Top 10 Professional Highlights of 2018

It's that time of year again—time to reflect on the past 365 days' accomplishments through a professional lens. With my work now spanning both New England and the Mid-Atlantic, there's much to choose from, yet even more exciting were the moments this past year when my work traveled abroad to Canada, Italy, and Germany! 

These are the ten highlights that are fueling my energy as I head into 2019's already brimming professional pursuits. With many ideas swirling through my head, it's important to pause and look back before diving into the alluring (and daunting) unknown.

TOP 10 PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF 2018

1. PRODUCTION MANAGER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS  .  PRINCETON NJ

Since relocating my day-to-day to Princeton, NJ, I've continued to split my time with Boston, MA, as I continue to engage in the arts scene there, while looking for a new role in Princeton to replace my daily work as Art Director of Art New England magazine in Boston for the past five years. After some casual networking, I was quickly contacted by Princeton University Press, who sought a new Production Manager (a role I know inside and out thanks to my work at the magazine!). Since February, I've become responsible for the manufacturing of hundreds of titles per season (from reprints of the old Jung volumes—whose jackets require my designer instincts—to new books awaiting their grand debuts). Like at Art New England, I serve as the linchpin between Creative, Production, Editorial, and Sales as I continue to expand my knowledge of the publishing world, while working for one of the oldest and most prestigious presses in the nation—just look at the gorgeous building I work in with its historic architecture!

2. FIRST TAKE SHORTS SERIES AND Q&A  .  DOYLESTOWN PA

In April, my dance-on-camera film The One I Keep (featuring Luminarium company member Jess Chang) was selected for viewing at the First Take Shorts Series. Held in The County Theater of historic Doylestown, PA, the evening featured 12 shorts by Greater Philadelphia filmmakers, ending with a Q&A in which I was the only female filmmaker in attendance. While it saddens me how often this is the case, I am also always eager to attend these events in the hopes of inspiring more women to enter this predominantly male field.

3. CEFALÙ FILM FESTIVAL  .  PALERMO ITALY

Over the summer, I was thrilled to learn that The One I Keep had been selected for screening at Cefalù Film Festival in Palermo, Italy. While my choreographic works, dance-on-camera films, and interactive art installations have been presented by more than 80 events across the country (in California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont), this screening at Cefalù Film Festival marked my first showing outside of the U.S. It felt particularly sentimental for me, as Italy is a place I've always dreamed of visiting. Having my artistic film travel there first felt oddly fitting (and little did I know two more countries would be featuring it in the coming months!).

4. CLERMONT HISTORIC SITE COMMISSION  .  GERMANTOWN NY

At the end of Luminarium's 2017 Season, we were approached by the Clermont Historic Site about a customized performance. After months of discussion, research, and rehearsals, Luminarium presented a family-friendly performance in August 2018 on the beautiful Clermont Historic Site grounds in upstate New York, featuring two newly commissioned works: one setting into motion the real-life story of Clermont historic figure Nancy Shippen; the other examining the effect of legacy on industry in the Hudson River Valley. These two new works (My own Trinkets and Kim's Intersections, respectively) were performed alongside excerpts from our then-pending feature production HIVELAND and my historically-inspired, repertory favorite The Hostess Diaries. Serving as my annual Cultural Community Outreach Project, the program was sponsored in part by a Humanities New York Action Grant, and was by far my favorite endeavor of 2018.

5. WOMENCINEMAKERS FEATURE  .  BERLIN GERMANY

Over the summer, I felt honored to be interviewed for a special edition of periodical WomenCinemakers in Berlin, Germany, featuring artistic films by noteworthy female artists from Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, Athens, and beyond. Selected to speak on my 2013 film The One I Keep, my interview dives deep into the work, while speaking on what lies ahead.

"Elegantly composed and marked out with refined choreography, this stimulating work is a successful attempt to create a brilliant allegory of human condition capable of drawing the viewers to a heightened and multilayered experience." Read the full interview here!

6. JOINING DANCE NEW JERSEY'S BOARD  .  NEW JERSEY, STATEWIDE

In the Fall, I was elected to the Board of Trustees for Dance New Jersey (a nonprofit resource for the state’s expansive dance scene) as a thought leader for new public programming and fundraising events. Before joining the Board, I welcomed the opportunity to participate as a choreographer for Paths Cross/Doors Open (pictured above), which in many ways reminded me of a mini ChoreoFest (Luminarium's 24-hour choreography festival). In a few months, this fantastic event is returning, and I'm humbled to be leading it—from teaching the warmup to guiding the creative choreographic process.

7. HIVELAND RECEIVES GLOWING BOSTON GLOBE REVIEW  .  CAMBRIDGE MA

Hailed as one of “the most intelligent and innovative dance troupes in Boston,” Luminarium Dance Company returned after a two-year creation period in September with its feature production HIVELAND. Audiences were submerged inside the dreamlike world of HIVELAND’s athletic and weightless performers as they journeyed through a portal beyond the hive colony into the unknown, while composer Christos Zevos set the pace with a driving electronic score.

Kim and I worked around the clock on this production for two full seasons, and the end result was an evening-length singular narrative that beautifully entwined our two artistic voices, while giving our company members room to grow their characters from the production's tentative and geometric silhouetted opening to its vibrant and triumphant finale. Above all, we were overjoyed to read Karen Campbell's review in the prestigious Boston Globe, touting HIVELAND as "a compelling exploration...unpredictable, provocative, and gratifyingly visceral." Read the full review here!

