“Dance is for everyone, no matter your dance style, ability, gender, body shape, ethnicity, or age. Movement is a language we can all understand and an art we can all create.”
Since the age of 3, dance has been my outlet. Its my place of happiness and expression. I made dance my profession, but dance makes me whole.
Hello, it’s me, the creator of Movement In Motion Photography & Dance Knows No Boundaries!
As a young dancer, I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. I was lucky enough to have many opportunities to work with a variety of teachers and professional dancers who helped shape my dance journey. After high school, I spent 4 years at The University at Buffalo, where I receive my BFA in dance. These four years are some of my favorite memories as a dancer. I made amazing friends, had wonderful teachers who I am still connected to today, and learned so much about who I wanted to be as a dancer. About a month before graduation and final performances, I broke my foot in rehearsal. It was a really hard time in my dance career and I wasn’t sure what my future as a dancer would look like. On the day I finally got my cast off, I came home and checked my email. There was contract offer from Carnival Cruise Lines to be a production dancer. I couldn’t believe it! I had submitted a video (VHS at that) before my injury, and it had come full circle. Spending time on cruise ships was another experience I will never forget, and one that changed my life. The international community I built was amazing, and I still have those connections today. The best part, I met my now husband during our time on ships. We settled in Chicago for a while after getting off of ships. I was able to start teaching dance and perform with The Cartier Collective. After a few years, we moved to Virginia as a military family. Moving to Virginia was a hard adjustment, but we have made Williamsburg a home for our family, with our two sons and a few crazy pups. I teach at SI Dance, the most wonderful dance studio that just happens to be owned by a friend from college. Im telling you, the dance world is small! I adore the young dancers that I get to train, educate, and help shape as dancers and people, everyday.
Now what about the camera? How did photography come into play? Well, I have always love taking photos, even as a young girl. I was ecstatic when I was able to take photography in high school, and still have some of those first dance prints. Throughout my dance career, I always continued to pick up the camera, and eventually made it into a profession. I am so lucky to be able to combine both of my passions and create art everyday.
As a photographer, I am of course drawn to movement. I love the challenge of capturing the dancers body at just the right moment to show their technique and artistry at its best. I am also drawn to the less typically photographed styles of dance. Dont get me wrong, I love working with ballerinas and contemporary dancers, but there is room in my portfolio for all dancers.
And this is where Dance Knows No Boundaries was born. I look at my portfolio and I am so proud of the inclusivity and diversity it represents. I decided to push this farther and make it a focus. I want to showcase and honor the dancers doing the hard work who might not be your typical representation of what people visualize when they think about dancers. This comes down to style, gender, body shape, abilities, ethnicity, and age. We are born movers and use movement as a form of expression. Some of us just do it a little more than others.
Taking the time to explore my work and chatting with other like minded artists lead me to writing a children’s book about dance. The story of Marley Takes The Stage is one of a young dancers first time performing on stage and in a real theatre. This is something that can be so exciting, but also scary as you head into a world of unknown in a theatre as a young dancer. As a dance teacher, I always make sure my little dancers understand and explore the theatre before we take them out on stage for the first time. Its important to make them comfortable and let them know everything that will be going on around them. Marley, the main character experiences and overcomes her stage fright and ends up loving her time on stage. For this book, it was important to me to align the story with the work I have been doing. So each of the characters you see here are inspired by the dancers I have been photographing for this work. I took aspects of all the dancers to create a visual representation of inclusivity and diversity within the characters. Included in the book will also be photos of the real life dancers I have been photographing. My goal is for any dancer who picks up this book to feel a connection and inspiration as they look through the illustrations and the images.
