Top 10 Professional Highlights of 2021

Every January, I take some time to compile all of the previous year's professional highlights and determine the top ten. Each time I do this, it begins with me saying the same thing: "I didn't accomplish anything this year professionally. How embarrassing that I won't even hit ten..." And yet, by the end of this annual ritual, I inevitably find myself surprised at how many steps forward I actually did take and, fortunately, this Covid-ridden year was no different!

1. RIDER UNIVERSITY GUEST CHOREOGRAPHER

2021 marked my third year choreographing for Rider Dances as a Guest Choreographer at Rider University. While Rider Dances 2020 remains one of my last in-person performances pre-pandemic shutdown, Rider Dances 2021 was 100% virtual. Rather than create a traditional screendance, I employed my newfound 360 videography editing skills to create a new virtual reality work titled Kaleidoscope. This short, 360-degree VR dance experience celebrates diversity and individuality, while reuniting dancers across multiple continents, time zones, and Covid quarantine statuses. You can experience Kaleidoscope in 360 here.

2. THE TIME TRAVELER'S LENS

On April 19, 2021 (Patriot's Day), I launched The Time Traveler's Lens—my first AR/VR immersive performance illuminating the history of the colonnade ruins at Princeton Battlefield State Park in Princeton, NJ. Serving as both my MFA thesis work and Luminarium's 2021 Cultural Community Outreach Project, The Time Traveler's Lens invites parkgoers and remote viewers to experience five 360-degree extended reality (XR) films that merge history, technology, and contemporary dance into an immersive performance unfolding around them. As a former historical interpreter at Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House (Concord MA) and Paul Revere House (Boston MA), I am thrilled that this work is now a permanent feature of Princeton Battlefield State Park per invitation of the NJ State Park Service. Whether you're a Jersey local or on the other side of the globe, I invite you to experience The Time Traveler's Lens's five 360-degree XR films here.

3. PRESENTER: OUR WORLD HERITAGE & HARVARD UNIVERSITY

April was a busy month. Not only did The Time Traveler's Lens become accessible to the public both onsite in Princeton NJ and remotely elsewhere, but I was invited to present on the work twice. I first presented "Heritage in Motion" at Our World Heritage's international Globinar 2.0, discussing my MFA research and decade of interdisciplinary work with dance and historic preservation in relation to my annual Cultural Community Outreach Project and The Time Traveler’s Lens. The presentation resulted in meaningful dialogues with organizations in California, Connecticut, Canada, and Benin (West Africa) to discuss possibilities for collaboration between my work and their own historic sites. I next presented “The Time Traveler's Lens: Using AR/VR and Choreographic Tools to Enliven Historic Ruins” for Harvard University Virtual/Augmented Reality (HUV/AR), a group of staff and faculty who are all exploring 360-degree, 3D, and immersive spaces at Harvard University. Again, the presentation has since resulted in fascinating dialogues with researchers at the university.

4. NEW YORK CITY ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL COMMISSION

Also in April 2021, I created a new screendance film. Dance with Violoncello and Electronics was written by composer and colleague Melika M. Fitzhugh as a music/choreography collaboration with me back in 2017. The piece was reworked for film this spring, with myself as performer and played by internationally-acclaimed cellist Madeleine Shapiro. The film made its international debut at the prestigious New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (2021), and was additionally screened as part of the international Global Water Dances event (2021). Choreographically, this work explores the quiet existence of water as it relates to community and ecosystem, performed in relationship to a manmade pond in central New Jersey, USA. Although manmade, this pond serves as a life force for wildlife ranging from deer to herons to water striders, and is a daily sanctuary for its human neighbors as well. Here, dance and sound echo the essence of this body of water—at times tumultuous, at others serene.

5. MASTER OF FINE ARTS, DANCE

In May, I officially defended my thesis and received my MFA in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. My thesis explores what I have termed as the “palimpsest of self.” The term palimpsest originally refers to writing that has been rubbed out, yet traces of it remain. My creative and scholarly research investigates the notion that self can be viewed as a layered entity, much like how tree rings or rock striations illustrate a visual history or palimpsest of the whole. My current research expands on this by examining past identities of an historic site, while employing a combination of site-specific choreography, film, and 360-degree virtual/extended reality tools to create a viewing experience that is both immersive and co-produced between the participant and myself. 

