experience and a deeper understanding of the training we need to stay strong in a time like this. For a student, each month is crucial to the finalization of their training.

With this change in their schedule, it affects students who are growing and molding into their development as a professional. I have made every effort to create a ballet class teaching schedule for myself with students across different areas in the country in hopes of providing a continuation of their training. In addition, a major challenge that pre-professional and professional dancers face when returning to work is the act of standing. The weight of our body on our feet for 7 hours is part of our day to day training. An advantage to teaching, is that it keeps me focused on ballet and forces me to stay on my feet for long periods of time. Some days, up to five hours. I teach through Zoom for students from different schools including, The Ballet Academy Inc., Northeast School of Ballet, and Boston Ballet in Massachusetts where I trained when I was younger. It has made me so happy to see all smiling and eager faces.

The Ballet Academy Inc. has directed students to me ages 6-13 which has been enjoyable. I am extremely grateful for these opportunities and responsibilities. It brings me back to when I was an 8 year old training. In fact, my parents have started pulling out old videos of me being taught by my ballet teacher when I was 9. It has been humbling and rewarding even though the world is facing a major challenge at the same time. There is a glimmer of hope that there can continue to be some happiness and beauty even at a time like this.

Dancer outside — Samantha Galler. Photo by Jonathan Taylor.

The day we were told that we had to stay in our homes, I did not really understand the situation we faced. In fact, I was so motivated, and thought this would only last a couple weeks. I figured we would be back to work and performing again soon. About a week in, it was clear that it would be a much longer period of time before this would happen. During the first week, Ryan, my fiancé, and I had to decide to postpone our wedding which was devastating. Part of me thought that there might be a way to have the wedding, but it was clear we had made the right decision given how the circumstances were developing and we could not put our guests at risk to travel. That was the first challenge in quarantine and, believe me, that is not an easy process. We were able to officially get married at the end of April while social distancing, and with our parents on Zoom.

Secondly, it was hard to go from dancing all day in the studio to having to do ballet class at home in my living room. The difficulty to this, which I am sure a lot of in-season dancers can agree with, is that we were in shape and then it was a cold turkey halt. Our bodies were forced to stop and find a new way of working. This new schedule has taken time to adjust to for many reasons.

First, it is important to be working on the proper floor. My floor is tile, so I needed to be careful to take class on a rug and limit small jumps until I received a piece of floor from the ballet, which we are so fortunate for. Now with a good piece of Marley, it has made it easier to create a consistent working schedule.

The most incredible challenge is to motivate ourselves to keep cross training. Cross training requires cardio, ballet, stretching, meditating, and more. I try my best to take a ballet class 5 days a week. Also, since I cannot swim right now because the pools are closed, I am taking extended walks. These are typically an hour to an hour and a half or 4 miles. With this, I walk or do a light jog and then return to walking. I repeat this pattern so that my heart rate increases mimicking what it would feel like if I were dancing a ballet.

It is scary to see how fast the body loses stamina and how long it usually takes to build it back up. It is a steep mountain to climb. Other than working on my cross training and teaching, I am researching future dance education. It is a topic that has always interested me and I figured now was a good time. In addition, I have connected with friends through Zoom, some of which I have not spoken to in years. One friend I reconnected with, I last spoke to in 2007 before she moved from Boston back to her hometown in Australia. There has also been a lot of reconnecting with my family. Typically, I see family members during performance season or the holidays. Right now, since we are not traveling, Zoom dates with my parents and brother, aunt, and close friends are on my weekly schedule. I do not know why this was not a normal event before! Seeing my family and forming new connections has filled me with so much joy and it has opened my eyes to new perspectives on our present situation. I just hope to continue these dates after our “shelter in place” is lifted. It has been an unbelievable ride.

With this challenge, there is a silver lining. I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. I would say the days are starting to blur together, but I am trying to find a comfort that what I am doing is enough to stay on track. As I self-reflect, I am so eager and inspired to be back in the studio. I will embrace each moment more than I already do and enjoy the freedom of being in an open space fueled with energy. For now, more than any injury I have dealt with in the past, I realize again how quickly life can change.

Samantha Hope Galler. Photo by Daniel Azoulay.

