Dance lover that administrates doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as dancer that sings or singer that dances, but that’s what I am. As a kid in suburban New York, I was always enthralled by all things performance related, but it became clear from an early age that it was best for all if my endeavours remained within the confines of the living room. It wasn’t until I landed a part-time job at the Centre for Performing Arts while a student at Penn State University that I realised there was a semi-lucrative career to be forged in working behind the scenes in dance and theatre promotion.
In 1998, fresh from university with a BA in Journalism and Theatre Arts in hand, I found a real home as a publicist and marketeer with American Ballet Theatre in New York. I plunged right in with an eager innocence (I actually introduced myself to Twyla Tharp in the office bathrooms!) and it wasn’t long before dance became my calling card.
Though wonderfully varied, it’s amazing just how small the international dance scene is. When I moved to London, I found working first at Dance Umbrella and subsequently on the Southbank Centre’s Dance and Performance programme, to be a familiar comfort. Then, as Press Manager at The Place, I developed a real sense of the rich history of British contemporary dance and a taste for the wild and wacky unpredictability of what was often experimental choreography.
Over the past 14 years, I’ve worked on just about every dance form – from classical ballet to break dance to experimental to contemporary to classical Indian and beyond. I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside dance luminaries including Carlos Acosta, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Wendy Houstoun, Richard Alston, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Hofesh Schecter and Twyla Tharp to name a few and countless dancers and performers. I’ve promoted companies including American Ballet Theatre, Pilobolus, Ballets C de la B, Henri O’Guike and Rambert in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Washington DC, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Athens, Singapore and Shanghai. So, I’ve been around.
As a dance company that has really embraced the digital age, Candoco is a rare thing indeed. I am thrilled to be a part of the team that gets to show the world what we’re up to in all of the new and exciting ways that have now become part such an integral part of our everyday lives.