Creating a Technique that Honors the Individual with Susan Klein
Today’s guest Susan Klein is a true luminary, having shaped the modern dance landscape with her groundbreaking theories as creator of the renowned Klein Technique. In this episode, we explore her transformative journey as a movement pioneer, uncovering her dance background, the hurdles she overcame following a series of debilitating knee injuries, and her return to the world of movement. We discover how her experience ignited her passion for understanding the body and teaching others about movement, and how this ultimately led to the development of the Klein Technique. Susan recounts the pivotal moment she realized the limitations of imitation-based teaching and explains why she believes in nurturing individuality within dance. She opens up about her quest to safeguard her unique contributions, and why she decided to concede, despite her concern about the potential harm of her work being taught incorrectly. Join us as Susan shares her unique journey to quietly becoming one of the most valuable and influential players in the modern dance field.
Key Points From This Episode:
· Susan's dance background and training.
· Why she believes teaching through imitation to be ineffective.
· Her influences and how they shaped her journey.
· The series of knee injuries that temporarily derailed her dancing career and her return to dance, post-injury.
· How Susan’s experience ultimately led to the development of the Klein Technique.
· The importance of individuality in dance and Susan’s continued fascination with movement and teaching.
· Why she finds the widespread adoption of her work both gratifying and concerning.
· Challenges she’s faced in her dancing career and the various career paths she’s explored.
· Susan shares her plan to share her knowledge in book form.
“When I work with people, that's always exciting because their potential and what's going on in their lives or in their body is infinitely interesting.” — Susan Klein
Working and teaching in New York City, Susan Klein is the renowned creator of Klein
Technique™ and a practitioner of Worsley style 5-element acupuncture and Zero
Balancing.
More on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast
Activism, Dance, and Co-Leadership with Hope Mohr
Dance, movement, performance, and art-making can play many roles in one’s life. And how they are expressed can change shape over the course of a career. Our guest today, Hope Mohr, has woven together a life of art and activism as a choreographer, curator, and advocate. She has had a fascinating career journey, dedicating herself to both dance and activism and finding new and innovative ways to integrate the two. We talk with Hope about the inexorable pull that dance has exerted on her throughout her life and how her feminist awakening in college inspired her activism. She tells us about the leave of absence she took from studying law (on more than one occasion) to pursue unmissable dance opportunities with legends like Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown, and shares how she finally completed her law degree before founding a presenting platform called The Bridge Project. Hope goes on to describe the project’s transition to co-ownership, changing their name to Bridge Live Arts, why she chose to leave after 15 years, and what it’s been like returning to work as an independent artist after so many collaborative projects. Our conversation today covers urgent and meaningful topics, from dismantling existing power structures and redistributing power within dance to returning to yourself and learning how to listen to your inner voice as an artist. To learn more about Hope’s fascinating journey and bigger questions about dance and power, be sure to tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
· Hope’s dedication to dance and activism throughout her career.
· Learn about The Bridge Project, a presenting platform Hope started in 2010.
· How the project transitioned to a model of co-leadership and was renamed Bridge Live Arts.
· Her feminist awakening and how it led to her activism and work as a lawyer.
· The focus of Hope’s work as a choreographer: motherhood and navigating the world as someone who identifies as female.
· An overview of the curation and collaborative work Hope has done for Bridge Live Arts.
· What informed Hope’s decision to move away from Bridge Live Arts; tending to herself as an artist and making space for a more equitable distribution of power.
· Hope’s return to being an independent artist and her latest new work.
“I think I've always had a very hungry mind and a real passion for social justice work. So that has been a throughline. But dancing has always been my first love. So yeah, it's been a real calling for me. It still is.” — Hope Mohr
Hope Mohr (she/her) is an artist and advocate.
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More info links from the episode: Movers & Shapers