Contributor Samantha Hope Galler, a Bedford, Mass. native, spent 13 years training with The Ballet Academy, Inc., under the direction of Frances Kotelly in the Cecchetti Method. She performed six seasons with The Northeast Youth Ballet under the direction of Denise Cecere. She continued training, on scholarship, with Boston Ballet School and received the PAO Merit Trainee Scholarship. She received the NFAA Honorable Mention Award in Ballet. Galler spent summers training at Boston Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Boston Conservatory. She danced with Cincinnati Ballet in their 2008-2009 season under the direction of Victoria Morgan.

Samantha spent five seasons with Alabama Ballet under the direction of Tracey Alvey and Roger Van Fleteren. During her tenure there, she was promoted to principal dancer. She had the honor of performing some of her dream roles including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, The Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, The Sylph and Effie in La Sylphide, Myrtha and Moyna in Giselle, Dryad Queen and Mercedes in Don Quixote, the Rancher’s Daughter in Agnes De Mille’s Rodeo. Her Balanchine roles included Dark Angel in Serenade; The Sugarplum Fairy, Arabian and Lead Marzipan in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™; and the principal roles in Allegro Brillante and Tarantella. She has also performed in Jiří Kylian’s Sechs Tanze, and Van Fleteren’s Shostakovich and Romancing Rachmaninov, both world premieres.

Samantha joined Miami City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2014. Since joining Miami City Ballet, Samantha has performed in various roles including as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and as the Harp Soloist in Balanchine’s Raymonda Variations.

Galler joined Miami City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2014 and was promoted to Soloist in 2018. Galler was named a Capezio Athlete in August 2017.

Follow Samantha on her website and blog.

Shifting Gears in My Dance Career

January 20, 2020 by 4dancers

by Luis Edwardo Gonzalez

I wanted to write about something I learned through an experience that I think most dancers – as well as others who have dedicated themselves to something for so long that they begin to mistake it for the fabric of their identity – can relate to. To me the experience has really been a lesson in telling the truth. One of my favorite writers Elizabeth Gilbert has a lot of great lessons to share about telling the truth, and how difficult that can sometimes be, but one of my favorite quotes I’ve read from her is, “you should do your best to have a completely honest relationship with at least one person in your life, and it’s probably best if that person is you”. People always talk about how you are what you do and maybe to a certain extent that’s true, but I also feel that there is something to be said about not needing to be or do a thing in order to have value. Also not evaluating one’s self-worth according to how well you are calibrating your life choices to what people expect from you. If you follow my writing at all or know me, you know that I’ve been dancing at Joffrey Ballet for the last four years. You may also know that through a series of difficult twists of life I began to fall out of love with my career. I don’t think I ever lost passion for the art form, but the life of a dancer in a company somehow lost its provision of purpose for me.

I have for some time understood that emotions are often situational and therefore, temporary. I also was aware that the questions that plagued my day to day may have just come with the territory of being twenty-five. Although the cliché of a quarter life crisis is not a notion I loved, I also had to come to terms with the fact that trying to ignore it would only make things worse. I had dealt with debilitating medical health complications, the death of a loved one, an uncomfortable dynamic at work, and a rocky romantic relationship. Each time I did everything I could to move past it and not feel.

Once I actually allowed myself to feel the effects of everything I came to a realization. I decided that even if I look back on this moment ten years from now and roll my eyes at the gravity of the moment, or if I change my mind a month from now and realize I’ve made a mistake – then this is a mistake I have to make. There is no way to know what the road ahead of has in store, and at times it’s hard to know what I want it to be, but I do know that standing still without purpose on roads I’ve already taken will slowly chip away at my spirit until any light that is left withers away like a plant without water.

At the end of last season, I chose to take a break from ballet.

Dancer Luis Edwardo Gonzales in Paris — Luis in Paris

I had been to Europe on tour the summer before all of this happened, and I knew that I just needed a break from my life; a moment to be completely alone. I decided to get a plane ticket and not tell anyone where I was going. I visited Poland, Switzerland, and France, and kept a journal along the way. I think I needed to write because it was really one of the most vulnerable moments I’ve ever had. I can honestly say that while I was away I could be completely present and submerged in the both exciting and terrifying feeling of not knowing. I felt selfish, because it was first time in a while that I gave myself permission to ask if I was happy, and if the decisions that dictate the trajectory of my life were based on what I wanted, what I thought I should want, what others want for me, or what feels safe to do. Contrary to what I had expected, almost every moment on my trip to find answers was full of stress and discomfort. I never expected I would be in all of the romance and splendor that Europe has to offer and in some moments be anxiously awaiting the day I got home.

