by Cherie Hill, HMD’s Director of Art in Community
The Bridge Project’s Power Shift: Improvisation, Activism, and Community Festival focused on artists of color working in improvisation. A subject that is not explored and funded enough. In my dance experience, the majority occurring within academic institutions and private studios, improvisation was not offered as a course or a foundational dance form except when I attended graduate school. In dance theory classes such as Dance History, lessons about improvisation focused on the Judson Church era and primarily white dance artists. We touched on the Harlem Renaissance and swing dance, and later Butoh, but these forms were not directly categorized as improvisation. So to co-curate this festival felt uncanny and welcomed.
I write this standing on one leg.
I view improvisation as a connection to the divine. When I’m moving freely yet directed, I am in touch with the subconscious. I recall during Power Shift’s Daily Improvisation Practice with Sherwood Chen, one of the scores included rain, smoke, incense, and wet newspaper. As I danced it in my own time and space, I forgot about the zoom screen, and after a while, I felt utterly submerged, my senses acute and body moving in the direction of its own. I was present in my environment while simultaneously not.
I write after inhaling a mix of citrus, pine, & diesel.
Before receiving an MFA degree in dance, I had never taken an improvisational course. I felt called to improvisation, though, and I opened myself up to and sought experiences. One of my first was working with Onye Ozuzu. Her first piece I danced in, Tall is Her Body, required everyone to tap into shared energy. We were all parts of “Her” body and worked together to make “Her” physical. I describe it as coming out of your own body to share in bodies with others. It was playful. (Onye was scheduled to teach a “Space Carcasses” workshop for Power Shift, but this was postponed for 2021).
I viewed this type of play swivel between person and screen during PURPLE is, a Power Shift performance with Judith Sánchez Ruíz and sam wentz. The background of one body on-screen was larger than life while the other advanced and retreated, changing their size and distance in comparison with the live projection. My curiosity peaked, not knowing when they would switch, come back, or end.
While dancing around in my small bedroom and conjuring images and memories of my friend and teacher Kathleen, who recently transitioned, I write.
Kathleen Hermesdorf and Albert Mathias were two of my first improvisation teachers. I had taken a couple of workshops from them while a student at UC Berkeley, and then they were guest artists during my graduate studies at CU Boulder.
During their residency, I soaked them up like a dry sponge in need of freshwater. I took all the classes; I performed in their piece. I hung out with them around town. I admired Kathleen for her power, edginess, mastering of elements and improvisation, and her phrase work. Albert’s music took me to other places. The unification of music and dance is a special treat, especially within improvisation. There are so many elements to explore. I continued to explore this after graduation while taking Kathleen and Albert’s classes in San Francisco.
I write this because I said I would.
During the planning phases of Power Shift, co-directors Hope Mohr, Karla Quintero, and I indulged in many conversations regarding improvisation, power, and freedom as we created the festival theme and searched for a title. Improvisation and freedom are words often joined but seldom explained. What is freedom? Who is free? Is freedom the point of improv?
As I think about improvisation and freedom, a poignant moment that comes to mind is an experience I had during Anna Halprin’s workshop at the Esalen Institute. For a week, I ate excellent vegan food, soaked in natural hot springs, meditated in the Jedi dome above a creek, and learned about my body, emotions, and movements. One day I took to improvising on the rocks, and I stripped my clothes for the ocean. I imagine this is a type of freedom.
I write because I hear a whisper in my ear that I should.
What is your Kuleana? During Power Shift’s last workshop, “The Keystone of the Arch: Embodied 100 Years Vision'' with Yalini Dream and Tammy Johnson, they introduced us to Kuleana, your sacred responsibility. I continue to meditate on my Kuleana and the power involved in integrating dance, vision, and liberation. Together, we connected our goals for societal change with movement.
I write because my experience matters.
Through my choreography, I’ve identified my Kuleana to be sharing the black female experience. At HMD, I help support underrepresented artists’ voices and talents, especially those of color. Power Shift provided a rare opportunity to learn from and discover the teachings and work of Black, Latinx, Asian, Queer, and Social Justice artists working in improvisation. We slingshot forward to evolve and connect with that which is sacred and integral through our presentation of these artists. We continue our work as we envision an equitable world.
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You can read and see more about Power Shift through the festival’s virtual exhibit, a collection of interviews, essays, visual art, and resources that offers pathways into the art, practices, and perspectives of Black/African American, Latinx/Latin American, Asian American, female-identifying and queer improvisers and social justice activists.
CHERIE HILL co-directs The Bridge Project with Hope Mohr and Karla Quintero. She is HMD’s Director of Art in Community. Hill is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and scholar, whose art explores human expression and how it is conveyed through the body in collaboration with nature, music, and visual imagery. A lover of dance research, Cherie has published essays in Gender Forum, The Sacred Dance Journal, Dance Education in Practice, and In Dance, and is the creator of the Sacred Dance Guild's blog, "Sacred Dance Trends." She has presented at multiple conferences, including the International Conference on Arts and Humanities, the Black Dance Conference, and the National Dance Education Organization Conference. With her dance company, IrieDance, Cherie has held artist residencies with Footloose Productions, Milk Bar Richmond, and CounterPulse's Performing Diaspora Residency Program. As a performer, she has worked with Bay Area Repertory Dance, Makomba West African Drum & Dance, David Dorfman, Kiandanda Dance, & Helander Dance Theater.
Cherie received her BA in Dance and Performance Studies and African American Studies from UC Berkeley, where she focused her research on dance and Black female identity. With support from the McNair and Haas scholars programs, she spent a summer in New York City conducting research and visits with the Urban Bush Women Company. Upon graduation, the Stronach Baccaularette Prize awarded Cherie funds for research on dance and ancestry in Jamaica. She continued her pursuit of dance and research as a graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she focused on cultural studies studying West African dance, earning an MFA in Dance Choreography and Performance with graduate certificates in somatics and women and gender studies. Cherie is Co-President of the CA Dance Education Association and a former Dance Teaching Artist and Director of Community & Culture at Luna Dance Institute.