8. LIBERTY HALL DANCE FESTIVAL & SATELLITE COMPANY DEBUT  .  UNION NJ

After a productive Spring networking with the New Jersey dance community, I was grateful to have met Rider University Dance Dept. Director Dr. Kim Vaccaro, who not only hired me to teach Odissi master classes and work with the dance department on its Spring 2019 production, but agreed to help me work out a wonderful exchange with her students. In September, Luminarium's satellite company (based in Princeton, NJ) made its official debut, performing repertory favorite The Hostess Diaries at Liberty Hall Dance Festival and featuring Rider University dance majors. As I head into Luminarium's 2019 Season, these ladies will work with me on creating new work, which I will then show locally (featuring the New Jersey dancers) and/or bring to Boston to set on the company up there.

Pictured above: Luminarium Satellite performs at Liberty Hall Dance Festival, co-presented by Buggé Ballet and Liberty Hall Museum at Kean University. The event invited viewers to walk along the beautiful museum grounds, while enjoying site-specific professional dance performances inspired by moments in history.




9. VIDEOSKIN CONTEMPORARY DANCE VIDEO WORKS  .  YUKON CANADA

In October, I learned that my film The One I Keep would once again travel abroad—this time to Canada—having been selected for screening as part of ViDEOSKiN Contemporary Dance Video Works. The film was presented at The Edge Gallery in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, with showings every Saturday in November.




10. FIRST IN-PRINT FJORD REVIEW MAGAZINE  .  INTERNATIONAL

Chronologically last, but certainly not least, the Fjord Review announced in December its first-ever print magazine. I've been a journalist for the Fjord Review for three years now, writing feature articles, interviews, and critiques on ballet and contemporary dance in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Princeton. This international online publication never ceases to amaze me with its stunningly beautiful photoshoots and exceptional writing from contributors literally all over the world. I'm eager receive my copy, as this new print edition will include my review of Alonzo King's LINES Ballet.

Yet as fate would have it, I am once again struck by the synchronicity of this final post, for just as my work this year traveled to Canada, Italy, and Germany, this morning I read that this print magazine was "made in Canada, designed in Italy, and printed in Germany." How fitting to think that this lovely periodical and my dance-on-camera film traveled the same path this year, and that both are (in a small way) sharing my voice with the world.


Wishing you all a joyous start to 2019 and many, many adventures ahead!
–Merli

Kinetic Craft Residency in Review

For my 2017 Cultural Community Outreach Project (the 6th project in this annual series), I successfully created a residency for Luminarium at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton for the entire week of April school vacation. Every day from 10am to 5pm, Tuesday, April 18 through Sunday, April 23, 2017, five company members performed throughout the museum, personifying each of the museum's five crafting elements in a project we titled Kinetic Craft.

Over the course of four months, I painstakingly constructed a series of “breathing installations”—a concept I first developed back in 2011 with my fabric installation for Luminarium's residency at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Movement at the Mills—this time highlighting the five crafting elements: Textiles, Ceramics, Wood, Glass, and Metal.

The museum's 471 visitors that week perused the museum at their leisure as dancers from each installation performed and interacted with those passing by. Engaging for all ages, the event was free with museum admission, and garnered high praise from artists and participants alike. Luminarium received many lovely notes from those who attended saying that the week-long event "spoiled" them, and that it was the "best event that's ever come to the museum." To quote Titilayo Ngwenya, Director of Communications for the Fuller Craft Museum: "I wanted to congratulate you on a series of installations that not only captured the essence of the different craft media, but also engaged the audience with wonder and beautiful motion."

In addition to the hundreds of locals who attended, Luminarium was pleased to see many of its own followers wandering the museum—many of whom had never been, but commented on wanting to return. This was excellent feedback to receive, as one of Luminarium's goals of its annual Cultural Community Outreach Project is to introduce new patrons to the landmark it is honoring.

I'm especially grateful to the Brockton Cultural Council, whose grant helped make Kinetic Craft possible. It filled me with pride to be able to hire our network of company members and local performing artists at an hourly wage instead of a token stipend at the end of a long week. It allowed a total of 12 performers to sign up for as many shifts as they were able to take on, and by the end of the week, several of our company members were surprised to see how quickly their hours added up to a healthy paycheck! (A reality that in itself pains me—to see the surprise of fellow artists upon receiving fair compensation for the amount of work they put in. But that's a societal issue I'll address in a later post.) So thank you, BCC, for making this possible.

While Kim tackled the theme of Ceramics, I took on the other four. It's always an eerie moment to look back at my original notes and compare them to the end results—whether nearly identical from sketch to reality, or watching my thoughts morph and reshape themselves throughout the creative process. Below are my four breathing installations, then and now:

METAL

The goal was to create a full-bodied wind chime to highlight the resonant tones that metal can make. Our dancers would demonstrate the installation's ability to be played by any part of the body—foot, shoulder, knee, head—and encouraged visitors to set the metal bars into motion themselves. A hit with both young and old alike, the Metal Installation could be heard echoing through the halls of the museum, as engaged participants performed new melodies of their own.

WOOD

Here, I chose to highlight wood's ability to be either strong and structural, or so thin and fragile that light can diffuse through it. The result was my trickiest installation to build: A large wooden structure supporting three semi-opaque walls of tissue paper, allowing the sunlight in the window to highlight the dancer's shadowy movements within. Being only semi-opaque, we quickly learned onsite that the performer needed to move closely along the paper walls, or else she'd disappear. This allowed for some interesting dialogue between performer and viewer, as those passing by were not always initially aware of her presence inside.