I’ll start by saying I highly recommend traveling alone to anyone. There are obviously safety considerations to be taken, but all in all pushing yourself drastically out of a place of stagnant comfort is one of the most enlightening and fulfilling things. Like most things that are worthwhile, traveling alone did not come without its fair share of difficult moments. There were language barriers and many locals who were rather indifferent to foreigners. When I arrived in Poland, my Airbnb host was nowhere to be found, and it rained much of the time I was there. In Switzerland my bag was stolen out of the locker where I left it to walk around Zurich. I missed my flight in Paris due to a truck blowing up on the highway on my way to the airport. These are just a few of the difficulties I pushed through during the trip, but in every city I went to I also pushed myself to take class. As I was boarding my flight back to the U.S I realized that aside from the stunning architecture, amazing food, and occasional pleasant surprises with the locals, the happiest I was while I was in Europe was while I was dancing.

Honestly before the season began with Joffrey, I had already decided it would be my last. I think the main reason I decided to come back was that I had not yet come to terms with the fact that I didn’t owe it to anyone else to be there. A long time ago, I, like so many young ballet students fell in love with the idea of success – an idea that is sold to us by media as: making a big paycheck, dancing for a big company, and living in a big city. Since I had achieved those things, I felt I had no right to complain or to allow myself question why I wasn’t happy once I had them.

In different schools I’ve taught at I am sometimes asked to share my experience with students in a sort of question and answer format. Some of the questions I remember getting were things like; if I get a contract to somewhere like ABT but also a smaller company, which is better to chose? Or how do you know when is the right time to leave a company, or is it better to stay somewhere for a long time? I felt a bit of nostalgia I think, but also a realization that my perspective of things that once seemed so black or white had changed. I now saw the millions of other colors; millions of other variables in life that can completely change a sequence of events, a decision, or a situation.

I’m not from what one would call an artistic family, so it was kind of a hard sell for my Colombian parents (mother; Data Warehousing Engineer, Father; Architect) that I wanted to be a ballet dancer. I had to prove to them with my work and persistence that this wasn’t just a passing fad that I would eventually leave for the next hobby. For me, I think a part of staying at Joffrey was proof of my keeping of the promise I made to them, and myself, that I would one day be able to thrive with this dream that I had pushed them to spend their time and money on. I had to leave because I came to terms with the fact that I tried tirelessly to fit into the puzzle of a place that I knew hadn’t felt right for some time, and I could feel my enthusiasm for my work slowly fading.

It took me some time to be able to reflect on the fact that so many wonderful things also took place while I was in Chicago because at the time of my leaving things felt somewhat bleak. The four years I spent with Joffrey taught me so much and gave me a lot to feel thankful for; The people that I’ve worked with and for, the experiences I’ve shared with them, as well as the ways they have pushed me in one way or another. I have found that there is more agency over the trajectory of life than is superficially understood, and it’s all in listening to your heart and acting accordingly to both that and the present circumstances.

No one can tell you what the “right” choice is because everyone’s version of that will vary. In the end it’s only your choice that matters and you are the only one that can make it. The love and support I felt on stage when I took my last bow, as well as throughout the years I was there, honestly left me with only gratitude; for the opportunities that life has given me to grow but also the wonderful moments I’ve been given to enjoy and those I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy them with.

Partly by my own nature but also because I was raised to be, I am a people pleaser. Always be agreeable, never be a burden, don’t rub people the wrong way, don’t talk differently or too much, don’t walk differently, have good posture, be assertive but never bossy, always air on the side of reserved –but mostly do your best to always be well liked. As a result, I’ve spent a lot if my life making decisions, calculating actions and curating my life according to what I thought other people would want to see. This makes developing artistic integrity difficult. It’s hard to keep a sense of direction in life when the course is changed by what one anticipates someone else might find agreeable, and then changing it depending on who one is surrounded by. It’s almost like not being sure of where you want to go because you’re not really sure of why you’ve chosen to go where you’ve already been so in a moment of being unhappy with a present situation one just settles into unhappiness and gets comfortable sinking further into it until someone new comes along and says where to go next.

