Move in Joy and Power, 9×12, mixed media on paper, 2022

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Artist Statement

In addition to art-making in the two dimensional drawing and painting format, dance has always been a huge passion and creative outlet for me since a very young age. Appreciating and experiencing nature has always been a source of healing and expression for me as well. Although these passions are cornerstones of who I am and I’m sure dance and experiences I’ve had in nature have informed my artistic practice on a subconscious level, consciously combining them in my artistic practice is a recent development inspired by my experiences and my fellow dancers’ experiences dancing in outdoor settings. In 2020, my dance class started dancing outdoors in different locations throughout the Capital Region of New York State to continue to dance safely as a group and we have been doing this ever since. At first it was a challenge but after some time we have learned to embrace it and it has had a profound effect on me and my artistic practice.

I utilize mixed media and print-making techniques to create a visual space where dance, creative movement, nature, and art-making intersect to evoke the feeling of moving as one with the elements of the outdoors. The imagery depicted is inspired by photographic references, video references, and recounted memories of adventures exploring movement in outdoor settings.

Dance Memories, 9×12, mixed media on paper, 2022

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Rebecca Zeh is an interdisciplinary artist who grew up in Saratoga Springs, NY. In 2012, she received her BFA with a concentration in drawing from Pratt Institute. She has had a passion for the arts and art-making her whole life and has exhibited her work in several art galleries and businesses throughout New York State, including The Art Center of the Capital Region, Saratoga Arts, LARAC, Albany Center Gallery, The Hallway Gallery at Second Street Studios, 344 Storefront, The Blooming Artist Gallery, Spring Street Gallery, Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts, North Country Arts Council, among others. Her work has been published in Barzakh Magazine and The Crit Zine by Symmetry Art Space and she has been featured in The Daily Gazette and 518 Profiles Magazine. In 2023 she was the recipient of an Honorary Mention Award at the Annual Expressions Juried Art Show at North Country Arts Council in Glens Falls, NY.

In addition to supporting her own artistic practice, she is passionate about curating and installing art exhibitions and helping to facilitate exhibition opportunities for other artists in her area. She is currently working at Arlene’s Artist Materials/The R Gallery as an Assistant Curator, Custom Framing Specialist, and Sales Associate in Albany, NY.

Rebecca is also a lifelong dancer. She has been taking improvisational dance classes with the same dance teacher, Lili Loveday, since she was six years old and continues to dance to this day. Her unique experiences dancing outdoors with her dance class strongly inform her artistic practice and she strives to share these experiences with others through her mixed media drawings.

She loves to travel with her husband, and visits art museums and galleries as much as possible! Her home, which is also her studio, is located in Ballston Lake, NY.

Shadow Play II, 6×11, mixed media on paper, 2022

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The post Appreciating and Experiencing Nature appeared first on Stance on Dance.

Dancers are, almost by definition, passionate about dance. Have you ever met a dancer who is not? So, it follows that most dancers have strong opinions about the field, and Stance on Dance’s recently published spring/summer 2024 print issue is full of strong opinions! I personally love a good dance polemic. It shows how invested dance artists are in making the field a better place. I am honored and pleased to publish a few critical and heartfelt voices in this issue: Bradford Chin’s cogent argument why higher education needs to make dance training more accessible, Lauren V. Coons compelling case for making academic arts programs truly interdisciplinary in scope, and Dr. Stephanie Potreck’s severe words for company directors who still elevate and subjugate dancers based on weight.

In keeping with Stance on Dance’s mission of covering dance from the perspective of underrepresented voices and access points, I’m pleased to share my interview with Margaret Grenier, director of Indigenous dance company Dancers of Damelahamid, Bonnie Eissner’s profile of Afro Latin jazz dancer and choreographer Sekou McMiller, Jill Randall’s interview with Joti Singh of Duniya Dance and Drum Company, which amplifies voices from the South Asian and African diasporas, and my interview with Helen Mason, artistic director of Propel Dance, a new all-wheelchair dance company.

Finally, dance is such a visceral experience that it often catalyzes other art. In this issue, Erica Wilson’s poetry explores position, weight, and sound, while Rebecca Zeh’s mixed media visual art showcases the exultancy of dancing outdoors. I hope the breadth of stances on dance in this issue inspires your own poem, art, piece of music, or other creative act. I like the idea of dance both being an inspiration and a response.

