Dancing in the Freelance Lane: Talking with Penny Tschirhart

Penny Tschirhart, Joe Modlin, and Jodee Engle

Penny Tschirhart received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. She has been dancing in and around Houston for the past 17 years with the likes of Sarah Irwin, Leslie Scates, Sandy Marcello, and Pricilla Nathan-Murphy. Penny has been teaching in the Houston Independent School District since she arrived in Houston and is presently the program director for dance at Mirabeau B. Lamar High School. Most recently, Ms. Tschirhart has been working with Jane Weiner/Hope Stone Dance. I had the great pleasure of dancing alongside Ms. Tschirhart during Ann Carlson’s White on the Wortham stage. Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with her.

DH: What are some of the advantages of dancing in pick-up companies?
PT: You get to pick and choose what you want to do. It provides variety of dance styles, performance venues, and personalities.

DH: Have you ever been in a company for any extended period of time?
PT: I was affiliated with Sarah Irwin's Physical Dance Theatre for the better part of the 90's. For the last several years I've been a member of Hope Stone Dance Company.

DH: What is “the teaching all day/rehearsing all night” life like?
PT: Is there time for anything else? I prefer to stay very busy so I don't mind a hectic schedule. School used to take up more of my "free time" because I was the acting artistic director of the performing company which required after school rehearsals. I've recently turned that task over to someone else and it has given me time to do other things. I've always wanted to volunteer at Texas Children's hospital for a program called "baby holding". I started doing that this past August.

DH: That's great you find time to volunteer to “hold babies.” I will be thinking about that next time I see you dance. Speaking of dancing, you have danced with the most talented people that Houston has ever produced. I am thinking of Sarah Irwin, Jane Weiner, Leslie Scates, and Amy Ell? What is similar about their work? What's different?
PT: Yes, I agree some of the most talented Houston has to offer. I think the thing they all share is bravery. It takes a brave soul to create something personal and then put it out there for people to see (and judge). I admire that so much. Amy Ell, Sandy Marcello, Priscilla Nathan-Murphy, and Sarah Irwin have all introduced me to large set pieces like swings, see-saws, and climbing walls. Weiner brings interesting prop choices like high-heels, oranges, and fresh meat. I think the difference between them might be in how they approach the process.

Leslie and I have danced together since college so our relationship has a bit more history. Because Leslie and I were "raised" together we love to improvise together and find great ease in that process. She often sets up a video camera, gives us a few ideas and/or guidelines and then goes away with the video to extract what she wants to develop. It's fun!

DH: Each of these choreographers mines your talent in a different way. How do you see this happening?
PT: I know they do this but I'm not sure I am consciously aware of how it happens. I like to take risks with the material I'm given. I like that each of them gives movement that they want to stay intact but they are open to different interpretations and they all are very appreciative of mistakes...the human element.

DH: Does your role teaching young people influence your approach to dance?
Yes, and I think my professional life as a dancer influences how I teach. They influence each other.

DH: Ever get the urge to choreograph yourself?
PT: No, I arrange young people on stage very well and I'm satisfied with that.

DH: What are some advantages of being a short dancer? You seem to get places very quickly.
PT: I'm close to the ground and yes, fast.

DH: Do you have a favorite dance that you felt truly fit your style of dancing?
PT: I'm not sure if I have a style but I loved performing Mountain at Miller Outdoor Theater (The Irwin piece on the giant see-saw) That was an amazing experience! I also really enjoyed the meat pounding section in The Cooking Show. That was sassy. And I recently had a duet with Joe Modlin within the performance of 'S, A Tale of Possession. It felt good, solid, and strong.

DH: How do you stay in shape?
PT:I swim laps as often as possible. I Like to go for leisure walks and I guess the work I do with the students helps keep me going. I try to watch what I eat but have learned not to be a fanatic about that. I think it's important for the young girls I teach to see real bodies moving and understand that they don't have to starve themselves. I try to model that strong and powerful can be beautiful too.

DH: Dancing is a social art. How do experience the social aspect of dancing?
PT: It is the human element that is the most important to me. I grew up taking classes as a little girl that produced very flat, 2-dimensional performances....fake smile and all. I remember a moment in college when I realized how amazing it was to look into the eyes of the people I was dancing with. That the dance was about us not just about what those watching. That was powerful.

I like when we get to the point when we are rehearsing on a daily basis before a show. These people are important. You see them every day. You touch them, talk to them, care for them every day. You get to know each other as human beings not just as dancers. In our society, I think we are quick to compartmentalize/label and sometimes forget that dance is something we do, not necessarily who we are. We are all more complicated than that. I admit, I go through a bit of withdrawal after a show ends. But then usually, hopefully, another project begins.

