Photo by V. Paul Virtucio
to new and renewed pursuits this fall. Summer was a great interruption to the September through April-May routine. I got to geek out as “Nerdette” again for St. Paul Saint’s Baseball’s Entertainment Team, reconnect with K-12 students teaching for the Cowles Center and Youth Performance Company, ignite my scholar side at two excellent conferences, get in touch with my inner entertainer dancing and choreographing for Enticing Entertainment, and rehearse with innovative choreographers and grounded, groovy dancers as both a performer and choreographer on the eighth annual Rhythmically Speaking show (photo above is me performing in Karla Grotting’s new interdisciplinary work “Hope Chest”). As summer came to a close, I was/ am ready to embrace the renewed sense of routine that comes with school-year time.
I am happy to be back at Winona State University this academic year teaching both technique and lecture classes, and to continue teaching as a part of the Cowles Center Teaching Artist Roster. As a scholar, I am hoping to continue researching and perhaps write a draft of an article I am working on regarding the sociocultural aspects of the Zumba! fitness phenomenon. As an organizer, I’m taking new strides to push forward Rhythmically Speaking. New pursuits, situated within performance and choreography, mark a heavy amount of studio time! I’m joining Contempo Physical Dance for their season this year (show at the Cowles in February!) and working on a new, full-length choreographic project debuting at the ICEHOUSE in April 2017. I’m deep into how habit and repetition correlate, and am exploring this through working with the embodiment of introspective EDM music. Curious? Check out the public Spotify playlist I’m using in rehearsals.
Toss a song onto the list if you are so moved; the playlist is collaborative, and I am curious about yours and others thoughts on what other pieces might fit this list/ exploration!
Best wishes to you as you too fall in to . . . .
Erinn Liebhard: Dance Artist 