Jump on the DanceWagon: Four Emerging Women Choreographers

Written with Ellen Dobbyn-Blackmore

The second annual Jump on the DanceWagon (J/DW) Festival is a showcase that is all about women choreographers from around the New York-New Jersey area. These four women are part of the forefront of new contemporary dance choreography and they are looking for an opportunity to get their work out in front of the public. The women in this year's festival are Alyson Laury, Marianne Delehanty, Megan Lynn, and Frances Lai Baca. The showcase is being presented on April 26, 27 and 28 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater (For TICKETS LINK, or Call (212) 405-9000 for more information).

The J/DW Festival is the creation of founder Ellen Stokes Shadle who says, "There are so many obstacles for choreographers to overcome, e.g., space rental, costs of dancers, scheduling, etc., J/DW seeks to ease these parameters and embraces the creative process completely." This is the kind of support that young choreographers need to be able to get their work seen and establish themselves. In a conversation recently, the four young choreographers spoke about their work and their participation in the J/DW Festival.

Frances Lai Baca, photo by Jaqi Medlock

Frances Lai Baca - Lai Baca Dance VIDEO LINK

Her dance: A Grievance and Escape Velocity

Her obstacles: I just moved into the city. I find it hard because there are so many choreographers and so many festivals. I'm fairly new at this so it's hard to get anyone to stop and see my work. They don't k now who you are, they don't know your work... I haven't noticed any difference between men and women because in the younger set there are so many more women now.

Narrative in her work: The dancers I've been working with for the past year are all friends of mine and in the process have become a community by becoming friends with each other. That's part of my work. If I've learned one thing, it's that if you try and make something work, sometimes you work too hard at it and it completely goes in the opposite direction from what you intended.

Her influences: I like everybody's repertory for different reasons. I studied a lot of Paul Taylor and I really like the way that it flows together and everyone moves like they're one piece. I love the drama of Martha Graham and how the movement has a direct connection to the emotions. I also like quirky movements like people do in everyday life. I try to incorporate all of them.

Aspirations for this J/DW Festival: My hope for the showcase is to get my feet wet, expand my fan base. I think it's going to be really rewarding for all four of us to see each other's work

Pressing needs: Removing myself personally from the equation I'm going to say that the arts in general, and dancers in particular, need respect and support from everybody. We're not given the space, time or funding that we and other artists need to do our work.

Alison Laury, photo by Patrick Linberg

Alyson Laury - Alyson Laury Dance VIDEO LINK

Her dance: Static Electricity

Her dance is about movement: I would say that I choreograph movement for the sake of movement. I don't really have big stories behind them. I'm into the physicality of dancers. I have a concept behind what I'm doing but it's using the anatomy, fairly abstract.

Obstacles she faces: I think women face a little bit more of an obstacle but it is changing. Men are more respected in the business world. There are so many choreographers in New York but is does seem that when men choreograph that other people jump to see what they're doing. They're continuing the lineage that people expect to see.

Aspirations for this J/DW Festival: I'm excited because I'm working with some new dancers. I hope to get some feedback and recognition because I just moved to New York from Pittsburgh back in September. I'm still kind of new to the area. I'm also excited to see everyone's work because we've been talking.

Pressing needs: Mine is definitely funding right now. I've had a lot of opportunities to show off my dancers and showcase our work. Funding will help us get established and I am trying to get a 501 (non-profit) set up.

Megan Lynn, Photo courtesy of Asterial Dance Co.

Megan Lynn - Asterial Dance Company VIDEO LINK

Her dance: Like Shifting Shadows.

What her dance is about: Mine is an abstract story so I took emotions and I'm portraying them using lamps as lighting and also lamps as a prop. Each of my dancers portrays a particular kind of character who expresses an emotion. I didn't perform professionally as a ballet dancer so I stress the understanding that, even though I've done a lot of ballet, I don't use it as my voice. My dancing is very leggy; I still want pretty lines and I want dresses on women. I see myself using the lines of ballet but I'm a contemporary, grounded and flowy mover.

Aspirations for this J/DW Festival: I started my dance company less than a year ago and we've been performing mostly in studio spaces. I'm really excited to see my work on stage under lights with an audience to see where it goes. I want that experience for my dancers too. I'm interested in doing more outreach, working with preschoolers and elementary aged students and doing more master classes and residencies with our company. Hopefully by performing in a larger venue that has some press with it we can further ourselves with that.

Pressing needs: I don't want to say money, but... I've been learning how important money is to keep sustaining. But mostly what I need (and what my dancers need) is motivation to keep moving forward and pursuing the next step in this career despite what anyone tells me about not having money to do this. It takes a leap of faith to stay motivated and know that I will figure it out as we go along. The same thing goes for my dancers and supporters.

Marianne Delehanty, photo by Amanda Westcott

Marianne Delehanty - MarDel Dance VIDEO LINK

Her dance: Avarice

Obstacles she faces: I find it hard coming from north Jersey. It's really difficult because there are fewer opportunities in general. If you find anything in Jersey it's usually in South Jersey and too far to travel. When you find dancers then they have to be willing to travel into the city.

On being a female choreographer: I think it's beneficial being a woman because you're able to express yourself in a way that other women who aren't in the arts can understand and it's rewarding to do that for other women.

Her dance is about avarice: I recently purchased a home and realized that I have no money and apparently that's what the world runs on. I feel like people get caught up in this idea of "must have money... must have money" and I forgot for a while why I was buying a home. I was buying a home to be with my future husband and to start a family. Money makes you forget about real life. My piece is approaching avarice through one person's life. It starts out with a monologue in which he'll talk about what you're going to see. Then it goes into the dancing -monotonous, melancholy, busy work-life - and then it goes into how he's all of a sudden obsessed with money and it has become seductive to him. At the end he realizes that it's a dream and that you don't need money to acquire these wants and needs and things that you need in your life. He breaks out at the end and he has a party and enjoys life the way that it should be enjoyed.

On narrative in her work: I like to tell stories and I like for everyone be able to understand them. For example, my grandfather hated coming to any of my college performances because he couldn't get it. It was too modern and out there for him. He'd rather watch tap dancing. I said to myself that when I graduated that if my grandfather can understand what I'm putting on stage then I have succeeded. Then I'm opening it up to all kinds of people, not just the dance world. I love telling stories and I think dance is the perfect way.

Aspirations for this J/DW Festival: I'm hoping that the showcase will give all of us a chance to bring together people that ordinarily would not get to meet. I have a certain fan base and so do all the others. By bringing them all together we get to quadruple the number of people that we're reaching. So, I'm hoping to get more friends to come see us and we'll go see them.

Pressing needs: I need a vacation! No, I think that what my company really needs is support. I don't want to say money although everyone needs it but if people support you then they'll give you money. We need support from people who aren't just in our little neighborhood to help us grow.

Jump on the DanceWagon is an important event that supports the work of young women choreographers who aren't associated with big dance companies. In order to be able to compete with men who get more opportunities they need a few more events like this that give them a chance to showcase their work in high quality venues like the Ailey Citigroup Theater. Dance depends heavily on a high quality setting to be best appreciated