The only person who needs to know who I am is me
We enter the conversation. "They call me Millie. And I have many names...." You do not know me and I do not know you. Or maybe we know each other far too well. We are full of potential. I let go of needing to be anything for you, so that I can be fully present with you. I have nothing to prove.
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First Position
I center the body. I ignite a presence that is mine. It cannot be taught, like someone’s idea of “first position,” but it can be shared through our own rituals of meaning-making. Show me the step and I live inside of it. Imagination, play and pleasure, within and through the dance of the body; I can become anything.
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Voice
I am interested in voice—how the body voices and amplifies lived, felt, human experience.
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Haunt Back
I haunt the systems that haunt me. I sing to them and make them dances. I find them hiding in my instrument and make them known. I practice being human. I listen to the experiences of people. I stay with them. I stay with the discomfort and joy of owning my story. And then...I let it go.
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Heat
Sweat, sensuality, and exhaust. I lean into the heat of this intelligence. I embrace my anger, my prejudices, my flaws, my beauty, my resilience, my passion. Imperfection is style. Power lies in this sweat, sensuality and exhaust...in my growing comfort with, passion for and commitment to humanity.
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Body
My body is my own. My mind is quiet. My heart is full. My belly is a pillow. I am reminded of the sensation of coming back to the body, that may not provide objective, concrete answers, but reminds me of the subjectivity, continuity, and fluid nature of the human experience. Of staying in the unknown until shifting into something else.
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kNOwledge
Slow down. Be still. It’s totally cool if you don’t want to dance.
Voice/Storytelling
I welcome you to bring all your baggage into the space, using it as fuel to engage with your discipline. The discipline is story-telling. I welcome you to tell a story you connect with—to share your voice in every form it may take—inside the given container of “dance.” Finding and revealing multiple layers of voice, the story emerges in clearer view.
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improvisation/Play
How do you let go of control while staying within the boundaries of the dancing container? Parameters inspire creativity. To find the space between the notes you must first learn the notes. To find how much space exists between notes you must have a discipline of play, of letting go, of turning off the mind and giving into impulsive spontaneity, risk, failure, and surprise…How to uncover what you do not know you do not know…Connecting to your present moment with a refusal to take yourself seriously.
Pleasure—Sensuality
Let yourself connect to pleasure. Take the time required to fulfill a moment. Engage with your entire instrument, choosing when to leave what behind. Practice following desire and bathing in subtlety. Find the meaning within the details.
Friction—Repeptition
Push up against something. Continue pushing to expose, to peel, to bleed, to exhaust, to let go, to forfeit, to collapse, to disengage, to wake up, to confront, to rise, to heal, to mend, to continue pushing. Be dangerous in your pursuit to expose your inner truth.
Conviction of Self — Vulnerability
You are experiencing something in front of an audience; you are dealing with something in the present-moment, in real-time. The choreography serves as a container for your movement, but how you execute that movement and how you exist within the container depends on your availability to connect to something worth sharing—to connect to yourself.