Day of the Rope: Molly Maquires Message of Courage
For months, as we worked together, Kathy Cowen, my collaborator and friend, sang me songs about the Irish coming to America, where they found work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. She sang of the Molly Maquires who were hanged in the town of Mauch Chunk for rebelling against the dangerous and unfair working conditions […]
Molly Maquires at the Mauch Chunk Opera House
“It would be great if you made a dance about the coal miners from this town,” Dan said. The miners he was referring to were known as the “Molly Maquires” and the town is Jim Thorpe PA, or Mauch Chunk as the locals call it. “We could pack the opera house,” he was visibly enthused. […]
Lightscape and the Chicago Project
This picture fell out of a program we found from the premiere of the Chicago Project circa 1987. I forgot I danced in that production, partnered by my colleague Lon Gordon. In that year, I was the artist in residence at Mundelein College in Chicago. My rehearsal space was in a beautiful, old mansion on […]
Memories of Concert Dance in China
In the New York Times, I see an article dated October 10, 2021. The headline says, “China Flexes Power over Taiwan”. This island has moved to the heart of tensions between our two countries. Could it really come to war? It’s been 12 years since I traveled to China with my company, Concert Dance. We […]
Concert Dance Cultural Exchange in China
June 2009 – After two years of planning, fundraising, and rehearsing, Concert Dance, Inc was finally on its way to China. We were at O’Hare airport waiting for our flight to China, where there was a SARS flu alert. A scratchy voice from United Air Lines over the intercom announced, ” If any of you […]