Whether you feel a dance rant or a poem coming on, I want to hear it! If you have a strong opinion about some aspect of the dance world, or feel drawn to draw when in the studio, do get in touch with me at emmaly@stanceondance.com. We dancers are, by many measures, a passionate people.

GET YOU COPY OF THE SPRING/SUMMER 2024 PRINT ISSUE NOW!

Illustration by Rebecca Zeh

The post The Spring/Summer 2024 Print Issue! appeared first on Stance on Dance.

Meet our director and editor:

Emmaly Wiederholt is a dance artist and arts journalist based in Albuquerque, NM. She founded Stance on Dance in 2012. Emmaly earned her MA in Arts Journalism from the University of Southern California and her BFA in Ballet and BS in Political Science from the University of Utah. She further trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and performed extensively around the Bay Area. Her first book, Beauty is Experience: Dancing 50 and Beyond, was published in 2017, and her second book, Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance, was published in 2022. Emmaly is also a master DanceAbility instructor and facilitates movement groups at the UNM Hospital adult psychiatric ward, as well as is a founding member of the dance advocacy nonprofit ABQ Dance Connect. She continues to perform throughout the Southwest.

Photo by Allen Winston

Our contributors have included:

Snowflake Arizmendi-Calvert, a performance artist and organizer in the Bay Area.

Gregory Bartning, a photographer in Portland, OR.

Liz Duran Boubion, the director of the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers in the Bay Area.

Liz Brent-Maldonado, an artist, writer, educator, and producer in San Francisco, CA.

Michelle Chaviano, a ballet dancer with Ballet North Texas.

Bradford Chin, a disabled dance artist and accessibility consultant in Chicago, IL, and San Francisco, CA.

Shebana Coelho, a writer and performer currently studying flamenco in Spain.

breana connor, an interdisciplinary artist, facilitator + healer in Albuquerque, NM.

Lauren Coons, an interdisciplinary artist, performer, healer and educator in Albuquerque, NM.

Julia Cost, a painter, textile designer, sewist, and dancer in Maui, HI.

Sophia Diehl, a dancer in New York City.

Bonnie Eissner, a writer in New York City.

Katie Flashner, a.k.a. The Girl with the Tree Tattoo, a World Champion ballroom dancer and author in ME.

Micaela Gardner, a dancer and choreographer in Baja, Mexico.

Sarah Groth, an interdisciplinary artist from Albuquerque, NM.

Cherie Hill, a dance educator and choreographer based in the Bay Area.

Lorie House, a dancer, choreographer, and lawyer in NM.

Silva Laukkanen, a dance educator and disability advocate in Austin, TX.

Mary Elizabeth Lenahan, the director of Dance Express in Fort Collins, CO.

Shannon Leypoldt, a dance artist, teacher, and sports massage therapist in Berlin.

Erin Malley, a dance artist and tango teacher based in West Michigan.

Julianna Massa, a dance artist in Albuquerque, NM.

Aiano Nakagawa, a dance artist, educator, facilitator, writer, and event producer in the Bay Area.

Jessie Nowak, a dance artist and filmmaker in Portland, OR.

Kevin O’Connor, a multidisciplinary artist in London, Ontario, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bhumi B Patel, an artist/activist based in the Bay Area.

Stephanie Potreck, a sports nutritionist and health advocate who currently resides in Germany.

Jill Randall, artistic director of Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley, CA.

Kathryn Roszak, a choreographer, filmmaker, educator, and activist in the Bay Area.

Donna Schoenherr, director of Ballet4Life and Move into Wellbeing in London, UK.

Maggie Stack, a dancer and teacher in Reno, NV.

Camille Taft, a CO front range-based mover and visual artist.

Mary Trunk, a filmmaker, choreographer, and multimedia artist in Altadena, CA.

Diana Turner-Forte, a teaching artist, healing arts coach, and writer in NC.

Ana Vrbaski, a body music practitioner in Serbia.

Nikhita Winkler, a dancer, choreographer, and teacher from Namibia who currently resides in Spain.

Erica Pisarchuk Wilson, a dance artist, visual artist and poet in Albuquerque, NM.

Rebecca Zeh, an interdisciplinary artist in Sarasota Springs, NY.

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Our board:

Snowflake Arizmendi-Calvert

Cathy Intemann

Alana Isiguen

Courtney King

Malinda LaVelle

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The post People appeared first on Stance on Dance.