A huge thank you goes out to all the faculty, staff, and dancers who were involved in my thesis work; to my cohort-mates for their camaraderie; and to the incredible family and friends who attended my defense for their virtual support—thank you!

6. CHASING LIGHT EXHIBITION

July through August, I was thrilled to have my choreography like mercury in the palm of my hand included in Gallery 263's regional exhibition Chasing Light, which featured the work of 31 artists from across New England who utilize light as material or subject matter. This show was juried by Leah Triplett Harrington, curator for Now + There and editor-at-large of Boston Art Review. My 2019 duet like mercury began as an artistic abstraction of the “Janus molecule,” whose rare properties make it both medicinal and lethal. It has since grown to encompass the Panoptic nature of the microscope, observing versus being observed, and the implications of exposure. The piece is performed by Luminarium artists Victoria Kreutzer and Karina McKenna.

7. KINETIC JOURNAL: TANZANIA

In August, I was fortunate to travel across Tanzania with local big cat biologist Sosy Maira (The Wild Source) creating a series of site-specific screendances in response to the ecosystems of Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti National Parks. These "kinetic journal" entries take inspiration from the parks' landscapes, inhabitants, and daily events. All but one are now complete—stay tuned for their official release in 2022!

8. RIDER DANCE DAY

I was delighted to present my work with dance and technology at this year's Rider Dance Day—an annual event for current and prospective students at Rider University. Speaking alongside my impressive colleague Yoshi Tanokura, my presentation focused on the work I created on Rider students earlier that year (Kaleidoscope) using 360-degree videography and editing. As always, it was a joy to watch viewers engage with this virtual reality work, as their movements while twisting and turning to watch were equally choreographic in nature!

9. INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS & SCREENINGS

In the past, I would have listed each of these international film screenings as its own top-ten achievement, but 2021 was rich with film festivals both here and abroad. Instead, I'll consolidate them into one, noting that my films made their Japanese, Indian, and Georgian debuts this year, in addition to a myriad of other exciting screenings around the globe. Also of note, The One I Keep was awarded “Best Experimental of 2020” and For you, to mentor me was awarded “Best Art Narrative of 2020” at Teknochat Festivals’ VIP Fest: Best of 2020 in Barcelona, Spain, and Resistencia, Argentina, at the start of 2021!

The One I Keep and What seems so is transition, 7ArtsCafe Women in Dance Film Festival – Yokohama, Japan

For you, to mentor me, Visualis Film Festival – St. Petersburg, Russia

Semi-finalist

          like mercury in the palm of my hand in Chasing Light, Gallery 263 – Cambridge MA

In Revolution, Show Up & Dance – Verona NJ

Dance with Violoncello and Electronics, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival – New York City NY

Dance with Violoncello and Electronics, Global Water Dances – International event

Passage, Crown Wood International Film Festival – Kolkata, India

The One I Keep, Circe Dance Film Exhibition – Tbilisi, Georgia

For you, to mentor me and The One I Keep, Teknochat Festivals’ VIP Fest: Best of 2020 – Barcelona, Spain, and Resistencia, Argentina

“Best Art Narrative of 2020” Film Award (For you, to mentor me)

“Best Experimental of 2020” Film Award (The One I Keep)

For you, to mentor me, Sensus Film Festival – St. Petersburg, Russia

Semi-finalist

10. FROM PROFESSION TO PROFESSOR

Having taught master classes across the Northeast over the past decade and acted as a Guest Choreographer at various universities, I'm no stranger to working with students in higher education. Yet, to be hired as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at both Rutgers University and Rider University in 2021 to teach full semester-long courses on choreography, I found myself deeply fulfilled. I feel honored that these institutions view me as someone capable of this role. The students I worked with across both semesters were open and eager to learn. I so enjoyed helping these students further their own choreographic voices through this process, and look forward to future opportunities to help young choreographers navigate their artistic paths and grow. Thank you to my students for your willingness to experiment, laugh, and dig deep! (Above: My Rider students with my famous pup Banksy!)