Dancer Luis Edwardo Gonzales — Luis on his travels

When I got back from Europe, I had a missed call and a supportive message from the man who gave me my first professional contract, Robert Hill. Almost as soon he had heard about my plans to leave Joffrey, he reached out to offer guidance and encouragement. We were in contact for some time going back and forth about what I wanted to do, but in the end, he pushed me to give dance another shot. He spoke of his tireless efforts to foster an environment in his company with a focus on the general health of the Organization and offered that it could be an ideal place to help me get back in touch with my passion for the art form.

In the meantime, I spent time with my family, and took class with my mentor Maniya Barredo who gave me the gift of ballet. It took me a few weeks to come to a conclusion, but Robert was patient and understanding of my need to have a moment to breathe. As I mentioned he gave me my first job many years ago, and I know he believes in passion for the art form as well as nurturing efficacy in his dancers. I’ve only been back to dancing for two weeks at this point, but the first choreographer we worked with was Jessica Lang who is setting her ballet Lyric Pieces. I had never worked with her in the past, but I resonated with her approach to working right away. During one of the rehearsals last week she said, “I believe in making the work the star, not you, not me not the company but the art”. She already had me at hello, but it’s so rare to work with someone who has a big name and still can keep that level of humility and respect for the art form. It was just the thing I needed at that moment. (? What do you think?)

I know that what happened to me was not was not some great injustice or a terrible tragedy, and that the issues I faced have happened to many others – as well as much worse. The thing that I’ve learned about pain though is that it’s all relative. Unhappiness, no matter what the cause, is difficult to overcome, and when a situation doesn’t feel right, ignoring that instinct and continuing to push for a lie corrodes at one’s resolve. I no longer feel a responsibility for knowing how I’m going to feel in the future, or even who or what I’m going to be. I know who I am now, and that is someone on a journey to live a life that fights for telling the truth even when it gets hard. I dance, love, write, sing, travel and make art because on the days that I want to because I love it, but I do my best to remind myself that I am not defined or validated by it. At some point I started to realize that it is not my responsibility to worry about what other people’s perception of me is, and holding myself responsible for other people’s thoughts is a burden that is really my choice to carry. It felt crazy and rebellious at the time but it has made a huge difference in my overall wellbeing to know that it’s O.K. to make mistakes and love things and people, make decisions that you change your mind about, and just generally live without fear and not be ruined by it.

I’ve done the reckless, selfish thing of changing my life on a whim that was honest, and I’m still here. And, as we all learn in dance, the finishing of one step – is the beginning of the next.

BIO: Luis Eduardo Gonzalez is originally from Bogota, Colombia, where he grew up before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. From a very young age, his training came primarily from the continued direction of Ms. Maniya Barredo, former prima ballerina of Atlanta Ballet and current director of Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. Mr. Gonzalez has received the Star Student award at Regional Dance America’s SERBA, took third place at the Regional Youth American Grand Prix competition in 2008, first place pas de deux at the American Ballet Competition in 2013, and was selected to compete as the only representative of Colombia in the 2014 Jackson International Ballet Competition.

Mr. Gonzalez began his professional career at sixteen with The Houston Ballet II, where he had the opportunity to dance works by Stanton Welch, Balanchine, Claudio Munos, Ben Stevenson among other renowned choreographers, as well as tour both nationally and internationally. At 18, he joined Orlando Ballet where he danced for three years, performing and originating works by director Robert Hill such as peter and the wolf, Ravel’s Bolero, Carmina Burana, Swan Lake and many others. In 2015 Mr. Gonzalez Joined the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago where he preformed and originated roles on stages all over the world. Some of the works in his repertoire include; Orphe and Euridice, Sylvia by John Neumeier, Mammatus by Anabelle Lopez Ochoa, Nutcracker and Swan lake by Christopher Wheeldon, Raku, Miraculous Mandarin, Anna Karenina by Yuri Possokhov, Glass Pieces by Jerome Robins, Body of your Dreams by Miles Thacher and many others. In 2019 Gonzalez retuned to Orlando Ballet and has since danced works by Victoria Morgan, Robert Hill, and Jessica Lang.

