Dancer's Survival Handbook

Sara Torres is a full-time lighting designer and stage manager. I first met her while working for Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF), but Sara has worked at nearly every theater in Seattle. Originally, she did not set out to be a stage manager until she began lighting for SIDF and had to learn a lot of skills very quickly. The primary job of a stage manager is to keep track of all the moving parts in a performance. This includes light and sound cues, moving set pieces, transitions, and scheduling performers to run through tech rehearsal. Sara discusses the differences between lighting for theater and dane: theater is more cerebral and text-based, while lighting for dance comes from emotion and intention. Theater requires more face light because it is difficult to hear someone when you can't see their mouth move, whereas dance requires lighting the entire body. In both genres, the top priority in lighting is to suit the mood of the piece and serve the director or choreographer's vision. On that note,

Nikki Naab-Levy is a massage therapist, fitness educator, and pilates teacher. Nikki's philosophy is very different from the rest of the fitness industry, which preaches "No pain, no gain!" (She calls it the "yelly, screamy side of fitness.") Instead, Nikki believes that your fitness routine should be supportive of the activities and sports that you love and that it doesn't have to hurt. A lot of athletes, including dancers wear their injuries like a badge of honor and power through. Nikki gives the analogy of the fire alarm in her house: the battery is low and it keeps beeping. It drives her crazy, but instead of changing the battery, she just closes the door so she can't hear it. Not good if the house catches on fire! It's the same thing with our bodies- when we ignore the small pains, it can add up until suddenly the house burns down. Some of the most common injuries for dancers come from the need for mobility. Nikki points out that we can take a lot of different pathways to achieve a certain shape or move

  Xaviera Vandermay is the Artistic Director of 3rd Shift Dance in Seattle. Her company started when she lived in Chicago and got involved with Links Hall. When she had her child, her focus shifted to being a mom and the only time she could practice her dancing was between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. To this day, 3rd Shift Dance rehearses in the middle of the night. As a young dancer, Xaviera trained at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and Washington Academy of Performing Arts- two very different programs! The dichotomy between the two schools helped mold her unique style as a teacher. What prompted Xaviera to go from dancer/ teacher to choreographer? She was teaching at Studio1 in Woodinville, WA, and the director allowed Xaviera to establish a student company, which she called L.O.A. (Levels of Aggression.) As a brand new company, she managed to sell out the first run of shows! She really enjoyed choreographing but ended up moving to Chicago, away from her studio. After having her son, she wanted to go back to c

We all know that dance is good for us mentally as well as physically. There have been all kinds of studies about how movement improves brain power and can even make you smarter. But Gabriela Condrea has taken this to a whole new level with her practice by using tango to help victims of stroke and other traumatic brain injuries. By focusing on the connection element of partner dancing, and with the help of medical professionals, she has helped a lot of people. Her technique, TangoStride, specifically for people with mobility challenges. Currently, she works primarily, but not exclusively, with stroke survivors. Her connection-centered method of teaching allows for focus on things like balance and motor skills. Her book, When 1+1=1, started out as a collection of poems, stories, and musings about traveling and connecting tango with life lessons. She put these writings into her book, When 1+1=1, which she used as a means to travel the world! It's not just dancers who have been affected by reading When 1+1=1. It

Lauren Hlubny is a bi-contintental director/choreographer whose work is a fascinating blend of dance, theater, and site-specific work. Lauren bounces back and forth between New York, Seattle, and Paris, and other major cities creating performance pieces for museums and theaters, including the Birmingham Museum of Art. Lauren enjoys "growing" dancers with strict backgrounds into fuller performers. Her current project, Sans, is her first nude piece. It is the same cast as a previous piece she produced called This is Not a Table for Three, which was a conversation between a dancer, and actor, and a cellist. We share our stories about long-distance collaborating. Lauren talks about the pros and cons of using Skype to communicate with your collaborators, and how the dance community is embracing technology. One of the many barriers to self-producing performances is finding affordable rehearsal space. How does Lauren handle that? One way is procuring free or discounted space. She has also rehearsed in some

Shura Baryshnikov and I met at Seattle International Dance Festival last summer and I was so excited (albeit nervous) when she agreed to be on the show! Shura is a classically trained dancer and actor. Not wanting to put a label on herself as a specific kind of artist, she went into various desk jobs but soon realized that she was not happy sitting behind a desk. Her company, Doppelganger Dance Collective, is still fairly new. She met her collaborator, Danielle Davidson, in a technique class. They hit immediately hit off and decided to make a dance together. Their project snowballed and turned into Doppelganger Dance Collective was born. Although Danielle and Shura have different backgrounds, their trainings compliment each other. Shura is a Viewpoints practitioner and is more focused on improvisation, while Danielle has a more classical style. They are both co-directors of Doppelganger and make all the company decisions together. Two artists with different ideas and opinions running a company together can so

Clayton Weller has an extensive background in performing and producing improv and sketch comedy. He developed the model for The Pocket Theater in Seattle, a rehearsal and performance venue that offers artists the opportunity to present their shows for FREE!!! In Episode 01, I chat with Clayton about why this model works. He also gives some practical advice for aspiring performers and producers. After seeing hundreds- maybe thousands- of independent shows, he knows what works. Learn more about The Pocket at: www.thepocket.org  

  Episode 00 is the introduction to Dancer's Survival Handbook Podcast! My good friend and colleague, Doc Kennedy, interviews me about why I'm starting this podcast and my hopes and dreams for its future. Doc Kennedy is the creator of Filmmaker's Focus Podcast. To learn more about all the cool stuff he is doing, check out www.filmmakersfocus.com