And that's a wrap! Here's to another year of "not accomplishing anything professionally" in 2022!

 

Top 10 Professional Highlights of 2020

Each January, I reflect on the top ten professional highlights that furthered my work throughout the prior year. 2020 was a challenge for all of us, yet I am delighted to recognize that this year was no exception in furthering my growth as an artist in the fields of dance, film, and design.

1. LUMINARIUM CELEBRATES 10 YEARS

Luminarium Dance Company celebrated its monumental 10-year anniversary this season, hosting and participating in both live and virtual events across Greater Boston and New Jersey. The year kicked off with generous funding from the Boston Cultural Council, who continues to support our community-engaged work, and ended with one of our most successful Year End Appeals to date. Thank you to our supporters, audience members, collaborators, mentors, and (most importantly) dancers for making our vision a reality all these years. When Kim Holman and I founded this company back in 2010, we chose "Luminarium" as a name, as its definition is two-fold, stemming from the word “luminary,” which is defined as “a body that gives off light,” and more importantly, “sheds light on some subject or enlightens mankind.” Today, we are now an award-winning contemporary dance company, regularly hailed for our unique combination of dance, light, and enlightenment, and we thank you for helping us achieve this position in the dance community.

Merli V. Guerra's River Stories, 2020. Photo: Rider University.

2. RIDER UNIVERSITY GUEST CHOREOGRAPHER

I was thrilled to return as a guest choreographer for Rider University's 2020 Rider Dances production, as the dance department's students are truly some of the most hard-working, dedicated undergraduates with whom I've had the pleasure of working. Using shimmering fabric and classical Odissi-inspired movement vocabulary, this commissioned work for nine dancers interweaves storytelling, spatial patterning, and intricate rhythmic precision while evoking a sunset reflecting on the river.

Merli V. Guerra's ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ—STUVWXYZ, 2020. Photo: John Evans.

3. 2019-20 CULTURAL COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROJECT

I began the year continuing my work with Intellectual / Developmental Disability (I/DD) self-advocates across New Jersey. From September 2019 to March 2020, I conducted oral histories with these incredible people in collaboration with the Rutgers University MFA in Dance program and coLAB Arts organization. The resulting dance theatre work, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ—STUVWXYZ, calls attention to the struggles and accomplishments these self-advocates face. What daily dignities do we take for granted? What does "self-advocacy" mean to those in the I/DD community? Evoking moments of accomplishment and perseverance, ABC highlights the day-to-day overlaps of I/DD and neurotypical communities. This work was created in collaboration with Luminarium 2019 Satellite artists Paolo Arante, Emily Cornish, Nik Palivoda, Camilla Poniz, and Noah Teeling and served as Luminarium's annual Cultural Community Outreach Project. Stay tuned for future presentations of the work across the East Coast! 

4. AWARD WINNER: LUMINARIUM'S "THE ONE I KEEP" WINS "BEST EXPERIMENTAL"

In a year when my personal travel plans were canceled, it was exciting to witness my screendance films continuing to travel the globe. The One I Keep (2013), performed by long-time Luminarium company member Jessica Chang, has been featured in international festivals and periodicals including: WomenCinemakers - Special Edition (Berlin, Germany), ViDEOSKiN (Yukon, Canada), Cefalù Film Festival (Palermo, Italy), Women in Dance Leadership Conference (Philadelphia, PA, USA), and now Europa Film Festival (Barcelona, Spain / Resistencia, Argentina), in which it was honored to receive the "Best Experimental" film category award. Excitingly, the Boston Globe published this news and highlighted me as a "gifted filmmaker"—thank you, Boston Globe!