Are you trying to figure out what to do with your dance career? Want to know what some of your options may be? Here’s an ebook that interviews 60+ pros in various fields that is super helpful!

Dancing Joffrey’s Jane Eyre

October 15, 2019 by 4dancers

by José Pablo

My name is José Pablo, aka JP, at least that’s what everyone calls me in the Company–and I love it. I’m writing this to tell a little bit about how I got to The Joffrey Ballet, what it’s like being in a professional company and about the process of putting together the ballet Jane Eyre; but first, some background.

I was born and raised in Queretaro, Mexico, and started my ballet training at the age of six. I came to Chicago for the first time when I was 14 years old when Ashley Wheater offered me a scholarship for the Joffrey’s Summer Intensive in YAGP Mexico in 2015. Once I was in the summer intensive, I auditioned for the Joffrey Academy and was offered a full scholarship for the full year as a Pre-Professional Level VI student; so I moved to Chicago all by myself to continue with my training. I got the incredible opportunity of being in the children’s cast of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker. A year later I was offered another scholarship, this time for the Conservatory Program; another year passed and Raymond Rodriguez, Head of Trainee and Studio Company at Joffrey, promoted me to Studio Company where I got to take classes with the main Company various times as well as learn, rehearse and perform with them. It was very exciting to see all the dancers in the Company especially when I wanted to become one of them one day.

JP in the Academy’s performance of Coppelia, 2018. Photo by Matt Glavin

This is my first season with The Joffrey Ballet, and my first season as a professional dancer. After being a student, everything is very different in a company. In the Academy, I had all sorts of classes, from ballet to contemporary or character, modern, or variations. In the Company we take ballet class first thing in the morning and then rehearse all day long. The most challenging thing for me right now is that I’m 17 and I’m still in high school. I do online school and I think it’s a great way to finish my academic studies, but sometimes it can be really frustrating.

Learning Jane Eyre has been fun. At times it was a slow learning process which is nice for me because I’m still getting used to learning so much choreography in such little time–but it has definitely been a wonderful experience to learn a ballet with such a beautiful and dramatic story. My roles in the ballet are a D-Men and little John. As D-Men, we do a lot of dancing with the “Janes” (there is a young Jane and an adult Jane), and it’s very interesting because our job is to be all the negativities and insecurities that Jane has, so even though the audience can see us, we have to feel and make them feel like we aren’t really there–almost as if we were ghosts– except we’re in Jane’s head. As John (Mom’s favorite son), I get to dance with my sisters Georgina and Elizabeth which are very spoiled as well, and basically what we do is make young Jane’s life impossible. We fight her, we kick her and make fun of her until our Mother decides that she needs to go. She thinks Jane is the troublemaker even though she came to our house because she didn’t have anywhere else to go.

I hope everyone can come see Jane Eyre and enjoy it as much as we do when we are dancing it. Want to know a little bit more about me? Go to joffrey.org/cuevas to read my bio and follow me on Instagram as @jpcastro_1912.

Joffrey’s Jane Eyre opens on October 16 and runs through the 27th. Tickets are still available.

José Pablo Castro Cuevas joined The Joffrey Ballet in July 2019.

Mr. Castro was born in Queretaro, Mexico, and started dancing at the age of six. He participated for the first time in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Mexico in 2013 and received scholarships for the Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey and for PROVER Programa Profesional de Ballet en Córdoba, Veracruz, Córdoba, where he moved to continue his training under the direction of Martha Sahagun and Adria Velazquez. In 2015, he competed in the National Ballet Competition in Mexico City and got an invitation to the L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec and was mentioned as an honorific dancer. He attended YAGP Mexico once again in 2015 in which he received a scholarship for the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago.

Mr. Castro moved to Chicago at the age of 14 to join the Joffrey Academy’s Pre-Professional Program Level VI, and then the Conservatory Program, both directed by Karin Ellis-Wentz. Shortly, Raymond Rodriguez, Joffrey’s Head of Trainee and Studio Company offered him a promotion to the Studio Company. During his time at the Joffrey Academy, he had the chance to perform with the main Company several times, including Christopher Wheeldon’s world premiere of The Nutcracker in 2016, as well as in the following two seasons, and Wayne McGregor’s INFRA. He performed as one of the lead dancers in Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi and as Franz in the ballet Coppélia, both during his time as a member of Joffrey’s Studio Company.

