What makes dance, dance?

"Anyone coming to see one of my performances should be prepared to ask himself this question. And that is because I like to explore both what is comfortable as a format in dance…the bare stage, interesting movements…and what is completely outside of most definitions of dance. Since 1985, I’ve created performances using – among other things – a large knife and an onion, stilts, and roller blades. I’ve created dances underwater. I’ve been attached to a Banyan tree by a bungee cord. I’ve performed under eleven yards of nifty blue organza an umbrella alter that lights up. The response is always exciting and heated. And my favorite question to hear is: But is it dance?

For me, dance is any gesture with intent and style. I look to connect these gestures in a way in which the dance has a meaning beyond its’ original impulsive gesture. I’ll get a germ of an idea that I want to explore…maybe it’s dreams or father-daughter relationships, say. Many times I spend months tossing around my thoughts, interviewing people, researching my topic, and developing movements that capture the kernels of truth as I see them. Then I pick a physical place and props to breathe life into what will develop into a performance piece. Often, I find that the best place to fully realize a performance work is in non-traditional spaces such as a planetarium, a Banyan tree, reflection pool, sculpture garden, lake, or warehouse. And other times, the energy of a space attracts me and a dance is born out of this partnership with the architecture or nature."

Give us an example.

"In Upward Climb, I was thinking about social class as a topic. I was intrigued in exploring what the movement and physical boundaries of this dance would/should be. It developed as a dance for 4 dancers, 3 on stilts of different heights. I was focused on how people of different social strata relate to one another, what their interrelationship might be. What I found fascinating about the stilts wasn’t just the really basic physical feature… ‘Hey, look, the woman on these stilts is higher than that one.’ What I found is that the higher the stilts, the far less stable you are, the harder you fall. In fact, when they’re ridiculously high the more precarious the situation. You need a lot of support just to stand there and look grand. There it was, the kernel of truth: social climbers are people who are less stable than they seem to be as individuals. They rely on lots of individuals ‘beneath them’ to shine. As real as subjugation and manipulation of others is, it is a very dependent relationship."

Why do you prefer not to have the traditional dance company?

"The process of finding unusual representations is even better when I collaborate with other dancers. Being an independent has its challenges, yes. Being mistaken for an exotic dancer, funding, rehearsal space….it’s all frustrating. But, it’s very liberating. I did have a company in Atlanta from 1989-94. A wonderful experience! But what independent work gives me is room to collaborate freely with poets and puppeteers and visual artists. Most importantly, it get me out of the mindset that I have to have a program ready for performance every fall and spring. Right now, I get to find the most interesting people to work with and we develop the work on our own timeline and we perform it when we feel its ready. There’s virtually no security in this. But there is also no limitation and no rush to throw things together that haven’t evolved into anything substantial. I have a fabulous circle of friends that I’ve been fortunate to be working with some for 3 years-some for 10 years. We are loosely a "project-based company" grouping and regrouping, depending on the nature of the work. What is wonderful, is that when it’s time to show a work…whether it's a work in progress (studio performance) or a finished piece, feel like I’m on to something, that the power of saying it through my art will reach people in a new way."

Notes

Cherie Carson has is a contemporary choreographer, dancer, improviser, teacher, interdisciplinary artist and Director of UpSwing Performance Company. The focus of her creative approach is on reinvesting dance with meaning, particularly when exploration exceeds the boundaries of dance. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, her work has been presented throughout the US, Scotland, China and twice on the PBS mini-series Razor’s Edge Cafe. She has received numerous grants and fellowships from such entities as the NEA/Rockefeller New Forms Regional Initiative Grant, Georgia Council for the Arts, Puffin Foundation, LTD., Zellerbach Family Foundation, City of Oakland, CA$H Grant, Hambidge Arts Center, Atlantic Center for the Arts and the State of Florida's 1997-98 Individual Artist Interdisciplinary Fellow. She co-founded and co-directed (for 6 years) a contemporary dance company in Atlanta, Chappstick & The Cars, which has presented a large body of her work as a single choreographer as well as a choreographer in collaboration with others. In 1992, Cherie began to incorporate video into her dance form. The Water Dreams video, a finalist for the Robert Bennett Award, was screened at the American Film and Video Festival in LA. Cherie's choreography can be seen in the repertory of many individual artists as well as contemporary companies like Room to Move Dance, Dance Force and Moving in the Spirit Dance Company (Atlanta, GA). 2011 Cherie will introduce her new company UpSwing Performance Company.