DH: What’s next dance-wise on the horizon for you?
PT: I’ll be dancing with Hope Stone on June 15-17th at the Big Range Festival at Barnvelder.

DH: Thanks for the update. I wish you continued success in the freelance lane.

Medea Meets Modern Dance: Infernal Bridegroom Productions Merges with Suchu Dance at the Axiom

Tamarie Cooper as Medea

Charlie Scott’s wildly irreverent adaptation of Euripides’ Medea puts modern dance to work. Scott’s sensitivity to Euripides’ dense language calls for a little blowing apart at the seams. He accomplishes this expansion by collaborating with Jennifer Wood, the resident choreographer of Suchu Dance. I should add that an appearance by Batman, a George Bush clone, and a right wing talk show host also do a fair amount of edge pushing.

Including Jennifer Wood’s dark and brooding choreography proved to be a strike of pure inspiration for IBP. Wood’s movement interludes serve to air out the demons in Medea’s grey matter as she contemplates a brutal future. Tamarie Cooper plays Medea with a rapturous intensity. The dances both diffuse and stroke this intensity depending upon what’s happening on stage. Of course, the Greek chorus idea seems like an obvious correlation, but I have the feeling that Scott had something more adventurous in mind by including Suchu. Dance punctuates this drama giving us the luxury of space and time to absorb Medea’s dilemma.

Wood’s choreography brings indecision into the body full force as the dancers fling their limbs with a mixture of precision and abandon. Strong sweeping gestures reverberate through their bodies like powerful vibrations. Scott’s adaptation hones in on the bad idea --killing her children to get back at her unfaithful husband-- that Medea contemplates during the course of the drama. The dance sections give new meaning to the “voices in our head.” Medea, however, has dancers in her head. The dancers air out her thoughts, place considerable tension in the environment, and stir the space through their turbulent patterns. Cooper’s strong physical presence (she was trained as a dancer) merges well with Suchu’s comings and goings. Scott sets up an equation whereby Medea’s reckless ways require a modern dance troupe.

The dancers delivered the strongest performance by Suchu this season. Veterans Tina Shariffskul and Jessi Harper have mastered Suchu’s idiosyncratic style while newcomers Helen Cloots and Nicole Craft danced with authority and an imposing confidence. The highly physical style of IBP created a hospitable climate for dance as Wood’s work looks completely at home at the Axiom. The IBP/Suchu collaboration seems right and natural and I look forward to more such ventures.

At the end-- after the dirty deed-- the entire cast gathers on one side of the stage to play a little game of limb toss. With arms and legs flying, they resemble a drowning crew on a sinking ship. The play ends in silence as movement has the last word.

Medea continues through May 7th at the Axiom, 2524 Mckinney.
713-522-8443 or visit http://www.infernalbridegroom.com/

Houston Met's Joe Calej Talks About Dancing in Houston and Our Hometown--BUFFALO

Joe Celej
Photo by Sharon Bradford

When I found out that Joe Celej of the Houston Met was from my hometown, Buffalo NY, I knew we had to talk. Buffalo binds people through its rich history, stories of decline, and a ton of snow. I danced in Buffalo before heading for the first train out, so I was curious about Celej’s Buffalo dancing life and how he, too, ended up in Houston.

Celej has studied a variety of forms of dance from master teachers throughout the country and studied on scholarship at Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and The Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles while in high school. Upon receiving his BFA in dance performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was a performing and creative arts honors scholar, Celej joined the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company and has performed at various venues including the Jazz Dance World Congress, the Pink Ribbons Project, and the Illuminations Project for World AIDS Day. Currently the resident choreographer for the HMDC, Celej has also set works on the Zodiaque Dance Company, Episcopal High School, the Met Too youth company, and at various dance schools in the Houston area where he is also a faculty member.

DH: First off, let's talk weather (A way of life for Buffalo people). What do you think of these Houston weather wimps that go nuts when it rains? Don't you think they all need a good dose of a Buffalo winter?
JC: It never ceases to amaze me that, given just a touch of precipitation, traffic is at a near stand still on the highways. Drop the temperature to about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, add some hardcore wind, and in Buffalo you have a normal winter day; in Houston that day would be remembered as "the day we decided to leave Houston."

