{"id":7047,"date":"2017-10-26T00:40:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T00:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.balletx.org\/?p=7047"},"modified":"2020-06-17T20:03:27","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T00:03:27","slug":"interview-brenda-dixon-gottschild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.balletx.org\/interview-brenda-dixon-gottschild\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Brenda Dixon Gottschild"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week we were honored to sit down with Beautiful Decay<\/em> guest dancer Brenda Dixon Gottschild \u2013 Professor Emerita of dance studies at Temple University noted for her work as a performer and cultural historian \u2013 to discuss her thoughts on the project.<\/p>\n

What was your familiarity with BalletX\u2019s work before you joined the cast of Beautiful Decay<\/em>?<\/strong>
\nThanks to my friend and colleague, journalist Lewis Whittington, I\u2019ve attended several recent home seasons of BalletX as his companion. I enjoy much of the repertory and feel the dancers are superb. I am also glad to see dancers of African and Asian lineage in featured roles.<\/p>\n

As you prepare for Nicolo Fonte\u2019s arrival, how would you describe the creative process in the BalletX rehearsal studio, so far?<\/strong>
\nSo far, Tara Keating [BalletX, Associate Artistic Director] has been spot on in patiently guiding us through both the mood and the moves of my role in Beautiful Decay<\/em>. She is gentle yet sure, and she uses scene notes from the choreographer to keep us on the right track.<\/p>\n

What do you consider your greatest strength as a dance artist, and how does that strength contribute to an ensemble piece like Beautiful Decay<\/em>?\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThis is a tough one: I wish you\u2019d ask someone else to evaluate me! In any case: as a dancer never previously hired for my seniority to share the stage in contrast to a much younger cast, I truly hope that my greatest strength \u2013 my warmth and generosity as a dancing human being \u2013 will contribute to the overall embrace of this gorgeous work.<\/p>\n

Performers often describe an almost magical and ethereal quality to being on stage in front of an audience. What makes performing so special?\u00a0<\/strong>
\nAs Bill T. Jones once put it, the performer becomes the \u201cproxy\u201d for everyone in the audience. The dancing body embodies specific aspects of what it means to be human, and that means to let the body speak as profoundly as words, but through different means and layers of experience. Performing reifies our humanity.<\/p>\n

Nicolo Fonte\u2019s \u2019Beautiful Decay\u2019 seems to be open to many interpretations, but what do you think the choreographer is trying to express with this piece?<\/strong>
\nAs my husband, Hellmut Gottschild, has famously said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to give the word the last word,\u201d meaning that it\u2019s not really important to say in words what Fonte has so deftly expressed in movement. As I have said in one of my lectures, \u201cdance is a language that is illegible in literal translation.\u201d The clues that Fonte gives in his title are enough: beautiful, and decay.<\/p>\n

Tell us a little something about yourself that the audience might be surprised to know? <\/strong>
\nI\u2019m a writer\/researcher\/cultural scholar\/talking head \u2013\u00a0a self-described anti-racist, cultural worker, using dance as my lens and measure of society.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a Voltaire quote: \u201cLet us read and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.\u201d Do you have anything to add to that quote?<\/strong>
\nThis, from a purse-sized catch-all gifted me: dance, as though no one is watching you; love as thought you have never been hurt before; sing as though no one can hear you; live as though heave in on earth. Wise advice, all!<\/p>\n

Photo by Hellmut Gottschild<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I have said in one of my lectures, \u201cdance is a language that is illegible in literal translation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215,217],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behind-the-ballet","category-interview"],"acf":[],"cp_meta_data":{"_edit_lock":["1592517517:5"],"_edit_last":["5"],"_thumbnail_id":["7085"],"slide_template":["default"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["217"],"filter_category":[""],"_filter_category":["field_575000bf40f4b"],"show_donate_baletx_banner":["0"],"_show_donate_baletx_banner":["field_573341c2d686c"],"show_slider_revolution":["0"],"_show_slider_revolution":["field_578755a04f37f"],"slider_revolution_short-code":[""],"_slider_revolution_short-code":["field_578752fb40ad0"],"top_show_dates":[""],"_top_show_dates":["field_576bb0c8af8e4"],"show_dates_period":[""],"_show_dates_period":["field_576bb0c8afcb8"],"numbers_of_premiers":[""],"_numbers_of_premiers":["field_576bb0c8b00d5"],"show_choreographers":[""],"_show_choreographers":["field_576bb0c8b0475"],"page_show_dancers_all":[""],"_page_show_dancers_all":["field_576bb0c8b0848"],"show_schedule_title":[""],"_show_schedule_title":["field_576bb0c8b0fe4"],"show_sidebar_rows":[""],"_show_sidebar_rows":["field_576bb0c8b1375"],"show_sidebar_tickets_title":[""],"_show_sidebar_tickets_title":["field_576bb0c8b1745"],"show_sidebar_tickets_description":[""],"_show_sidebar_tickets_description":["field_576bb0c8b1b34"],"show_sidebar_tickets_link":[""],"_show_sidebar_tickets_link":["field_576bb0c8b1ee1"],"show_sidebar_video_title":[""],"_show_sidebar_video_title":["field_576bb0c8b22b7"],"show_sidebar_video_link":[""],"_show_sidebar_video_link":["field_576bb0c8b2684"],"show_colaborators_section_title":[""],"_show_colaborators_section_title":["field_57767382e42fa"],"show_colaborators_cart":[""],"_show_colaborators_cart":["field_576bb0c8b2e6f"],"show_sponsors_section_title":[""],"_show_sponsors_section_title":["field_57767127e4dee"],"show_mobile_sponsors_carousel":[""],"_show_mobile_sponsors_carousel":["field_576bb0c8b35ed"],"_eael_post_view_count":["1303"],"_elementor_page_assets":["a:0:{}"]},"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Brenda Dixon Gottschild - 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