Good news everyone! Geeksdanz is proud to welcome its newest member, Ella Mason! Check out our interview with her below!

GD: How did you get into dancing?
EM: When I was 9 I saw my older brother perform in our high school’s musical. I asked my mom for musical theater classes. The acting and voice lessons at the local studio were the same night as Hebrew school so instead I got signed up for ballet and tap. I ended up falling in love with dance and I think things turned out for the best. I still can’t speak Hebrew though. . .

GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
EM: I love that dance, whether I’m viewing it or doing it, engages my non-verbal mind. It completely changes how I approach the world and my relationships with the people, non-human animals, and even plants and objects around me. One of the most basic definitions of life is that living creatures move. Dancing makes me aware of my aliveness.

GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
EM: So many. . . but I’m currently crushing on Pina Bausch. Her movement is luscious but not gratuitous – it’s always in service of a larger drama or idea. Everyone should see “Pina” on the big screen!

GD: What do you do in “real life”?
EM: I am a massage therapist and I also teach dance. You can find out more about what I do on my website www.movementandmassage.com.

GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
EM: I am an obsessive knitter and I love working on a project while listening to an episode of This American Life or Radiolab. I also enjoy reading, making waffles, and making fun of my cat.

GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
EM: I’m excited about delving into geeky topics and figuring out how to make dances about some unlikely things. . . I like trying to physicalize the abstract and getting to play around in the studio with a bunch of other geeks!

Welcome aboard, Ella! You can find her full bio in the Meet Your Geeks Page!

Great news, everyone!

Geeksdanz is proud to welcome its newest member, Laura Herbert! We subjected Laura to the same set of questions as everyone else, and her answers follow!

GD: How did you get into dancing?
LH: I owe my start at dance to my mom. When I was 6 she enrolled me in my very first ballet class and the rest is history. I fell in love with dance, every aspect of it.

GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
LH: What appeals to me most is that dance and movement are an outward expression of each person’s individual inner reality and perspective. The creative boundaries are non-existent and a dancer’s canvas is boundless and expansive. Anything you want to say, you can voice it through dancing. That’s what I love about it!

GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
LH: I saw my first modern dance concert at the Joyce Theater in NYC in 2006. It was an evening length performance of various Doug Varone works. His choreography made a deep impression on me; he is still my favorite choreographer. My two favorite works by him are “Boats Leaving” and “Chapter from Broken Novel”

GD: What do you do in “real life”?
LH: Well…in “real life” I teach dance at a studio in Butler; I also teach adapted dance to children and teenagers with disabilities at the Woodlands Foundation in Wexford. Aside from that I work as a Therapeutic Staff Support for children with disabilities and emotional disorders. I keep pretty busy!

GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
LH: I love yoga and pilates, enjoying the seasons, hiking, horseback riding, reading, spending time with my family and fiancé.

GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
LH: This is my first experience working with a modern company; I know I’m going to really grow as a person and as a dancer. The other dancers in the company are so talented and amazing, just really wonderful people…I’m very excited to work with everyone.

Welcome aboard, Laura!

Hi All!

Thank you to everyone who saw us at the Mini Maker Faire yesterday, and an extra-special thanks to our participants who jumped in and danced with us! I’ll be posting pics as I receive them (I had several people taking pics and video for us throughout the day), but here are a few from our impromptu photo shoot at the end of the day, courtesy of Gordon Kirkwood:

You can check out his whole album here.

And while you’re over there on the ol’ Facebook, head to the Geeksdanz page and ‘like’ us. You can also follow Geeksdanz on Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to get all the latest updates and news about the company.

I’m excited to see everyone’s experiences with the Faire, so if you took any good pictures or videos of us and want to share, feel free! Just send them to me at ellen@geeksdanz.org, or post them on the Facebook or Twitter pages.

We’ll have some more fun projects for you in the future, but until then, keep on geeking!

~Ellen

In today’s final installment of Meet Your Geeks, I present Lamar Williams with the same questions I gave to the others, and he promptly responds with a stream-of-consciousness paragraph of fabulousness! Enjoy!