Hip-hop Health Moves in the UK

October 2, 2019 by 4dancers

I am pleased to bring you a 2nd article by Nefeli Tsiouti, MA, MSc, one of the young leaders in the dance medicine world, who has been bringing attention to the injuries of dancers in the Breakin’ world. Her first article discussed how she started working in this field, and formed Project Breakalign. In this one, she talks about the annual Breakin’ Convention held in London each year, and how she has been integrating her work into the conference. Please pass it on! – Jan Dunn, Dance Wellness Editor

by Nefeli Tsiouti, MA, MSc

In 2013, I decided to bring together a group of dance medicine and science specialists, sports coaches, doctors, physical therapists—people that are involved with health and Breaking, to decide how to save the world of Breakers from injuries. That was the beginning of the creation of the Project Breakalign team. We then started working in association with One Dance UK’s Healthier Dancer Programme, at the time managed by Erin Sanchez, another dance scientist who had also joined our new-born team.

In 2014, we embarked on an annual journey with the Breakin’ Convention International Festival of hip-hop theatre, which takes place every May at Sadler’s Wells in London, UK. Together with Breakin’ Convention, One Dance UK (ODU), and the Project Breakalign team, we began providing—for the first time in such an established international hip-hop festival—workshops from specialists that can speak the hip-hop language. That is a very important trait to have when dealing with a group of people from such diverse cultural and movement backgrounds—a very interesting place to be as an educator–but also as a therapist!

Erin Sanchez, Nefeli Tsiouti, Karolin Krell, and Claire Farmer

From 2014-2019, we provided a Project Breakalign workshop in association with ODU, which usually consisted of conditioning strategies for Breakers and hip-hop dancers in general. I was teaching the workshop alongside one more team members each year, including: Mark Archer (Physical Therapist), Marius Mates (Bboy Marius from Romania), Johannes Hattunen (Bboy Hatsolo from Finland), and in 2017, 2018 and 2019, I took the lead by myself. What was special in these last three years was a new initiative of Project Breakalign and One Dance UK to bring education and treatments at the festival, for the performers of this big international dance gathering. This would not have been possible without the support of Erin Sanchez and Sarah Needham-Beck, at One Dance UK / The Healthier Dancer Programme.

So, on the days of the festival, myself as a sports massage therapist, alongside a physical therapist or osteopath, shared two rooms for treatments for the performers of Breakin’ Convention. The dancers had the opportunity to book free 30-minute slots for physical therapy or sports massage, and not only to receive treatment, but to also receive advice about their injuries and injury management. Most of the performers had also flown in or used trains to arrive in London, therefore their bodies definitely needed the hands of a specialist, to ensure their dance wellness – as well as their best performance for the evening shows of the festival.

What is amazing about Breakin’ Convention is that in a little area in the heart of London, all these spectacles, activities, social gatherings, educational workshops, and now also health treatments take place, and they are all tailored not only for the performers, but also for the supporters and fans of the hip-hop artforms. Jonzi D, director of Breakin’ Convention and his team, have been caring for the health of performers since the initial proposal we offered them for collaboration, and they have allowed the hip-hop dancers the opportunity to welcome awareness for prevention of injuries, in the heart of such an established and prestigious Festival.

And the journey continues…see you at Breakin’ Convention London 2020!

Learn more:

Visit Project Breakalign

Visit One Dance UK

Bio: Nefeli was born in Australia. She started dance in 1995 at Motion Art Studio and danced professionally in Greece & UK (2006-16). She studied: BA French Literature (University of Athens), MA Choreography (Middlesex University), MSc Dance Science (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance), Sports Massage Therapy Diploma (Sports Therapy UK) and is a BSc Physiotherapy student at European University Cyprus. Currently she is Associate Researcher at the Cyprus Musculoskeletal & Sports Trauma Research Centre & CEO of Breakalign Ltd, a prevention of injuries project for dancers. Moreover, she is a dancer & Choreographer, Member of the International Federation of Holistic therapists, from which she received the award Sports Therapist of the Year 2018. She won 1st Prize and Most Innovative idea Prize at the EUC-Peak entrepreneurship competition for start-ups in 2018. Her dance training has spread from ballet to hip-hop/Breaking. She has taught in dance schools and Universities since 2006 in Greece, UK, Cyprus and provided guest lectures across Europe, USA, Canada & Hong-Kong. Nefeli has a mission of preventing injuries for dancers and has been awarded many scholarships to support this vision. She is the organiser of the Dance Science Symposium in Cyprus since 2018.