GLASS
This installation morphed dramatically from its first concept to its final manifestation. Consistent throughout was my desire to capture glass's beautiful ability to melt, drip, liquify—and then to freeze in time. In the end, it wasn't a large, complex installation that needed to be built, but instead, simple and mobile. Inspired by my glass-blowing adventure with Kim, dancers were instructed to move with liquidity throughout the space while holding a white-hot glass orb. As they slowed to a static pose, they tapped the light attached to the orb I'd found—turning off the light and revealing its opaque opalescent swirls.

TEXTILES
Kinetic Craft offered me the opportunity to restage Untitled Breathing Installation #1, originally created for Luminarium's Movement at the Mills performance for the Boston Center for the Arts. Over the course of the week, dancers crept in and out of their blanket fort, asking viewers to select their favorite fabric scraps, then sewing them artfully onto this once-white dress. By the end of the week, the dress had become a patchwork medley of colors and textures—paying homage to textiles' role to clothe us, whether out of fashion or necessity.

Please enjoy some footage of the week via Luminarium's promo video below:

And additional footage via the Fuller Craft Museum's video thanking Luminarium for its hard work:

Photos of the event can be viewed via Luminarium's Facebook album (click the thumbnail below) including some moments captured of our youngest viewer interacting with the installations:

Thank you to all who supported and participated in this out-of-the-norm residency, and to the network of performing artists who continuously make my Cultural Community Outreach Project a success.

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Kinetic Craft was supported in part by a grant from the Brockton Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Top 10 Professional & Personal Highlights of 2017

2017 will forever be a year for the books.

I wish I could write that one sentence and call this annual entry complete, but I promised myself a while back to always take a moment at the start of each January to reflect on the year before—specifically, to document my top ten professional accomplishments—in an effort to remind myself that, Yes, I really did make progress in my career!

Yet 2017 was a little different, and for that reason, my top ten list is going to reflect this difference by encapsulating not only professional accomplishments and milestones, but personal ones as well.

Merli V. Guerra's art installation, Pieces, on view at We Create, 2017.

1. PROFESSIONAL: We Create

Stepping into 2017, I was already knee-deep in my We Create project, having begun my work as one of its 2016-17 cohort artists in September. Through April, I continued to research and develop my initial concept: delving into the cohort’s 2016-17 theme of “hidden stories” by creating an art installation recognizing those with physical and mental disabilities. As my work unfolded, I found myself narrowing in on the specific story of my Noni’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, and society’s habit of tucking Alzheimer’s patients away—glancing by them only on the surface, unaware of the beautiful, multifaceted lives hidden within. Although I ultimately found the We Create cohort to be largely flawed in its execution, the piece I created through this process turned out to be quite poignant in more ways than one. Find out why by reading my post Red is the color of music.

2. PROFESSIONAL: 2 New Commissions—Devil's Turn & Rosoff Awards

In past years, Spring has been a quieter time for Luminarium, which allows Kim and me an opportunity to use our Winter rehearsals in a gradual, constructively explorative way. Yet this season, similar to 2016, we found ourselves with a wild January through May as we prepared for back-to-back commissions, a weeklong residency at the Fuller Craft Museum, and invitational showings in NYC and Endicott College.

Our first set of commissions for the year was the long-awaited result of a collaboration with Boston New Music Initiative. Kim and I were each given a selection of contemporary orchestral works from around the world, and I quickly fell in love with John Allemeier’s The Devil’s Turn—inspired by the quick-tempoed fiddle reel of the same name. Incorporating fleeting moments of folk dance and paralleling the string quartet with a quartet of dancers, the new work debuted to an enthusiastic audience at BNMI’s Ars Nexa Tempora at the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville, MA, in April.

The second commission was a choreographic collaboration between Kim, myself, and the The Ad Club, who approached us to create a new to open the prestigious 2017 Rosoff Awards at the State Room in Boston, MA. The new quintet celebrated diversity, individuality, and the power of rising as a unified society.

Jess Chang performs Merli V. Guerra's Untitled Breathing Installation #2: Glass. 

3. PROFESSIONAL: Kinetic Craft

For my 2017 Cultural Community Outreach Project (the 6th project in this annual series), I successfully created a residency for Luminarium Dance Company at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, for the entire week of April school vacation. Every day from 10am to 5pm, Tuesday, April 18 through Sunday, April 23, 2017, five company members performed throughout the museum, personifying each of the museum's five crafting elements in my project Kinetic Craft.

Over the course of four months, I painstakingly constructed a series of “breathing installations”—a concept I first developed back in 2011 with my fabric installation for Luminarium's residency at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Movement at the Mills—this time highlighting four of the five crafting elements (Textiles, Wood, Glass, and Metal), while Kim tackled the fifth (Ceramics). Serving 471 visitors and featuring 12 company members and guest performers, Kinetic Craft successfully interwove movement with craft. For a more thorough synopsis with photos, videos, and testimonials, read my post “Kinetic Craft Residency in Review.”

4. PERSONAL: A Tale of Two Cities

In June, Sean and I relocated our lives to Princeton, NJ, for a job offer Sean couldn’t refuse. I don’t often speak about my personal life beyond the arts on this online journal (an intentional omission), but as I mentioned at the start of this post, 2017 marked many milestones in my personal life that merit public sharing. If I’ve never said it on here before, I regularly recognize how fortunate I am to have such an incredible partner. Yes, Kim is amazing, but this time I do mean my romantic partner. Sean is one of the single hardest working minds I know—and that’s coming from someone whose brain is constantly running! He approaches his work with a level of thoughtfulness, interest, and independence that cannot help but reveal results. As much as it saddened me to see the writing on the wall back in 2016 when he accepted a summer internship with Bristol Myers Squibb in New Jersey, I was also overjoyed to witness him working for a company that both pushed him and, at the same time, saw in him what I do. It came as a shock to my ever-under-estimating then fiancé (and as no surprise to anyone else in his life) when he was offered a rotational position with the company to begin in 2017. The work he has done since our move—and will no doubt continue to do—is astounding.

