USA Projects

“Flying Solo: Alive and Ready” is a project that comes after ten years of directing, administrating and creating for my own Arizona-based contemporary dance company CONDER/dance. 

The year 2013 will mark ten years for CONDER/dance, my fortieth birthday and a personal decision to return to performing as a solo artist.  As a more mature dancer, this project gives me the opportunity to explore my potential as an artist and performer.  I will be able to draw on a depth of experience that has been gained in the intervening years since my training as a dancer began.

I have commissioned Ashleigh Leite to create a solo work that will link both our voices to a singular performance that will have the power to communicate and transform.  We are planning on a 15 – 20 minute work that will incorporate media from several sources as well as an original sound score.

Ashleigh Leite’s work has been presented by Dance New Amsterdam (NYC), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Becket, MA), The Joyce Theater (NYC), Danspace Project (NYC), and Dance Theater Workshop (NYC). New York Times dance critic Roslyn Sulcas lauds Leite’s ability  “ ...to evoke a subtle, unsettling world that is very much of her own making.”  Her capacity to cut to the heart of movement and its implications gives me the chance to reconnect to the raw energy and visceral knowledge that dance provides for me.

The creative process will be very personal and at the same time universal...delving into the roles of dancer, teacher, mother and artist.  The physicality needed to sustain this new work will be significant, but more so the emotional gravity to convey these personal themes on stage for an audience. 

Ashleigh and I began an intensive rehearsal period at the end of August 2012 that will give us a good amount of time to develop movement phrasework and flesh out the arc of the work.  In January 2013 the work will be premiered at Breaking Ground 2013, a contemporary arts festival at Tempe Center for the Arts in Arizona.  We will then look for opportunities to present the work in venues outside Arizona.

I am asking for $3,200 to fund this project, “Flying Solo : Alive and Ready”.  This will be to provide for the choreographer’s fee, studio space rental fees, video work, an original music composition and an honorarium.  In the event that the project is overfunded the additional funds will be used to pay for costume design and production, theater rental costs, theater technician fees, an original lighting design and touring expenses.

We believe the art we make is essential—it is visceral, alive, and contains a great respect for the human spirit. If you believe in our efforts as deeply as I do, please support our work by making a contribution.  Your gift matters greatly and is an offering of much needed support for what we are about to embark upon. Truly, at the end of the day, we simply would not be able to make art without the generosity of individual donors. Thank you for your consideration.