According to a recent article published in Dance Magazine, data analysis compiled by the Occupational Information Network shows that being a dancer is the most physically demanding job in the US. Rankings were determined by indexed scores in four categories: strength, stamina, flexibility and coordination. But talk to any dancer, and they will surely tell you that dance (especially as a career) requires so much more than physical abilities. Performing dance asks the dancer to be expressive, vulnerable and often requires acting or theatrical skills. Choreographers are in a near constant state of creating and editing; while setting work on dancers or companies, these dance makers must also provide leadership and inspiration to their artists. Take a look at the role of an artistic director, and you will soon realize the amount of organization, communication and administrative skills required in addition to the ability to provide the right artistic avenues and opportunities for their dancers.
Now imagine for a moment that you are all of those things at once: dancer, choreographer and artistic director. Such a vast array of skills are needed to encompass all three of these roles, and believe it or not, there are professionals in the world of dance who choose to do all three. One such individual is Emily Loar of Project Bound Dance, who has taken on and flourished in each of the roles she simultaneously inhabits. Evidence of this success will soon hit the stage at Chicago’s Links Hall, February 28-March 1 as Project Bound Dance and independent dance artist Emma Draves present The Nearest Place. The program includes a self-choreographed solo by Loar, the premiere of a duet created by Loar and a solo originally created for Loar by fellow Bound artistic director Ashley Deran to be performed by Rachel Molinaro. In addition, Emma Draves will be presenting two works: one self-choreographed solo and the premiere of a trio, accompanied by live music.
DancerMusic Editor Kristi Licera recently caught up with Bound’s Emily Loar to learn more about the challenges and triumphs of her many roles with the company, as well as learn more about Bound’s decision to partner with Emma Draves for this split bill performance. Here’s what Emily told us:
_____________________________________
…it’s been incredibly validating to know I can wear all these hats: directing, creating, performing. With “The Nearest Place,” I’m really excited for the opportunity to have them all represented in a single evening.
Kristi Licera: Being an artist, especially one whose focus is dance, requires such a vast array of skills. In addition to having an expressive body and creative mind, being a dancer often requires organizational, leadership and other administrative skills. In Bound’s upcoming performance of The Nearest Place, you will be calling upon your diverse skills as a dancer, leader and choreographer. Can you tell us more about the process of inhabiting all these roles in a single performance? How does your experience vary from choreographing and performing your solo, to choreographing a duet, to executing your role as co-artistic director?
Emily Loar: I think the most interesting thing about the three works being presented by Bound in this upcoming performance is that they do seem to span the various roles in my career thus far.
“Excerpt 1” is a solo originally crafted for me specifically by Ashley Deran (my co-artistic director) and Bound’s previous co-artistic director, Ericka Vaughn Byrne. I reset this work on company dancer Rachel Molinaro in 2018; it was one of my first opportunities to really tackle the challenge of directing, specifically when it comes to leading another dancer in adopting both my movement idiosyncrasies and cadence of storytelling.
It can be a challenge for me to be on the outside of the creative process like this… It can take a lot of time for this kind of trial and error approach.
When I stepped up as the AD of Bound, Ashley and I both felt strongly that I should present some of the work that I was creating as an independent artist alongside the work we were developing together. “A theory on staying” is a solo project that I began crafting in 2016. It allowed me to focus on my performance abilities while also developing a process of making work. In this case, the process included isolating myself in a studio to improvise over several months and editing the extensive streams of consciousness and fragmented journal entries I’d written into a single text. I’d later record this and layer the spoken word over the completed improvisational score.
My new work, “I don’t know how to make this matter,” is something entirely new and exciting for a few reasons. It’s the first time since Ashley and I began our collaboration that we’ve had the opportunity to trade roles completely; she is on the inside of a work performing instead of directing and editing. We’ve spent the last couple of years workshopping this partnership by developing group work, and now I feel like we have built an understanding of each other deep enough to articulate our feelings and levels of comfortability smoothly.
It can be a challenge for me to be on the outside of the creative process like this. I feel Ashley really has an eye for craft and the structure of a dance, while I like to throw a lot of material out there with the hope that something sticks. It can take a lot of time for this kind of trial and error approach. Both Ashley and Kathryn Hetrick – her partner in this duet – are expansive, dynamic movers, so there’s been a lot of trust in them to help devise the work. That being said, it’s been incredibly validating to know I can wear all these hats: directing, creating, performing. With The Nearest Place, I’m really excited for the opportunity to have them all represented in a single evening.
When I watch Emma’s work, I get a sense of more inward reflections, and I really value her ability to draw the viewer into these quiet spaces in a really spectacular way.
Kristi: The upcoming performance of The Nearest Place is a split bill performance that will feature Project Bound with Emma Draves. Can you give us some insight to how you connected with Emma, as well as the works that she will be presenting? What made Emma a great partner for this particular performance?
Emily: I met Emma in 2013 during my time at Columbia College Chicago, where she workshopped Bharatanatyam techniques with me while preparing a piece for Parijat Desai Dance Company. More recently, I was able to see an excerpt of her latest work “The Quiet Hours.” This work was full of nuance, intricacies, emotive landscapes, and was just really rich. I was so excited to find strong, dynamic work with so much depth, so you can imagine I was absolutely thrilled when I ran into her at a performance and she mentioned her interest in producing a concert alongside Ashley and me.
The themes we’ve seen from Emma are not unlike those Ashley and I have been exploring over the last few years, and Ashley and I both appreciate the way Emma is skilled at sorting through difficult concepts and emotional experiences. Ashley, Emma, and I all felt like the themes we had been focusing on shared similar threads, with a particular interest in the human experience and how, as individuals, we navigate notions of social identity.
Emma not only has a wealth of experience producing work, but she’s got a clear artistic vision that Ashley and I have enjoyed discussing and relating to and that, most of all, has made her a perfect collaborator in producing this weekend.
When I watch Emma’s work, I get a sense of more inward reflections, and I really value her ability to draw the viewer into these quiet spaces in a really spectacular way. Ashley and I tend to reflect outward, hoping to bridge the audience gap with the addition of humor and easily recognized metaphors. As a group, we hope to provide a refuge from Chicago’s harsh winter with a series of intimate duets, trios, and solos while taking advantage of Links Hall’s malleable audience arrangement for a closer viewing experience. The Nearest Place comes from the idea that during prolonged intolerable weather, we all look to the nearest place – our nearest bar, our nearest friends, the nearest place to rest and be warm.
The work Emma is presenting will be performed by most of the same dancers she utilized for “The Quiet Hours”, including Andy Slavin and Chloe Grace Michaels who are both rich, collaborative dance makers themselves. Among other things, you can expect lengthy, intricate modern phrase work. Thematically, the two works she’ll be presenting center around ways in which we comprehend mortality and gratitude, with the aid of Nine Worlds Ensemble musicians Thor Bremmer and Stephanie Young. We’ve chosen to share this evening by presenting work from both groups, so everyone’s voice gets to be heard fully.
Emma not only has a wealth of experience producing work, but she’s got a clear artistic vision that Ashley and I have enjoyed discussing and relating to and that, most of all, has made her a perfect collaborator in producing this weekend.
_____________________________________
Project Bound Dance and Emma Draves present The Nearest Place Friday, February 28 through Sunday, March 1, 2020. All performances begin 7:30PM at Links Hall (3111 N Western Ave, Chicago). For tickets, visit eventbrite.com/linkshall.
To learn more about Project Bound Dance (including information on company class), visit projectbounddance.org.
For information on Emma Draves, visit emmadraves.com.
_____________________________________