Luckily, New Jersey is a mere 6-hour drive from Boston, so my work in Massachusetts in most ways hasn't skipped a beat. As I settle into a groove of commuting back and forth for events (be it my own, or those I'm reviewing and supporting), I am confident that this relocation will proffer opportunities to further grow in my field. Already, I have met inspiring artists hailing from NYC, Philly, and the Garden State, with whom I hope to collaborate.

From a family perspective, the pace here is far slower than in Boston. It feels as though time can finally be given to long walks with my other half in the myriad of wooded parks peppering Pennsylvania and Central New Jersey, and our neighborhood is warm and welcoming (it took a while to get used to people saying "hello" to me on the street and not wanting anything in return!). Truly, there is beauty here in its more relaxed approach to life, and I look forward to our adventure unfolding as I balance my own Tale of Two Cities between Boston and Princeton.

Photos: Somerby Jones.

5. PERSONAL: Married

It's official! On August 12, 2017, Sean and I made a commitment to keep this party going all life long. Read my thoughts on the wedding (and my thwarted attempt to elope) in my post "Sorry, Sean. You're stuck with me."

6. PERSONAL: Puppy Parenthood

As Sean and I discussed the challenges and benefits of relocating, one benefit became excitingly clear: A move to New Jersey meant we would finally have space for a dog! No more cramped apartments with zero backyards; we would finally be able to bring a pup into our lives. A mere five days after our wedding, we traveled five hours to Virginia to pick up Banksy (yes, named after the elusive graffiti artist), our adorable little Goldendoodle. It’s been a nonstop rollercoaster of emotions ever since—from affection to frustration, amusement to worry—and while her name has grown to “Banksy Nala Piranha-Puppy Guerra” (or simply “Banksy Connolly” when she’s quietly behaving), this unpredictable ball of fluff has wriggled her way into our hearts for good. You can follow Banksy on Instagram @banksysighting for daily updates on her shenanigans.

Photo: Brian Bolanowski.

7. PROFESSIONAL: Outlet Dance Project

Luminarium made its New Jersey debut this fall at the impressive Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. I felt honored to be selected as one of the choreographers creating new work for The Outlet Dance Project, as it meant my own New Jersey artistic debut as well. Performed by Kim and myself, Weathered was created in relation to Linda Cunningham's striking bronze sculpture War Memorial III. This towering duet used 1970s CBS Vietnam newscasts as a sound score—at times, standing tall as the heroes of war, and at others, becoming engulfed by the darkness as were the civilian and military victims of battle. I described the impetus behind the new work in my application proposal:

“As a choreographer and visual artist, I often find my work revolves around the concept of the present intermingling with the past. Be it facing a past iteration of one’s self, or connecting with those who came before us, my work has been described as “haunting,” and “cyclical.” So, too, do I feel this when witnessing Linda Cunningham’s War Memorial III, whose abstracted towers of bronze strike the eye as both piercing upward through the ground while simultaneously melting back to whence they came. Researching the installation further, I find this duality of rising and falling to be beautifully metaphoric—from standing tall as veterans to withering and being forgotten, this “war memorial” begs to be set in motion.”

Performed on October 7, 2017, Weathered will hold a special place in my memory for years to come—in addition to marking my first Mid-Atlantic performance, it happened to fall on my 30th birthday! Not only that, but the sculpture itself was created in 1987, so it, too, was celebrating its 30th year on this earth. Call me sentimental, but there is something satisfyingly synchronous about marking that key milestone together (not to mention spending the day with poor Kim, who was sweating buckets under 40 yards of black satin in the 90 degree sun!).

8. PROFESSIONAL: Leaving Art New England

Relocating to New Jersey meant a shift in my work as a designer as well. In October 2017, I officially resigned from my role as Art Director of Art New England magazine. During my five-year tenure at ANE, I oversaw the magazine’s growth from 60 to 120 pages, bi-monthly; designed its feature, column, and review layouts; and mocked up a total of roughly 1,500 covers (only 28 of which ever made it to fruition). Nothing quite compares to holding the physical manifestation of a project in my own two hands—thumbing through its pages, and marveling at the cover’s fully-realized design. Equally engaging are feature layouts, which have proffered me the most room for creativity—from discussing the piece as a whole with the editor to enhancing the writer’s words through imagery. As I move on, I’m grateful for the friendships I’ve made while holding this position, and for the breadth of artists I’ve had the pleasure of working with and promoting nationally.

9. PROFESSIONAL: Dance International

In the fall, I was proud to add another publication to my list of freelance dance critic assignments: Dance International magazine. My first review for this Canadian-based print publication is set to appear in the February issue, and I’m grateful to its Editor Kaija Pepper for helping me adjust to the magazine’s writing style. Keep your eyes peeled for a piece on Boston Ballet’s Obsidian Tear, with works by Jorma Elo and Wayne McGregor.

10. PROFESSIONAL: Moderated 100 Years of Modern Dance

At this stage in my career, I’ve spoken on a variety of panels covering the topics of entrepreneurship, choreography, arts funding, and legislation, to name a few. I ended 2017 with a new panel experience: as moderator. I was delighted when Kathy Hassinger, Artistic Director of Dance Currents, Inc., invited me to moderate her post-performance panel for 100 Years of Modern Dance at Green Street Studios in Cambridge, MA. In November, I had the honor of guiding a dialogue between local dance mavens Marcus Schulkind, Margot Parsons, Joanie Block, Ali Smith, Samantha Govoni, and Whitney Cover to an engaged audience who commented they wished the conversation could have gone on much longer! The event was a wonderful end to the year, and pushed me to participate in panels in a new capacity, while trying my best to employ my Libra balancing skills.