Choreographing “Echo Mine”

July 29, 2019 by 4dancers

Robyn Mineko Williams and Jacqueline Burnett rehearse “Echo Mine”.
Photo by Chloe Hamilton.

Chicago’s annual benefit performance, Dance for Life, is a time for community. It’s a time for celebrating dance–and dancers–right here in our city. It’s a time for coming together, and a time for reflection.

This year’s performance offers a great variety of talented dancers and dance companies, as well as a “first look” at Echo Mine, a work choreographed by former Hubbard Street Dance Chicago dancer and award-winning choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams. The piece was inspired by the late Claire Bataille—one of HSDC’s founding dancers, as well as a choreographer and director of the Lou Conte Dance Studio.

We are fortunate to be able to share excerpts from a recent conversation with Robyn, regarding how this piece came into focus, and how the decision was made to included it in this year’s Dance for Life Chicago performance.

You have deep roots in the Chicago dance community. Can you describe your journey from dancer to choreographer in broad terms?

The pathway from dancer to choreographer was not one I expected. When I left Hubbard Street in 2012, I didn’t intend to stop dancing, but choreographic opportunities presented themselves. The more I did it, the more I enjoyed it and found that I had a voice on the other side of the lens. I knew that I was not ready to leave the world of dance. So it’s been an interesting but unexpected career path. When I was a dancer, I thought I’d leave Hubbard and go back to math school, become a math teacher, open a bakery—so I’m very surprised, but not surprised, that I’m still immersed and feel passionate about being an active member of this community.

Robyn Mineko Williams, rehearsing “Echo Mine”. Photo by Chloe Hamilton.

Claire Bataille is a well-known figure in the Chicago dance community. Would you comment on the sense of loss that has been felt with her absence?

Speaking only for myself, it is a huge loss because of the incredible range that she had during her 40+ years in the dance community—dancer, teacher, mentor, friend. When I walk into Lou Conte Dance Studio, I still expect to see her even though I know I’m not going to. She’s been a constant for me and for thousands of people. She’s just part of the web, like the bones of the dance community. Michael Anderson [former Joffrey dancer and now Chicago Dancers United/Dance for Life board member] and I both noticed that, at Claire’s memorial last winter, so many different people were there, not just spanning generations but from many parts of Chicago and beyond. Claire was so much more than Hubbard; she brought dancers together. She was a key figure, like the glue for all of us.

How did this piece wind up coming about for Dance for Life 2019?

The solo I performed at Claire’s memorial was a work in progress and is now part of Echo Mine. I started to reach out to different people in the dance community for advice about a good venue for this piece and other general, technical questions. This is my first independent work on this level—a 50-minute, full-evening work for proscenium. I’d been in the studio and working with composer Tim Rutili of Califone, so creative elements had been in the works for a long time, but the logistical aspects of how to get it to a stage were things I didn’t know. So I reached out to people who I thought could help me. Michael Anderson wanted to bring the piece to Dance for Life as an option, especially since they knew they’d be paying tribute to Claire this year, so it was a good fit. There was some discussion of Hubbard doing Georgia—which they do a phenomenal job with—but it would be hard not to imagine Claire. So Echo Mine is inspired by and of Claire, and made alongside and with her, but not something she had done—it’s more representative of now.

It’s also really important to me that people know that this started with Claire. This is not a piece about cancer or about Claire’s past. I was really interested, and she was too, about creating something together in the present moment, of her today, and all of her history and my history is part of it, they’re ingredients. When I asked Claire what she wanted, she said it was important to tell a story, and I felt it was important that it be about “present Claire.” And after she got sick, she was still OK with that. As this piece comes more and more together, I see that it’s a snapshot of this amazing time we were able to spend together and make something in the present.

