Mal Mead | CurtainConnect

What do you want people to know or understand about your creative work?

It's never to late to start dancing, and it's always too soon to stop!

Where and how did you receive your training, formal or informal?

My training began when I was 64 years old. I was recruited out of a Zumba class to join an American folk dance performing group. I had no background in any folk dance, or in couples dancing, so it took a couple of years of weekly rehearsals to gain proficiency in multiple styles of dance.

How did your training shape the way you think about the body or movement?

The two most important lessons were (a) learning how to move with other dancers in a fixed environment (the stage) by developing spatial awareness, and (b) understanding that dance is a performance and you have to engage with your fellow performers and the audience

How did teaching or research become part of your practice?

In folk dance you're telling the story of a particular time and place in history, in my case American history. While folk dancing is not a literal retelling of the American experience, it should be faithful to the period in attitude, costume, music and spirit, allowing for some flourishes because after all, you are creating entertainment, not a re-enactment.