Kinetic Craft Residency: Thoughts on Metal

Before beginning this project, I never could have rattled off the five crafting elements (metal, ceramics, fiber, glass, and wood), yet now I find myself thinking about them all the time. Be it wrapping my hands around a hand-thrown mug, hearing the different pitches of a coin bouncing down a metal grate or enjoying the tactility of a journal’s weathered pages, I am now constantly aware.

While I would love to pair each of these with the five senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch), I sadly don’t have the sanitation means to encourage our viewers to lick a series of metal spoons, or create the pleasing aroma of a burning wood fire inside the museum, so instead I’ve chosen to utilize the remaining three while focusing on the properties of each element that intrigue me most.

METAL

For Metal, I am focusing on its sound—from tinny tinkling to rich melodic tones. The page from my sketchbook below shows my preliminary thoughts and images for how I eventually grew to envision using metal bars and movement to create a large-scale, dance-propelled wind chime. As always, this project took several conceptual (and logistical) twists and turns through the creation process. Consistent across all versions was my intention to give the dancer a wide space for full-bodied movement, and to create a playable instrument of sorts. Yet getting there took several steps.

Preliminary sketches for Merli V. Guerra's Metal Breathing Installation; March 2017.

I first pictured the dancer in the center of several stationary xylophone-like structures of different tonal qualities, however I soon realized that in order to achieve a clear sound from each, I would need some kind of wooden striker. Suddenly I became aware of the fact that the dancer would likely need to hold the striker in her hand and intentionally move her hand across the chimes around her, which felt far too disconnected to me. How so? I wanted this to be a wind chime propelled by the complete range of the human body, rather than a single limb—regardless of how creative the performer might be as she danced from structure to structure, she would be limited to the use of one hand to ultimately "play" the installation.

Detail of preliminary sketches for Merli V. Guerra's Metal Breathing Installation; March 2017.

This led to the illustration above, in which I devised a way for all body parts to be able to instigate sound as the dancer moved through the installation, yet as I began setting it up, I soon came across another obstacle: delayed resonance. The cords, while clever in concept, actually caused a disconnect between visual and audio. As I moved, my body would push against the cord, pulling the striker away from the chime. It wasn’t until I had already released and moved on that the striker would then swing back into the chime and make its rich sound! The result was a delay of perhaps 1-2 seconds, yet it was enough to make it difficult, as the performer, to feel as though my actions were directly causing each sound, not to mention the visual lag similarly experienced by the viewer.

After trying cords of different lengths, weights, and stiffness, I ultimately omitted them—rehanging all of the chimes and strikers (a tedious task!) on a multitude of levels that now allows the dancer to move through them directly for the instant gratification of correlated movement and melody. I’m eager to set this up in a space larger than my 10 x 5’ living room and allow the dancer’s notes to reverberate throughout the Great Room and likely down the halls as well.

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This blog post is related to Luminarium Dance Company's upcoming one-week Kinetic Craft residency at the Fuller Craft Museum—Guerra's 2017 Cultural Community Outreach Project. 

Kinetic Craft

Luminarium Dance Company in Residence

April 18-23, 2017  .  10am-5pm, daily

Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton MA

 This project is supported in part by a grant from the Brockton Cultural Council, a branch of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

2017: Off and Running!

As a reviewer for the Fjord Review, my weekends often involve press releases, packed theaters, and notes scribbled in the dark.

Here we are—just four brisk weeks into the new year and already my plate is full with new projects, culminating events, and guest invitations now through April (and then some, but let’s focus on the next three months for now).

First, a recap of what these projects are:

Voices From the Future: I’ll be participating in Voices From the Future with a voice from the past. Luminarium company member Alison McHorney will perform the one-minute solo from my 2016 work The Grass Never Grows, set to a score of spoken poetry, at this event celebrating the LGBTQ community.

Concert at Longy Hall: Friend and colleague Mel Fitzhugh—a composer whose personal story and professional work are equally intriguing—has invited me to once again perform an improvisationally-inspired choreographic solo alongside cellist Christien Beeuwkes, this time for an afternoon performance of Mel’s musical works at Longy Hall. The concert will take place February 26, 2017.

Mad World: Aurora Borealis has selected Luminarium to be its Guest Artist for its Spring concert Mad World on March 11th, and has specifically asked us to bring my Phoenixial Cycle duet, last presented at the State House in Boston.

Five College Dance Department Careers Panel: I’m thrilled to be representing Mount Holyoke College’s impressive array of Dance Department alumnae at this event. On March 31st, one alum from each of the Five Colleges (Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, UMass, and Hampshire) in the five-college consortium will speak about their careers, advising current students studying in the field. I feel honored to represent my alma mater, and look forward to connecting with future choreographers (hopefully coming to Boston)!

We Create Festival: I’ve been a part of the 2016-17 cohort since September and have been developing new work with the guidance of my project mentor (and longtime friend) Jenny Zuk, developing an art installation exploring the theme of “hidden stories,” as it pertains to those with physical and/or mental disabilities. The culminating performance and exhibition viewing will take place April 8, 2017.

Kinetic Craft: For my annual Cultural Community Outreach Project (which is now in its 6th year), Luminarium will be in residence at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton for the entire week of April school vacation (10-5pm Tuesday, April 18 through Sunday, April 23, 2017). I’m constructing a series of “breathing installations”—a concept I first developed back in 2011 with Luminarium’s fabric installation at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Movement at the Mills—highlighting the five crafting elements: Textiles, Ceramics, Wood, Glass, and Metal. I’ve invited Kim to join me by creating the Ceramics installation, while I continue to develop the other four, each of which will have a dancer performing inside as part of the installation, around the clock.

