Choreography for the company looks a little different this season and we are soaking up all the benefits of virtual learning.

Our first Zoom adventure was this Wednesday with Crystal Michelle Perkins. All the company members and emerging artists spent two hours learning new phrases of choreography via the screen. Crystal’s process worked quite well – she taught her movement to one dancer at a time and the rest of us followed along and learned from the “leader”.  It always stuns me how much more there is to a company than dancing – it requires such keen teamwork, leadership, and respect for one another. Learning such detailed movement over Zoom is not an easy feat, but each of us is piecing the puzzle together to execute Crystal’s foundational phrases for this new piece! I’m excited to see how she will continue to work with us virtually to shape these phrases into a full work!

The following day we were on Zoom yet again, but this time with Monique Haley. We’ve learned the majority of Monique’s piece from last season’s video, though Monique decided to add four more dancers into the work. We slowly moved through her choreography while she tweaked movement, gave qualitative notes, and adjusted the spacing to work for ten dancers. She has such an infectious spirit that made us all feel valued, appreciated, and like we were contributing to the beauty of her soulful choreography. I cannot describe how wonderful of a feeling that is to get, especially through a screen.

It can be difficult training through technology. As dancers, most of us chose this career path to avoid staring at screens all day. What is keeping me thankful is the privilege to be in the space with my fellow dancers. While safely social distancing, I can still feel the drive of our company and tap into the sacred energy that dance brings…even through a Zoom call!