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Being an artist means forever healing your own wounds and at the same time endlessly exposing them. ”
It was always a dream of mine to teach in the city. I am proud to announce that my dream will be coming true not just once, but TWICE a week! Beginning this week, I will be teaching 2 classes in the city every week. Join me on Tuesdays at Brickhouse NYC 4-5:30pm, and then in Thursdays at Peridance 7-8:30pm!
See you in class!
This is my class from a few weeks ago. I am so thankful to have a home here at Brickhouse NYC to explore and do what I do. 🙌🏼💛 • Also, these dancers killed it. (Natalie, Quinn, Michelle, Lauryn, and Dana!)
This piece is inspired by a recurring nightmare I had during my chemotherapy years ago. It went like this-- I was up at bat playing a game of baseball, and the ball machine thing would spit baseballs out at me one at a time. Then, it would shoot the balls out faster and faster and faster. I had no time to recover, prepare, reset, think... I was trying to stand up, but I kept falling over, just getting smacked, slammed and bruised all over my body. We can all relate to not keeping up, whether it be work, our career, our family, our health... well, that's what this piece it about. How we handle times of intense distress and chaos in our lives....
Illness is not something to feel ashamed of. It is not a sign of misfortune or defeat. Suffering is the fuel of wisdom, and it opens the way to happiness. Through illness, human beings can gain insight into the meaning of life, understand its value and dignity, and strive to lead more fulfilling lives.
Let me begin to tell you how last minute this was. Jon and I were both tentatively free on a Wednesday. We were going back and forth for about a week, looking at our schedules, debating as to whether or not it would even be feasible to rehearse, stage, and film something all in the same day. Tuesday night came sooner than expected, and we worked to connect the dots, booking the amazing Kyle Breen for videography, using studio space in NJ (because our gym in Astoria sadly closed down), and booking space in the beautiful Alchemical.
12:30pm | Jon and I started rehearsing. Both of us had already forgotten the first step. I remember giving Jon an "uh oh" look and thinking to myself... I cannot believe we are going to be filming this tonight.
3:30pm | Rehearsal in NJ finished, we drove back to New York.
5:45pm | Grabbed food. Looked at our clothes and picked out what we wanted to wear for the shoot.
6:15pm | On the subway, where Jon always be instagram-story-ing...
Jon, Kyle, and I at the end of the shoot!
7:00pm | Arrived at the venue to find that there was GIGANTIC water leak in the space. -_- The wood panels on the floor were lifted up and bending all sorts of crazy ways... so we had to then reblock and adjust the movement to fit diagonally and in the corner in the room. Lucky for us, there were these mirrors in the space we could use, so we arranged them to form a wall with actually ended up looking INSANELY beautiful.
8:45pm | We experimented with freestyling at the end. FYI - we did NOT talk out or plan where to go or what to do. It was a "Press Play & Go!!" type of situation.
9:00pm | That's a wrap!
It was a day full of experimenting, adjusting, professionalism, making it work, thinking on our toes, exercising grit, and sharing our magic. Shout out to Broken Luxury for creating such beautiful music to dance to. Thank you, Jon, for trusting in me. Thank you, Kyle, for going with the flow and capturing the magic! And lastly, thank YOU for reading all of this nonsense and for watching! I hope you enjoy our creation. Share share share!