I started talking to her about it in early 2017; that was when original idea came up, because I was encouraged to apply for a grant from Chicago Dancemakers Forum. So this was the idea that came to mind: to work with Claire and see her perform my movement and see how much of my movement is actually her. To see her dance again, and for me to be in the room and create with her, would be the coolest, most rare gem. How often do you get to do that with your idol? A person who you looked up to, who you had posters of in your room? I sheepishly asked her, thinking she would never do it, and she said OK, let’s explore it! She agreed to it, we talked a couple times about early ideas, themes—ironically, she brought up the theme of loss and how it’s been a thread throughout her life, and this was before she got sick. We had one rehearsal in October and a month later she was diagnosed with cancer. In late January 2018, I contacted her again to see how she felt about continuing, and she was fine with it. At first she wasn’t comfortable going back into the studio, not because she physically couldn’t do it but emotionally. But in July she did feel well enough, so we were in the studio for about a month, off and on, and we made a solo for her together, and now that’s the source material for the whole piece. It was such a gift. Regardless of her being sick or not, it was such a great excuse to hang out with her and learn more from her and hear her Hubbard Street stories, which brought to life the photos I had of her.

Claire dancing — Claire Bataille teaching at Lou Conte Dance Studio. © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015.

Can you share a bit about your connection with Claire?

My connection with Claire changed. I saw her dance with Hubbard Street when I was nine, and from that moment on, I thought, “This is it.” So I started as an observer, a fan; when I was a teen, I started taking classes with her. Then at 16, I was on scholarship at Lou Conte Dance Studio for a couple years. When I joined River North, she was our ballet mistress. So our relationship evolved. I joined Hubbard in 2000 when she was still rehearsal director. One of my favorite memories is this: I had auditioned a number of times, and I decided to try one more time in 1999. I went to an open audition, and I think Lou [Conte], Jim [Vincent, income artistic director] and Claire were there. I got the job and Claire said that she asked if she could be the one to call and tell me. So I got the call from Claire, and she said I screamed bloody murder, and when she hung up, her son Isaac asked if she thought I’d call my Mom right away because he could hear me screaming. I remember my first day at Hubbard in class, and she welcomed me to my new home. While at Hubbard I got to know Claire on a different level; I was less socially awkward around her and could talk to her about various things like both of us being moms. So our relationship matured and evolved. I was able to spend time with her, and she was really important to me.

How has this piece taken shape? What’s the process you have used to craft it to specifically honor Claire?

I’ve been talking with Tim Rutili about this as long as I talked to Claire about it. He and his band have composed an original score, which is very different than anything I’ve ever done. He created it after watching videos of Claire and of Claire and me, listening to interviews, and not making it literal but taking it all in and doing his thing. I also have a set and projection designer, Deborah Johnson (aka CandyStations), and will integrate film components. It’s important that we see Claire, and now it’s becoming more evident that the story is a snapshot of this experience I’ve had. I want to finish and share it, keep it simple. I find, as a maker, I tend to go a bit smaller and do what I know and hope that it resonates and makes sense. My story doesn’t have to be the story everyone in the audience gets but I hope it’s filled with enough honesty and humanity that people can take that and make their own thing out of it. And part of what I’m figuring out now is the story and its arc. Part of my initial desire to make a work with Claire is to share beyond Chicago who Claire was—people need to know about this woman and how great she was. I want it to be an introduction for some and a validation or reminiscence for others.

How did you go about selecting dancers for the work?

Originally it was supposed to be a solo for Claire. When she fell ill, I asked Jacqueline Burnett to dance. Then I realized it was not going to be 10 minutes, it was something larger, so I thought we needed more than one dancer. I was very reluctant to dance myself, so I brought in Meredith Dincolo. We’re sort of different generations of Hubbard Street and had different relationships with Claire, but we were all lucky enough to have a solid time with her. In rehearsals, we have an understanding of Claire’s essence. We were all around her, learned from her, watched her—we don’t have to talk about it, we just know. I’ve never danced my own work; I’d rather be outside, it’s easier to create that way. I don’t feel like I need to get back onstage; I feel good about my career, and there’s no unfinished business. But I’m dancing this because it makes sense conceptually. I took myself out maybe four times, but now I’m committed to doing it.

Dance for Life Chicago 2019 takes place at the Auditorium Theatre on August 17th. Tickets are available online, or at the door that evening. 4dancers is proud to serve as a long-time media sponsor for the event. Learn more about the performance, or about DFL’s parent organization, Chicago Dancers United here.

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