My connection to dance is rooted in long-term engagement with contemporary performance, mediated movement, and dance archiving, working at the intersection of artistic practice, technology, and institutional support. My work centers on creating systems, tools, and documentation frameworks that expand access to dance histories, foreground artists’ voices, and support how dance is made, viewed, and remembered across generations.
This piece by Michael Uthoff, restaged with Kent State University dancers, is one of the most lively and joyful experiences of fluid movement I've had the privilege of photographing in a while. I love this image because there is fabric and bodies moving in all directions at once in every corner of the image, and really recalls all of the bounce and flow of the performance.
My journey in dance began as a way to help strengthen my legs for walking and balance as a young child, but has strengthened body, mind, and soul across my lifetime.
The communities at Ohio State University and ACCAD provided access to extraordinary knowledge and a network of collaborators that deeply shaped my work. My colleagues and mentors at OhioDance, Jane D’Angelo and Dr. Candace Feck, placed trust in me as a collaborator and, crucially, supported my ability to develop and pursue my research interests.
My work is driven by questions about how artistic knowledge, legacy, and community memory are documented and shared. In dance and performing arts—fields built on ephemeral practice—I explore how archives, digital platforms, and storytelling can preserve artists’ contributions while strengthening networks across generations and institutions, and expanding access to the field’s collective history.
My work is guided by a commitment to the common good through public experience and public education. I value creating opportunities for people to encounter art, knowledge, and one another in meaningful ways. At the center of this is a sincere belief in joy—not as something superficial, but as a generative force that can foster curiosity, connection, and a sense of shared possibility.
Danse Macabre is a 3D animated motion capture dance film. Inspired by the music, a 1940s recording of Franz Liszt's Totentanz, courtesy of the National Library of France, this film explores hubris and irony through the escapist dream of the protagonist. Nodding stylistically to the late-medieval genre of Danse Macabre, the protagonist learns they cannot escape their boney mortal body for long and no matter how far their flight of fancy takes them, they've always been running directly into the hand of death. Although the film itself is a virtual world, it owes it generation to the ephemeral physical labor of the corporeal; the character motion and camera motion are choreographed and performed by a dancing body. This film was made in partnership with The International Video Dance Festival of Burgundy. Danse Macabre premiered May 2016 at the Festival International de Video Danse de Bourgogne in Le Cruesot, France, it has been screened at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC, Bucharest International Dance Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania, Salamanca Moves Festival in Tazmania, Australia, TanzKino Screendance Series, the State Theater of Freiburg, Germany, Artistic Movement Platform, Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania, Filmul de Piatra Festival, Piatra Neamt, Romania, DigiEye Showcase, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH, Festival Internacional de Cine de Pehuajo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Festival Buenos Aires Danze Contemporanea, Buenos Aires, Argentina , SCREAMDANCE Film Festival in Brooklyn, NY, Columbus Moving Image Art Review, and Independents' Day Festival in Columbus, OH.
Working and learning at OSU's MotionLab (joint lab/performance space between ACCAD and Dance) kindled my technical abilities and confidence to pursue interactive and experiential media professionally.
My wfh office mates are excellent colleagues!