5. DESIGNER: HEARTPLAY

Luminarium's company members are deeply gifted individuals whose talents extend beyond the theater. Long-time company member Katie McGrail is additionally the Children's Services Coordinator at Beth Israel Lahey Health at Home and Assistant Director of Camp Erin Boston. Through this work, and her work as the pre-school group leader for HEARTplay After-School and HEARTplay West, Katie referred me to the organization as a graphic and web designer back in 2019. Since then, it has been a delight working with Katie and Jennifer Wiles—Director of HEARTplay, Camp Erin Boston, and Children's Services at Beth Israel Lahey Health At Home—on HEARTplay's many brochure, mailing, and most recently, website needs. I rarely take on freelance web design projects these days, due to the sheer number of hours required for such projects, but redesigning websites for inspiring organizations such as HEARTplay brings me joy and satisfaction that is difficult to pass up. Not familiar with HEARTplay? Take a peek at their newly redesigned website!

6. AWARD WINNER: "FOR YOU, TO MENTOR ME" WINS TWO CATEGORIES OVERSEAS 

In December 2019, I premiered my latest screendance film For you, to mentor me at Luminarium's Season 9 feature production Luminarium in Concert. I was thrilled when this year the film was screened by the international SounDance Film Festival in Spain and Argentina, where it was awarded "Best Choreography" and "Best Narrative Dance"! Hailed by SounDance Film Festival as "a film brimming with love, grace and sensitivity," For you, to mentor me follows a mother-daughter relationship shifting over time, featuring a multigenerational cast of women ages 4 to 60, and newborns 11 to 19 days. Dance and film are used to highlight a growing young woman's thirst for independence, and a mother's desire to nurture, guide, and mentor. The Boston Globe praised the film as "poignant," and I am grateful to continue sharing its message with both Greater Boston and the international film scene.

7. CHOREOFEST GOES NATIONAL

In May, Luminarium partnered with Monkeyhouse to co-produce a national version of Luminarium’s 24-Hour ChoreoFest, supported by Monkeyhouse's Covid Collaborations project. Not only was this year’s ChoreoFest fully virtual, but it was our largest ChoreoFest yet with four weeks of participants and guest speakers joining us from across the country. We loved seeing our supporters tune in each weekend, sending in questions and engaging in post-performance Q&As, and feeling like a community amidst the isolation of quarantine.

8. PRESENTER: NDEO 2020 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

In October, the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) hosted its 2020 National Conference. Along with my MFA colleagues Amber Hongsermeier and Kimberlee Gerstheimer, our presentation "Community Engagement: Exploring Benefits from an Historical, Practical, and Social Work-Based Approach" was selected for the conference. As dance artists and educators, we presented a three-pronged approach to community-engaged dance, discussing historical context, contemporary examples, necessary logistical tools, and reciprocal benefits of this field of creative work. Including movement and group discussion, our presentation examined the past, present, and future of community-engaged dance while highlighting examples of Luminarium's decade of community engaged programming, and we were grateful to our attendees for joining us in this important dialogue.

9. "THE ONE I KEEP" MAKES ITS PORTUGAL PREMIERE

Spain and Argentina weren't the only countries The One I Keep traveled to this past year. In October, it was screened at the 28th Quinzena de Dança de Almada International Dance Festival in Almada, Portugal. As our country continued to battle Covid-19 and navigate live performances and events, it was particularly moving and encouraging to see this international festival inviting viewers inside a physical theater, with our own film highlighted in the festival's promo reel! As the film's choreographer and cinematographer, I was asked to speak about this work for a special behind-the-scenes viewing for festival-goers, viewable here.

10. D&R CANAL PERFORMANCE

In a year with few in-person events, I was eager to work collaboratively with dance colleague (and 2020 ChoreoFest alum) Moriah Ella Mason on a site-specific outdoor work in Princeton, NJ. Throughout the summer and fall, we met on a wooden platform along the Delaware & Raritan Canal, generating choreographic material based on the canal's rich history. The final work, titled CANAL or Time is a Conveyor Belt and the Only Winners are these Basking Turtles, was created for both live performance and film, viewable from the trail across the water or by canoe / kayak from the canal itself. Thank you, Ella, for including me in this project!