Boston New Music Initiative’s Spring Concert: Last year, Luminarium was commissioned to create two new choreographic works to accompany two of the musical scores selected from BNMI's international call to artists. I’m excited to be working on a new work, set to John Allemeier’s The Devil’s Turn. This performance of live music and dance will take place at the Armory in Somerville, MA, on April 22nd.

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That’s the update for now. This quarter is packed with projects and events that lend themselves to interdisciplinary creation and collaboration—AKA, my favorite kind of work! As we speak, my bag contains a notebook full of thoughts and sketches, a 21-page musical score, a crumpled Groupon from Kim and my recent glassblowing adventure (research for Kinetic Craft), and a planner full of upcoming interviews and casual conversations scheduled with mentors and artists (often outside my primary discipline) to further enhance my work.

If this first quarter is any indication, 2017 is going to be an intense and invigorating year. Bring it on!

Top 10 Professional Highlights of 2016

As a “doer” / “go-getter” with an always active creative brain, I often feel I’m running a race—trying to keep up with the many projects and ideas speeding past me, just out of reach. The result? I find it extremely difficult to acknowledge the ground I gain each season. Despite priding myself on being a deeply introspective person, I cannot seem to translate “completion” into “accomplishment.” That translation comes instead from those around me, who are able to look at the big picture. And while I frequently find it difficult to agree with those outside eyes, once each year I force myself to sit down and reflect: To allow myself the opportunity (though I view it more as a reluctant task) to pinpoint my top 10 accomplishments of the season.

1. Speaking, Presenting, and Performing at the State House

On Wednesday, February 10, 2016, Luminarium had the honor of performing in one of the most important buildings in Massachusetts. As a regular recipient of LCC grants, and a 2015 winner of the Massachusetts Cultural Council's (MCC) Gold Star Award, Luminarium was invited by the MCC to join its staff and prominent state legislators at the State House in Boston for the Local Cultural Council (LCC) 2016 Statewide Assembly, a private biennual event celebrating the LCC program. LCC volunteers from across the Commonwealth gathered at the capitol to explore arts and culture beyond their individual perspectives, connecting with community leaders and legislators to discuss the impact of projects that build creative communities through the arts.

Not only did I feel privileged to have my Phoenixial Cycle duet presented to such an artistic and high-powered audience (and to perform, myself, in Kim's Getting There is Half the Battle trio), but I was additionally invited by the MCC to speak on a panel at the event alongside distinguished arts colleagues Ben Taylor (musician), Scarlet Keys (Associate Professor, Berklee College of Music), and keynote speaker Sally Taylor (musician and founder of Consenses). And if those names sound familiar, yes, Sally and Ben are the children of famous musicians Carly Simon and James Taylor—an impressive panel to be sure! View photos of the event here.

2. Co-Chair of Arlington Cultural Council

2016 kicked off with another act of arts advocacy and local politics. A mere three months into my term on the Arlington Cultural Council (ACC), I was humbled to be voted into office as co-chair. During my year-long term on the ACC, I led council meetings alongside my equally impassioned compatriots, and acted as the ACC representative at events both small and large throughout the town, including: speaking in front of hundreds at Town Meeting; attending conferences and forums regarding the Cultural District (and instigating the movement for involvement from the ACC); introducing the Massachusetts Cultural Council's grant program opportunities to local artists through Arlington Town Day and other events; and speaking on behalf of the ACC on Arlington Public News. It was a challenging yet gratifyingly productive year, ended only due to my move into the city and my desire to refocus my efforts on the Boston arts community—my home now both in business and living address. Still, I continue to keep an eye on Arlington's ever-growing arts scene, and hope to one day return in a new capacity.

3. Modeling and Performing in a Retail Promo Video

Things not typically associated with me: hip hop, and modeling merchandise. Yet at the start of 2016, I found myself doing both for Empower Fitness—a company whose merchandise is sold under aliases at major stores such as Target, Walmart, and TJMaxx. Performing hip hop routines choreographed by the talented Gabby Pacheco, the two of us spent an aerobic morning showcasing the company's new product line for a promo video that would soon be pitched to the Target headquarters in Texas. Not a bad way to spend a morning, especially when leaving with both a healthy paycheck and swag!

4. Being Invited to Write for the International Fjord Review

I was absolutely delighted this Spring when founding editor Penelope Ford reached out, inviting me to write for the Fjord Review—an international online magazine for ballet and contemporary dance. Writing for the Fjord Review complements the work I do for The Arts Fuse as a senior contributor and selector of the weekly must-see dance picks (as well as my own independent writing as an artist) while expanding my peer base to across the globe. Canada, London, Italy, New York, Paris, Australia and Glasgow are just some of the regions covered by the publication's skilled writers. I have so enjoyed reviewing major productions as the Fjord Review's Boston-area critic, and look forward to sinking my teeth in further in 2017. Take a peek!

5. TEDxCambridge Commission and Performing at the Boston Opera House

Already high off our performance at the State House in February, Kim and I were further elated when, just days later, we were contacted for another prominent event at an equally famous venue. Luminarium was commissioned to create a new work as the sole opening act for the prestigious TEDxCambridge, performing in one of Boston's most noteworthy theaters (and home of Boston Ballet), the Boston Opera House. The new work, co-choreographed by Kim and myself, featured the full company along with imagery projected across a 50-foot screen created by animation artist Samo. The event on June 9, 2016, was the single largest TED Talks event in the world (even larger than the original TED Talk in Vancouver), with an audience of 2,600 viewers. Luminarium was honored and humbled to have been hand-selected for this position from the wealth of options comprising Boston's vibrant performing arts scene. I've always felt lucky to have stood on many important stages through my career, but this particular stage—this particular experience—left me, for once, speechless. Enjoy this behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the day.