I began dancing around age 6 where I would freestyle and choreograph with my cousin to what ever piece of music inspired us at the moment. I was mostly moved by all hip hop music with an infectious beat. Dance to me allows anything to be beautiful through movement and it can move ppl to places that only dance could take them. I enjoy all movement in its biggest and smallest form; I love choreographers such as Tyce Diorio, Mandy Moore, and Mia Michaels because contemporary modern/broadway are my favorite styles to watch because of the excitement and emotions it causes the viewers as well as fellow dancers. I love movement that provoke reactions from people that isn’t always expected and love performing movements that display many textures/weights. My favorite word is “Possibilities” because its what life is all about, we all determine our own fate. Myself being a hip hop dancer, which is mainly freestyle, technical dance literally changed my life and opened up endless possibilities. Of course, cliche as it may be, my least favorite word is “can’t” because it is so freely used without effort first being put forth. I am a super dork and love making light of any situation. I like to play in make up and try different hairstyles. I am also a huge fan of clothes and fashion. I always knew I had to do something performance or entertainment wise, I always feel the need to be present everywhere in every conversation doing everything. I one day aspire to be an actor of some fashion whether it be broadway, theatre, or small film; maybe even a fashion consultant/stylist or makeup artist to the celebrities. I could never work in any job atmosphere that consists of working around or with most insects/bugs; we just don’t work well together and I’m afraid of everything that crawls!!! I go partying on occasions where I dance until my bleed. I am also a part of an Organization which facilitates several small houses formulated by the LGBT community across the world. The house I am a part of is called “The Iconic House of Mizrahi”, where I go by the alias Honeybee Mizrahi and perform in many categories such as runway, vogue, and Walking in Pumps. It’s also known as the Underground ballroom scene and recently becoming more well known in everyday homes across the world. I solely enjoy dancing with my fellow Geeks because we come from different backgrounds of dance yet found a beautiful medium between our artistic technical abilities and created a lovely chemistry. I enjoy being around these ladies and the creative brains, they make me a better performer/ artist with every rehearsal. I look forward to future endeavors and hope you love Our Geeks! <3

The Maker Faire is TOMORROW, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh! Stop by and say hi, and learn how to make your own dances!

Today’s Geek is Sophia Levine!

GD: How did you get into dancing?
SL: My mom put me in ballet classes when my grandmother expressed concerns about my knock-knees and “crossed eyes”. I actually have great vision, my eyes were just close together!

GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
SL: Improvising and learning other people’s movement is so much fun. Dancing reminds me that life is about investigation and discovery. There are infinite ways to move your body and an even bigger infinity of ways to dance with other people.

GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
SL: I keep coming back to this performance I saw at the Strayhorn by BLOOM! Dance Collective. It was just so smart! I can’t get over the clarity of the compositional structures they created for the movement and how those structures made a perfect playing field for surprising and open-ended social commentary. It was so easy to layer my view as an audience member into what they were doing. I laughed and cried.

GD: What do you do in “real life”?
SL: Oh… stuff… like teach yoga and dance and make awesome projects with an interdisciplinary performance group called Col(lab)trix.

GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
SL: I spend a lot of time walking all over the city by myself and in Frick Park with my dog and people friends. I lounge on various couches with good books and movies and eat a lot of great food. Recently, I’ve been researching my Jewish heritage. Solo project soon… Check out sophialevine.com.

GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
SL: The dancers in Geeksdanz are real people! I mean, not that they would be pretend people–though I often dance alone, sometimes with imaginary friends. They are dancers, but they also have lives outside of dance. Our backgrounds are all very different. During rehearsals I learn not just about different ways of dancing but different ways of being. So what I am really saying is: Geeksdanzers you rock! Cheers to getting to know you on and off the dance floor!

The Maker Faire is this Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm! Stay tuned to hear from our last dancer!

It’s time for the second installment of Meet Your Geeks; this time, we’re sitting down with Patty Petronello.

GD: How did you get into dancing?
PP: I didn’t start dancing till I was about 13 years of age. It was 7th grade and the middle school I was attending had just opened a new PE class that was all about dancing and learning the different styles. Having never been a fan of regular PE I opted for the Dance PE class and fell in love. Halfway through the year I started to take a Jazz class outside of school and here I am ten years later still dancing and loving it.

GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
PP: I enjoy a lot of things about dancing, most are the cheesy “I love the emotions” and “how it makes me feel” which are fantastic reasons. However there is also something about how driven dancers are. It’s a tough profession and I love the amount of hard work it takes, there is such a feeling of accomplishment after a good show or a good rehearsal. I crave that feeling everyday.

GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
PP: Doug Varone and Trey Mcintyre are probably two of my favorite choreographers. They have very athletic choreography and both have an interesting way of choreographing for a large group. Doug Varone choreographs to beautiful music and works really hard to incorporate the songs musicality into the choreography. Trey Mcintyre can be quirky with his choreography; it’s always fun to watch.

GD: What do you do in “real life”?
Well I work as a barista for a small town coffee place on Mt Washington (where I currently live) and I recently got a job with hallmark cards. I also do other random work such as babysitting and pretty much whatever else I can find. I enjoy having all different kinds of jobs, it keeps me on my toes and I’m always learning something new.

GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
PP: I love to drive around and explore Pittsburgh. I moved here about 5 months ago so I’m still learning the city. I love finding local favorite eating spots, places off the beaten track and basically random places to take pictures. I love to read any book I can get my hands on. I’m always in Barnes and Noble as well as any local second hand bookstore I can find. I’m also a huge movie person, my roommate and I will sit and watch movie after movie no matter if we’ve seen it multiple times. Listening to music is also something I love (go figure).

GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
PP: What excites me the most are the different types of venues and people we will be performing for! There are so many different ways dance can be used and I really feel like Geeksdanz is going to open the eyes of a lot of people. I feel like many don’t understand dance and this company will be a nice liaison between who is considered the “Dancer” and who is considered the “Audience.”