11. MFA THESIS & CANDIDACY

I'm allowing myself an 11th item this year, as it's a large one: In October, I presented my MFA Thesis Prospectus for Rutgers University's faculty, staff, and my own thesis committee, and was thrilled to be promoted to candidacy. Each season, I lead Luminarium's Cultural Community Outreach Project (CCOP)—a custom-tailored annual event that integrates history, choreography, and the arts to celebrate a town’s cultural and historical landmarks. This year's project is a large-scale site-specific installation performance spanning 2020 through 2021 that focuses on the storied history of the colonnade at Princeton Battlefield State Park in Princeton, NJ, and it doubles as my thesis research for my MFA in Dance. The production will be presented in April 2021 using Augmented Reality to immerse visitors inside a series of choreographic works inspired by this history, and currently features the return of Luminarium Satellite company members Gabriella Boes, Victoria Kreutzer, and Nikola Palivoda, along with new Satellite members Dane Burch, Anna Fredeen, and Elizabeth Malone. It is one of the most challenging CCOPs I've tackled thus far, and equally engaging to work on as an artist. Stay tuned for further developments in 2021!

Top 10 Professional Highlights of 2019

Each January, I pause and reflect on the previous year's key professional moments, as a reminder of the traction my company and I have made. As always, 2019 was a very active year, full of challenging, yet exhilarating, projects and fresh beginnings.

Top 10 Professional Highlights of 2019

Synchronic. Film Still. Merli V. Guerra, 2008.

1. FESTIVAL CINEMATICA: IMMAGINE IN MOVIMENTO  //  ANCONA, ITALY

A blast from the past, Synchronic was my very first film I created while a student at Mount Holyoke College. I still remember the rush of utter surprise when its title was announced as the winner of three different categories at the Five College Film Festival for "Best Dance-on-Camera," "Best of Mount Holyoke," and "Best of Festival." It feels fitting that exactly ten years later, I submitted Synchronic to another festival for the first time, feeling sentimental towards my first foray into screendance. I'm deeply honored that Festival Cinematica: Immagine in Movimento in Ancona, Italy, not only accepted it, but presented Synchronic as one of 14 award finalists in this international screendance festival.

Luminarium received funding from the Boston Cultural Council. Photo: Short photo co.

2. GRANT RECIPIENT  //  BOSTON CULTURAL COUNCIL

Luminarium was honored and grateful to once again receive one of this year's coveted grants from the Boston Cultural Council (BCC). Having received this grant for our ninth consecutive year, we know how much government support means—not only to our own organization, but to the Greater Boston arts scene as a whole. As always, this grant from the BCC went towards our annual outreach programming, including: the Arts in Action Project (bringing professional performing arts experience directly to local youth); the Cultural Community Outreach Project (using dance and art to highlight cultural and historic landmarks); and the return of Luminarium's 24-Hour ChoreoFest (an overnight choreographic incubator, culminating in new works and new artistic connections).

Merli V. Guerra speaks at the 2019 Awards Ceremony, Mount Holyoke College. Photo: Joanna Chattman.

3. MARY LYON AWARD  //  MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE

Words cannot describe the surprise and jolt of reassurance I felt as I was gifted the Mary Lyon Award this spring by the Alumnae External Achievement Awards Committee. Given to young alumnae (15 years or less since graduation) who “demonstrate exceptional promise and sustained achievement in their life, profession, and community, and whose work embodies the humane values which Mary Lyon exemplified in her life and inspired in others,” this token of appreciation for my work in the arts was a revitalizing force this year as I continue to straddle two arts communities in Boston, MA, and Princeton, NJ. Thank you, Mount Holyoke, for recognizing my efforts in my field!

Merli V. Guerra's 8.7 million minus 1. Photo courtesy of Rider University.

4. RIDER DANCES COMMISSION  //  RIDER UNIVERSITY

In the spring, Rider University commissioned me to create a new work for its Dance & Sustainability Project, championing environmental issues through awareness, advocacy, and artistic expression. The ensuing work, 8.7 million minus 1, integrates classical Odissi Indian dance, contemporary, and shadow theatre to literally and metaphorically illuminate the effects of human waste and pollution on the planet’s ecosystems, while reminding us of our own contradictory habits. After its New Jersey debut, the piece was later restaged on Luminarium's professional company for performances at ArtBeat Festival (Somerville, MA) and Luminarium's 2019 feature production (Cambridge, MA).

Luminarium Dance Company performs in Global Water Dances 2019. Photo: Forever Young Photography of Howell.