6. "300 Years": Celebrating the Wayside Inn Through Music, Film, and Dance

This year's annual Cultural Community Outreach Project (CCOP) took me back to my childhood—and for company member Melenie too, for that matter! Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA, is a beautiful historic site known for being the setting of Longfellow's popular story collection Tales of the Wayside Inn. The event was perfectly timed, syncing up with the inn's 300th anniversary, and though rain held us back from our original date, the final event was sunny, warm, and well attended. This marked my fifth CCOP with Luminarium, and thanks to a grant from the Sudbury Cultural Council and book sales from last year's CCOP, I had the funds to include live music, three outdoor dance performances, and a film projected on the grist mill's walls. While Kim's piece explored the land, mine honored the mill and the history of the inn. As a special surprise, my aunt brought my Noni to the performance. I can't remember the last time she saw my work, and it made the afternoon especially memorable for us both. View photos, videos, and testimonials from 300 Years here.

7. Performing "Phoenixial Cycle" at the Outside the Box Festival

Luminarium was thrilled to be selected for this monumental Boston festival, resurrecting my 2015 work Phoenixial Cycle outdoors on the Tremont Street Stage. Out of all the works we submitted, I'm glad it was this one the festival chose. Not only did it give me an opportunity to revisit the work as a choreographer, but it pushed me as a performer to step into Dream's lead role due to scheduling conflicts. I created this piece with the goal of making a work that physically tired its soloist in reality—not just through acting—as the work revolves around the concept of "burnout." Well, it seems I succeeded. For all the times I watched the company patting Dream on the back for a show well performed (drenched in sweat and breathing heavy), I couldn't fully commend her until performing the role myself. How demanding! Now add hot stage lights under a tent on a 100 degree day on the Boston Common... Was I out of breath? Yes. But was the experience worth it? Always.

8. The Sheep Shoot

Dancing in the countryside... Each year, Luminarium performs in the Wiscasset Art Walk, and in 2015, the company was dancing alongside several beautiful sheep photos in Sylvan Gallery when the artist, Nina Fuller, approached us with the possibility of doing a photoshoot with her sheep in the future. I followed up earlier this year, and on the way home from the 2016 art walk, Luminarium stopped at Nina's farm, where the company mingled with its inhabitants on and off camera. I can't say I've ever done a dance photo shoot quite like this one before. While most of the sheep were skittish, Brenda (seen above) and Emma helped ease our way into the herd. With 30 sheep, two horses, a rooster, a donkey, and a mini horse, Kim and I had a blast performing on Lily Brook Farm, while giving our company members a new experience for the books. View the full series here.

9. Collaborating with Composer Mali Sastri on "The Hostess Diaries"

With an abundance of funding for this year's CCOP, I decided to take on a new challenge: Creating a work that would debut at the Wayside, but that would also be relevant beyond that specific venue. Reading through the inn's old journal entries known as "the hostess diaries," I became acutely aware of history repeating itself. From fires, to wars, to harsh New England winters, many of the old entries ring true for modern times, yet even when describing challenges and moments of sadness, the journals also continuously reference beautiful flowers adorning the rooms, joyous new meetings of strangers telling stories by the hearth, and excitement as celebrities stopped at the inn on their travels.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work with the wildly talented musician Mali Sastri (of the Boston-based band Jaggery) on this project. My original intent was to choreograph the work, then have Mali create a soundscore to match, but, as luck would have it, my choreography had to be put unexpectedly on hold as Kim and I turned our focus to our new commission for TEDxCambridge instead. Mali and I met for coffee on several occasions throughout these months, during which she did her own research for inspiration, and in the end, her music was created first. We went back and forth a little, tweaking it as needed, before I dove into three intense rehearsals leading up to the Wayside Inn event to finish what I'd started. The end result was a deeply collaborative new work that seemed to resonate with its viewers.

The challenge (and excitement) came when bringing it indoors to the Boston University Dance Theater later in the season for Luminarium's feature production Portal: Stories from the Edge. Suddenly lighting, sound amplification, and staging became a larger focus. Giving cellist Jonah Sacks his own light and space upstage so as to highlight him (not hide him, as is often typical with live music at dance performances) and hooking Mali up to a lapel mic, the dancers and I tweaked the choreography to incorporate both musicians as active performers onstage. Mali wove in and out, calmly inserting herself into the choreography as if the symbolic keeper of time, all while singing her lyrics with gritty strength and honey-like fluidity. In the end, this work is the piece I'm most proud of this season (aside from the work Kim and I co-choreographed for the Opera House, of course!). Thank you to Mali for being such an inspiring collaborator, and to the dancers (Amy, Katie, Dream, Alison, and Melenie) for being open to discussion and input while making this historically-relevant work. (And for joining me with giddy enthusiasm to dance in hoop skirts!)

10. "We Create" 2016-17 Cohort

This final 2016 accomplishment is one that will continue to expand into the new year. My days are typically focused on creating new work for Luminarium, freelance writing assignments, and graphic design for work. Sadly, there are projects that find their way into my journal that don't necessarily fall into those categories. For this reason, I'm beyond grateful to have been chosen for the 2016-17 cohort of We Create—"an annual festival in Boston that features the works of a selected group of the most talented women artists in Massachusetts," founded in 2013 by Puerto Rican artist, Marsha Parrilla of Danza Orgánica. For this festival, I'm working with long-time friend and Harvard PhD candidate Jenny Zuk to build an installation piece celebrating the vibrancy of those with disabilities. With the theme of "hidden stories," it has been a moving experience to connect with my fellow cohort artists, as they each dive into their respective works.