Stay tuned for interviews with the rest of our geeks!

Hi Everyone!

Final info on our presentation at the Maker Faire has been obtained, and I wanted to share with you some specific details:

Location
We will be performing in the central plaza at Buhl Community Park in Allegheny Square. For those who don’t know, it’s the big lawn area right out in front of the main entrance to the Children’s Museum. We’re at the plaza in the back, performing in front of the Cloud Arbor:

Show Schedule
We will be performing every 45 minutes throughout the day, with 7-minute improvisational dance performances followed by 20 minutes of interactive dancing. We have five different improv games for you, according to the following schedule:

• 10:30 am – The Machine
• 11:15 am – Freeze Tag
• 12:00 noon – No TV Until Chores Are Done!
• 1:00 pm – The Sculptor
• 1:45 pm – Freeze Tag
• 2:30 pm – The Name Game
• 3:15 pm – The Machine

Stop by multiple times and experience a bunch of different games!

Click here to purchase tickets ahead of time–or you can simply purchase them at the door.

See you at the Faire!

Hi Everyone!

As a lead-in to the Maker Faire, I thought it’d be nice to let you get to know our dancers. After all, dancers are people too, so I sat down with each one individually to see what inspires them. Today’s dancer is Jamie Campbell.

GD: How did you get into dancing?
JC: I liked to twirl around and walk on my toes when I was a little girl. My mother, who has 2 left feet, didn’t know what to do with me. She knew she needed to direct my energy in a positive way so she enrolled me in a little dance school close to home. From that, I only got more excited and serious about dancing. I went on to other schools and academies to gain more knowledge and training. I ended up at Hollins University for 2 years where I truly found my niche, art, expression, and craft. After that, I began the journey as a professional modern dancer. The journey continues today.

GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
JC: I love that an entire story can be created through movement. I love that movement can grasp an audience to the point of laughter and/or tears. I also love that no story has to be created at all. That movement can be just that, movement. I think that dance is one of the deepest, most sincere ways of communicating, whether it be a gripping subject or light fluffy movement.

GD: What do you do in “real life”?
JC: I am a wife and proud mom of two in “real life”. I am also privileged to teach dance at a local dance school. I like to think that life is a beautiful dance. It’s a process and experience. No matter how life changes, for better or worse, dance is my constant. I feel like my “real life” experiences have shaped and continue to shape the artist I am and will continue to be.

GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
JC: I enjoy spending time with my family. I like to do creative activities with the kids and have meaningful conversations with my husband. I take pride in planning exciting birthday parties for my little ones and fun family gatherings. I also enjoy yard work and planting flowers in the garden.

GD: What excites you the most about working with Geeksdanz?
JC: I am thrilled to be working with Geeksdanz. I am excited that this new innovative company has been created. I am not technologically or scientifically inclined whatsoever, but I am a true geek dancer. As stated by the founder and artistic director, “…a geek is defined by a passionate and emotional interest in a topic, often to near obsessed levels.” I have channeled my inner geek and am able to express it with this new dance company. As a great friend and talented writer/poet says, “I’m geekin’ it out”.

Photo credit: John Beiber

Stay tuned over the next week to meet the rest of the geeks!

Exciting news, everyone!

We’ve just received word that Geeksdanz has been accepted to perform at the 2012 Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire! We’ll be there Saturday, September 22nd from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, doing performances and showing YOU how to make your own dances! Every 45 minutes throughout the day, the dancers of Geeksdanz will present a 3 to 5 minute dance performance based on a different improvisation game, and we’ll follow each one up with 25 minutes of interactive dance-making, where audience members can try their hand (or feet) at creating a phrase based on the same improvisation game.

You can find out more info about the Maker Faire and purchase your tickets right here. I’ll have more info for you about where in the faire to find us as it gets closer to the date.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Choreographer Ellen Deutsch is looking for enthusiastic, friendly dancers proficient in both modern and ballet technique to audition for her new company.

Geeksdanz’s mission is to introduce dance to audiences that would not normally be drawn to it, and to illustrate the universality of dance as a means of emotional expression. Geeksdanz achieves this by systematically applying the context of dance to an enormous variety of topics and interests, and targeting performances towards the specific audiences who share those interests.

Previously a solo project, Ms. Deutsch is now seeking to establish Geeksdanz as a fully-fledged dance company rehearsing and performing in the Pittsburgh area. To that end, we are looking for as many dancers as we can get our hands on. Come one, come all!

INFORMATION
DATE: August 25, 2012
TIME: 5 – 7 pm
LOCATION: Pittsburgh Dance Center
4765 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
(In Bloomfield above the Starbucks in the old theater)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• The audition will last approximately two hours and will consist of a modern warm-up (with occasional ballet combos) as well as modern repertoire and an improvisation exercise.
• You may wish to bring kneepads, long sleeves and long pants for the improv section, but it’s not required.
• Please bring a full resume with you.

For more info about the audition or the company, please contact me.