CHICAGO —I’ve been told by lay dancers many a time that I shouldn’t call myself a choreographer, that they respect that word too much to use it in such a vulgar way, without the force of some verisimilitude beyond the immediacy of composing movement in the imagination. I don’t agree, of course. But as an artist, this sort of disciplinary…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with dancer and performer A.J. McClenon to discuss the influence of water and the transatlantic slave trade on her art-making,…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with dancer and performer Jeez Loueez to discuss her joy at fusing traditional dance theatre with her love of…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with dancer Jacinda Ratcliffe to discuss the rigors of dance training, whiteness in classical ballet, and the importance of…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with visual, performance and movement artist Jose Santiago Perez to discuss absence as an appropriate artistic response in performance,…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with dancer, performance artist and vocalist ALEXA GRÆ (a.k.a. Alex Edgemon) to discuss the influence of community, their mother’s…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with visual, performance and movement artist Kiam Marcelo Junio to discuss the influence of their military upbringing and career…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with dance artist Joshua Ishmon to discuss his roots in West African Funga dance traditions, overcoming the racially-motivated restrictions…

Movement Matters is a monthly column by Michael Workman that investigates performers whose work intersects politics, policy, and issues related to the body as the locus of socio-cultural dialogues on race, gender, ability and more. For this installment, we sit down with dancer Kia Smith to discuss the influences of jazz in movement, how generosity and family has informed her virtuosity…