DH: Buffalo is a town with a rich cultural tradition. Its dance days come and go. Merce Cunningham premiered Rain Forest there right at University of Buffalo (UB). What was the dance scene like when you were there?
JC: Considering its blue collar sensitivity, the arts in general are fairly strong and supported in Buffalo. Western New York is steeped in vaudeville history and many of the dancers and dance instructors in WNY have very strong tap and acrobatic skills--and plenty of showmanship to go with it. There are a few good ballet schools/companies in Buffalo, the newest being the Neglia Ballet Artists, who have upped the ante on ballet in Buffalo. But I think the Center for the Arts on UB's north campus by far brings the most exposure of concert dance to Buffalo. While I was enrolled, we had a multitude of professional companies in residence (Limon Dance Co, David Parsons Dance Co, Taylor and Taylor2, Martha Graham Dance Ensemble, ABT2, Cello Movement Theatre, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Ballet Folklorico, and Pandit Ganghani of India to name a few). There’s also the University's own Zodiaque Dance Co and three other performance companies.

DH: Where there any modern dance companies surviving during your days?
JC: I left out Buffalo Contemporary Dance in the previous question because they are (in addition to Zodiaque), Buffalo's only modern dance company. Buffalo Contemporary is directed by Leslie Wexler and performs on a regular basis. There are also traditional African Dance performances through Buffalo's African Cultural Center.

DH: I took a dance class my first summer after high school in 1974 on the old UB campus. The studios were in poor shape. Tell me about your time at UB.Were you in that lovely new arts center?
JC: I had the luxury of spending my time at UB in the Center for the Arts, a building that houses not only performing artists, but all of the fine and graphic arts as well. The facility is quite amazing and I am yet to come across any theatres that even come close to the technical capabilities at UB. In a way, it’s spoiling to train and grow in such a limitless environment--but it was always very exciting. The classes at UB are generally strong, with jazz and musical theater as the anchors. However, my acting, technical theater, and design classes were some of the most inspiring and incredibly useful experiences at school.

DH: Tell me about your experience at UB under Tom Relabate. I hear he is quite a mover and shaker.
JC: “Mr. Tom,” as most call him, is an incredible teacher and I am so fortunate to have been able to have him as my mentor throughout college. He draws his vast knowledge of dance through so many different first-hand experiences that he truly is a jazz and vernacular dance historian. Tom (and his sister) were former North American Latin and Ballroom champions, which I think is where he developed his innate sense of style at a young age. He has studied or danced with jazz pioneers such as Phil Black, Matt Mattox, Jack Cole, Luigi, and Ron Lewis, which has afforded him the experience of watching jazz dance evolve as an idiom and as an art form. He is, at the core, a stylist; always stressing movement as a form of expression or the capturing of a moment or feeling--a lesson he shares in every class and rehearsal he is a part of.

DH: When you were born and looked around at Buffalo was your first question, when can I leave?
JC: I have always taken a silly pride in Buffalo and Western New York--call it what you like, but the region is steeped in so much history (from the Erie Canal to its Native American Culture) that it holds a special place in my heart. Still--I think there comes a time when every Buffalonian dreams of going to the city and that comparison will always be there--especially under the current economic and political instability Buffalo is facing.

DH: Hey, there is no such thing as “silly pride” when it comes to Buffalo. Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Frank Lloyd Wright all did time there. Plus, don’t forget, we are the birthplace of electricity and the first place to have alternating current. That’s not so shabby! Houston is such a different kind of city. What works for you dancewise in Houston?
JC: I call the Met my Houston dance home because of its mission of diversity and versatility. I cannot dance in just one form or discipline--the more the merrier for me. I also enjoy teaching throughout the Houston area--my students are all very important to me and I feel fulfilled watching them grow and improve.

DH: You have a very fluid way of dancing that seems unencumbered by any particular style. To what do you attribute that to?
JC: I feel it is one thing to be able to get on stage and perform well--but it is entirely another thing to be able to walk into any type or form of class and excel. This has and probably will always be my goal. I like to learn new ways of approaching movement and I think this allows me to place less of my own movement habits on other's choreography.

DH: Do you want to say a word or two about your new piece?
JC: It’s a fun tap extravaganza with movement and rhythms that counter and join in a mixture of music and text. The idea focuses on a Hot Spot, each dancer being put in a Hot Spot and still dancing.

DH: One of the great things about being from Buffalo is that so many Buffalonians have left Buffalo you are bound to meet them wherever you live. Let’s get together for some wings and beef on wick soon. (For those of you lacking in Buffalo culinary history, chicken wings and beef on kummelwick rolls originated there). Best of luck on your next performance.

The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company performs at the Cullen on Saturday, April 16th at 8pm. Call 713-522-6375 or visit http://www.houstonmetdance.com/.