5. LAKE MERCER PERFORMANCE  //  GLOBAL WATER DANCES 2019

On the heels of presenting 8.7 million minus 1, which prompts viewers to reconsider their own habits of pollution and human consumption, I was invited to participate in an international one-day event drawing awareness to water contamination and the role we play in keeping our greatest resource clean. On June 15th, Luminarium's Satellite Company presented my new site-specific work as part of Global Water Dances' 2019 worldwide event. This migratory performance installation took place along the edges of Lake Mercer (West Windsor, NJ) throughout the afternoon, with viewers pausing to enjoy and young children dancing in response.

Merli V. Guerra. Photo: Somerby Jones.

6. FEATURE ARTICLE  //  ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE

In July, I was excited to share this eloquent article by the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College reflecting on my recent Mary Lyon Award and my decade of work in the arts field. Thank you to all who have participated in my work over the years—without you, none of this would be possible! Read the article.

Merli V. Guerra. Photo: John Evans.

7. MFA IN DANCE  //  MASON GROSS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

This summer I leapt into a new program: the MFA in Dance at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, where I am additionally teaching undergraduates as a Part-Time Lecturer. It's been invigorating to return to the studio with an intimate cohort, delving into both theory and praxis. This program is intense—with summer, fall, winter, and spring semesters back-to-back for two years straight—but after a decade of professional work in the fields of dance and interdisciplinary art, I'm eager to make my credentials official. Here we go!

Women in Dance Leadership Conference 2019.

8. WOMEN IN DANCE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE  //  PHILADELPHIA PA

In October, I presented my work and spoke on the screendance panel at the Women in Dance Leadership Conference in Philadelphia, PA, to an over-packed (and deeply appreciative) audience. I was thrilled to be selected as one of 16 filmmakers worldwide, and grateful to show not one, but two of my screendance films at this prestigious event, including The One I Keep (2013) and What seems so is transition (2009). Fellow presenters at this year's conference included Keynote Speaker Brenda Dixon Gottschild, choreographer Helen Pickett (regularly commissioned by Boston Ballet), and NYC legend Janis Brenner, all of whom commented on the "beauty" and "intriguingly layered memories" of my two films. Needless to say, I was starstruck by this incredibly accomplished audience!

l. to r. Victoria Kreutzer and Karina McKenna perform Merli V. Guerra's like mercury in the palm of my hand. Photo: Olivia Moon Photography.

9. LUMINARIUM IN CONCERT  //  MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER

This year's feature production, Luminarium in Concert, was met with sold-out audiences and celebrated the first-ever integration of Luminarium's home-base Boston company with its more recent Princeton-based satellite company. Not only was I eager to present the restaging of my Rider University commission, 8.7 million minus 1, and to debut For you, to mentor me, my first screendance film in five years, but the production also debuted a duet I am proud to have crafted with my satellite performers Victoria Kreutzer and Karina McKenna. Titled like mercury in the palm of my hand, this duet began as an artistic abstraction of the “Janus molecule,” whose rare properties make it both medicinal and lethal. It has since grown to encompass the Panopticonic nature of the microscope, observ-ing versus being observ-ed, and the implications of exposure.

Imajitari International Film Festival.

10. IMAJITARI INTERNATIONAL DANCE FILM FESTIVAL  //  JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Since late-2018, I've been working on my first new screendance in five years. For you, to mentor me made its world premiere at Luminarium in Concert in December 2019 and features performers Kristen Antonio, Jessica Lawson, Wendy Lawson, Violet Lawson-Ball, Elias Pacheco, and Kylie Pacheco, as well as a stirring cello score by composer Akshaya Avril Tucker. The film follows a mother-daughter relationship shifting over time, featuring a multigenerational cast ages 11 days to 60 years, as it highlights a growing young woman’s thirst for independence, and a mother’s desire to nurture, guide, and mentor. I am thrilled that just one week after its debut, For you, to mentor me was selected out of 600+ films from 77 countries to be presented at the Imajitari International Dance Film Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia!

Those are the highlights of 2019... Welcome, 2020!

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.

...

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.

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!