Those are the highlights of 2016. Here’s to another fruitful season for all of us in 2017!

A Pivotal Moment: Performing at the Boston Opera House

Apologies in advance to my readers: This post takes a more rambling approach than I tend to use, but one thought led to another, and it felt too circuitous in the end to force it into a more linear format. Enjoy!

People often ask me where my love of dance originated. To be honest, it seems to have lived inside me since the moment I could freely move my limbs. When I was old enough to talk, I repeatedly concerned my parents with a straight-faced story about my true identity being a professional dancer who lived in a pink house, and that my "real" family missed me. Alter ego aside, my dance career did start young, and was encouraged by a supportive family (yes, my actual one) and a network of mentors with whom I still keep in contact and thank for their help along the way. 

A glimpse at a time when performing made me feel timid, rather than charged.

Despite this encouragement from the outside, I was always aware of the fact that fulfilling my goal of becoming a professional dancer/choreographer would be a challenge to say the least. I started taking formal dance classes at the age of six, which—sadly—is considered "late" in the ballet world. Yet as I grew, I discovered both my set-backs and my strengths. What I lacked in turnout and height, I made up for with stage presence.

"Stage presence." What an interesting term. The dictionary defines it as "the ability to command the attention of a theater audience by the impressiveness of one's manner or appearance," and this is certainly true, but for me the term is two-fold. Whenever I perform in a new space, I find I have not one favorite moment, but two. Who doesn't love that instant when the stage lights rise, heating your skin, your face, as you connect with the viewers in the dark abyss through the intricacies of movement? Yet equally powerful is the moment just prior, when the tech crew has shifted its focus away from the performers; the performers have wandered off to eat, change, and apply their makeup; and the stage just sits there, not as a magnificent focal point, but as an insignificant structure awaiting the production.

That is the moment I love most. When the only "stage presence" left in the theater is the presence of the stage itself.

Kim and I pry ourselves awake for our first meeting with TEDxCambridge, at the very non-Luminarium hour of 8am.

In February, Kim and I received a call from TEDxCambridge, inviting us to open for their spring 2016 TED Talks. The call could have gone a far less glamorous direction, but instead we soon found ourselves creating a newly-commissioned work for the single largest TED event in the world (even larger than the original TED Talks in Vancouver), performing for an audience of 2,600 viewers in our city's most celebrated theater, the Boston Opera House.

Wandering around the block, we spy our event featured on the Boston Opera House marquee. Photo: Merli V. Guerra.

The process was as exhilarating as it was daunting, but in the end, Kim and I found ourselves walking around the block—exhausted, excited—chatting about how solid we felt about the work we were about to debut. It was our first commissioned work of this magnitude coupled with our first time co-choreographing in four years, and we had successfully created a piece that the full company felt proud of, allowing ourselves to work somewhat commercially without compromising our artistic integrity.

Kim feet and my feet, standing on this monumental stage.
Photo: Kim Holman.

Our walk ended back inside the theater, standing on the stage. And thus my "stage presence" moment began. Here was this mighty, famous, historic theater whose gilded walls gleamed in the light. But who was she really? I took a moment for myself to commune with the space—a spiritual pre-performance ritual of mine—feeling the weight of the people whose energies graced this same spot over the years. The floor creaked under my feet in patches, while others pushed back against my legs. The ceiling mural somehow felt farther away now, and I wondered who painted it—were they as scared of heights as I am? The backstage opened up to reveal a colossal, cool cave of inspiration—what set design couldn't one build in here? And as Kim and I exited to return to the group, I marveled at how quickly all the backstage passages had become second nature to travel.

Soaking it all in, and fully embracing the evening to follow. Photo: Kim Holman.

A few weeks before the production, I brought my mom to see Boston Ballet for her birthday, and we made a whole day of it. Amusingly, it wasn't until halfway through the performance that she suddenly realized which theater we were in, and that this was the same stage Luminarium would be performing on in June. The conversation shifted back to one of my earliest memories of seeing Boston Ballet perform—back then at the Wang Theatre. My dad had brought me and my friend Ginny to see Swan Lake. I remember sitting in a booster seat, peering down at the dancers, completely mesmerized. Even more vivid, I remember my dad sneaking us around a corner in the lobby—as the adults laughed and mingled, sipping their wine—and surprising us with our own intermission beverage of choice: Juicy Juice, with a snack of Teddy Grahams.

24 years later, here I was. Sipping cocktails at the Ritz Carlton after party for the event's VIPs; chatting with corporate sponsors; and laughing with my company members, my friends, about the last-minute trials of the performance a few hours earlier. I wonder what that little girl would have thought—sitting cross legged on the floor, sipping her juice box and enjoying her snack—if a young woman in a black dress suddenly turned around, winked, and with a reassuring smile said "This will be you someday. You'll perform on the same stage as Boston's finest; your work will be shown to the region's smartest audience; and you'll be surrounded by artists you admire and who support and admire you right back."

What would she have thought...

Backstage, the company huddles together one last time before the show begins. Photo: Luke Fogel.

Below are two videos from this mile-marker event in Luminarium's evolution. The first is a 5-minute documentary giving viewers a look into the company's experience behind-the-scenes. The second is the beautiful, professional footage taken of the performance itself.

Many thanks to all who were involved in the creation of this work and to all who encouraged us throughout the four months leading up to its debut!