The Independent Thinker, Liz Lerman
Liz is a choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, and speaker. For the past forty years, she has infused her artistic exploration with a personal touch, humor, intellectual vibrancy, and a contemporary edge. Her choreography has delved into a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from her experiences as a go-go dancer to an exploration of the intricacies of choreography and connections with community. Today, she shares with us insights into what ignited her love for dancing and reflects on the abundant influences that have affected both her life and artistic career. She talks about the importance and complexities of our feelings and how she rode the wild waves of her 20s to discover, for herself, what dance could mean for her. We hear about the impact of her mother’s life and death on her stubbornness to figure life out for herself, why rehearsals should always matter, and the unfolding of events that surround the founding of The Dance Exchange. She expresses and reflects on how she views herself as more of an interdisciplinary artist and her eagerness to be generous about spreading her wealth of knowledge. She then details her passion for the Critical Response Process (CRP) and how that was formed over the years. Join in as we delve into the chronicles of her life and her pursuit of understanding. Tune in now!
“One of my deep interests is the way we tell stories and what stories, and whose stories, and how they come across, and who’s listening, and all those kinds of questions.” – Liz Lerman
Key Points From This Episode:
· Liz offers insight into where she comes from and what ignited her love for dancing.
· A wild ride in her 20s: riding the waves of figuring out what dance could be for her.
· The impact of her mother’s life and death on her stubbornness to figure life out for herself.
· How working intergenerationally moved and shifted her mindset.
· The response she experienced when she started making work/performances.
· Making rehearsals matter.
· More about the founding of The Dance Exchange.
· She goes into detail about how her different works unfolded uniquely.
· Her thoughts on the nomadic life and being an ethical visitor.
· How she began to extract herself from The Dance Exchange: composting Liz.
· Reflections on how she views herself as more of an interdisciplinary artist.
· She talks about the Critical Response Process (CRP).
· Liz delves further into her current projects and pursuits.
“There is so much pain and rudeness in the world of critique and what I have come to believe is that a lot of critique is just power. And if you actually want to – change the way power is absorbed and reignited in a different way in a circle then you should use CRP” — Liz Lerman
Liz Lerman uses dance to understand and change the world. Her relentless curiosity has transformed the field of contemporary dance with subject matter including aging, genetics, history, the ethics of justice, and the origins of the universe.
More on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast
Building Community through Arts Education with Anna Pasternak and Blair Brown of Movement Exchange
Our guests today are passionate about dance, dance education, and serving communities. Join us today as we share a podcast with you featuring an interview with Anna Pasternak, the Founder of Movement Exchange, and Blair Brown, the organization's current Executive Director. During our conversation, we hear about their journeys with dance, what captivates them about the arts, and how their life paths led them to Movement Exchange. Movement Exchange is an international non-profit organization that provides accessible and sustainable dance education to youth of all ages. They share all about how it started, how it evolved, and their plans for expansion. We hear more about their university chapters and international volunteer dance exchanges and how they build leadership development, cultural awareness, and a passion for community building through arts education. To hear more about their year-round sustainable programs in underresourced communities, be sure not to miss out on today’s episode with Anna and Blair from Movement Exchange!
Key Points From This Episode:
· Anna shares her personal history and transformative journey with dance.
· She elaborates on her aspirations after high school and how getting into Harvard impacted her dance journey.
· Fly and be free; the pull to see and experience everything the world had to offer.
· Anna talks about the exciting journey of founding the Movement Exchange.
· Her biggest worry stepping down as Executive Director at Movement Exchange.
· We hear from Blair about who she is, where she’s from, and what brought her to dance!
· She elaborates on the biggest shift that altered her life as an artist: dance education.
· Meeting Anna and Movement Exchange; the second jump in her career.
· We discuss the realization of the barrier to dance, even in the USA.
· They talk about any pushback experienced with Movement Exchange (and how they counter it).
· How you can get involved in the Movement Exchange programs.
“There will be nothing in my life that will be as important or have made me as happy as running Movement Exchange.” — Anna Pasternak
Anna Pasternak founded the dance non-profit Movement Exchange in 2010 when she was 25 years old and living in Panama. She is a Fulbright Scholar, Harvard graduate, and currently supports Movement Exchange as a member of the board of directors.
“Dance is social. It’s all about community and how do we connect with that and make our communities stronger.” — Blair Brown
Blair Brown received her BA in Dance from Loyola Marymount University, her MFA in Dance from UC Irvine, and spent 10 years teaching dance in under-resourced schools and programs in California and New York before becoming the Executive Director for Movement Exchange.
Learn more about Movement Exchange!
More on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast