2020 began with a seemingly good start...
I was in final rehearsals for a solo commission with the amazing choreographer Bebe Miller,
taught at the Alabama Dance Festival,
visited a dear friend in VA,
started the spring semester of my 25th year teaching at Columbia College,
dove into making a new dance with a delightful bunch of students at Columbia,
was in the planning phases of a shared concert with Raquel Monroe and Lisa Gonzales at Links Hall to premiere the Bebe Miller Solo,
and was looking forward to plans developing for the rest of the year, especially summer.
Then, everything shut down. My teaching at Columbia went fully remote and everything was uncertain. I started to feel like this.
Spring Alabama School of Fine Arts residency canceled,
New student work canceled,
June concert cancelled,
Participation in July workshop with Bebe Miller and collaboration with a friend canceled,
Synapse Arts community classes canceled,
Joffrey Summer Intensive classes canceled.
All of this was amplified by civil unrest around the world and my powerful obsession with the news. My obsession was an effort to try and comprehend the chaos happening around us while the world was blanketed with an eerie silence. I had to stop listening to NPR for awhile.
I felt like I was in a GAP.
In this moment, I chose to hunker down, listen quietly and be still. I was a bit frozen in my ability to be creative. Sometimes just getting through the day was a challenge.
In listening, I am certain that many structures in the arts and the world need to change. We all need to listen more, be more compassionate, and take action around supporting each other.
I still feel like I am in a GAP.
This fall though, we got to go back to school. I am learning how to teach in Zoom and make dances virtually. Through my work in the dance program at Columbia College I was able to work with a gracious group of students. Together, with technical support from Jacob Snodgrass, we made a work inspired by my ongoing sensation of the GAP. If you are interested you can see what I did here. The password is RPW.
I long for the day when we can be back in the studios dancing madly with each other.
As I look toward the upcoming 25th anniversary of The Dance COLEctive I will continue to mind the gap. I feel humbled and grateful. We are entering into a new year that still holds many unknowns as we wait for the pandemic to subside. I am unsure about how we will operate on the other side of it all. I hope to forge ahead and find ways to create work and experiences that are relevant and meaningful to our quickly changing world.
Thank you for supporting The Dance COLEctive! Wishing you health, prosperity and happiness in 2021.
Margi
