Celeste Miller, Artistic Director Dance Ensemble/ACTivate, is currently sheltered-in-place at an artist-in-residence shelter in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia. On the traditional territory of the Eastern Cherokee, Sautee is in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northeast Georgia. Celeste is sheltered-in-place here in a pod with the folx who created the artist space. In addition to remote teaching and directing Dance Ensemble/ACTivate, she continues to explore her own dance-making, creating non-narrative narratives that reflect the times. Currently she is interested in how a single-placed camera can be the partner in a choreographic exchange of solo dance-making.
I’m Mira Livia Berkson, a ’20 alum thankful to take on new roles with Dance Ensemble as the Collaborative Video Editor this spring. My choreography experience has always influenced my video art, and it’s been great practice to create films in these choreography and dance processes this spring. My biggest projects were creating the Docu-Dance-Films for Dr. Julie B Johnson and Nicole Livieratos’ residencies– creating engaging videos from zoom recordings is a unique challenge, and I’m thankful for the support of our guest artists, Celeste, and the ensemble in giving me great ideas and trust!
I’m Halvor Bratland, and I’m a second-year Grinnell student. I spent the first half of this spring doing Dance Ensemble from my parents’ house in Northfield, Minnesota, but I had the opportunity to spend the second half on campus in Grinnell. It’s been great dancing with people virtually, and I’m happy to have also gotten a chance to see some of my friends in person. I feel like this semester we’ve really stretched out into the possibilities of what can be done with virtual dance, and I’ve learned a lot. Of all the ways we’ve worked, my favorite has been creating films and live performances with my fellow dancers.
Ahon Gooptu is a senior theatre & dance and English double major with a concentration in technology studies from Kolkata, India. He has been dancing for as long as he can remember and is his best self when jamming to Bollywood. Moving with Dance Ensemble has been a dream of his since first year and he is so grateful to have had the opportunity to be included in this creative and dynamic community before graduating. Stay tuned for his beach boy life in Florida come fall!
I am Anjali Jain (she/her) and I am a fourth year theatre and dance student. I am beyond thrilled to be spending my last term in ensemble, although the Zoom dance space takes some getting used to. So this semester I’m learning how to dance in living rooms, with cups of tea, bed pillows, friends in the house, and all sorts of other fun and wonderful things that have made my dancing so much richer. It’s been beautiful to see what we can create online. I am also hopeful in that the Zoom world helps me stay connected to Grinnell! I’m grateful for these new ways to make goodbyes a little bit less permanent in these coming months, especially in anticipation for moving to India on a Fulbright project next year.
Maya Kusunoki-Martin (she/they) is a fourth-year Sociology major and Linguistics concentrator from San Gabriel, California. She is currently living off-campus in Grinnell near Central Park with four loving housemates. Maya only joined Dance Ensemble after it became remote, and it quickly became a grounding space in which creativity, community, and co-presence still felt alive through the computer screen, even when little else did. She looks forward to continuing the practice of intentional movement exploration after graduating.
I am Lilith Orion Hafner (She/Her). Participant, returning creator, student of Celeste Miller for two years, attempted innovator.
Rejoining the loving fold of our dance ensemble for the second half of spring has brought me to a small community of creators in rehearsals and a slightly less small community of creators in story time. Exploring paths has brought me in touch with a very small area of land which I lived near. Story time brings me closer to three individual stories. I come from a different angle than I have before both because of my identity, and because of our medium of collective dance. These stories have nevertheless brought me back to a way of thought whose merits too often escape focus in my world and around me.
I’m Misha Rodell (she/her) and I am a second-year biology major from Illinois. I started the semester dancing at home and now am dancing in Grinnell (!). I have found so much joy dancing with everyone over Zoom and have learned lots about creativity, storytelling, and choreography. While dance is my favorite thing to do, I also love being outside and trying out new arts, crafts, and baking.
I’m Kayley Rönnkvist, a second year who has been dancing this quarter from Grinnell. I found a love of dancing with friends at Grinnell and, through their encouragement, began taking dance classes last spring. Though hesitant to take online dance, I joined ensemble in October and have found it to be a wonderful way to slow down, be in tune with my body, express myself, and move during the day after so much sitting for online classes. Online dance has pushed me to think in new ways and find creative uses of my space and technology. Best of all, I’ve found a loving, supportive community to create and laugh with over Zoom.
Hi, I’m Esme Rummelhart (she/they), and I love people, moving, looking at things, listening to things, and especially moving/looking/listening with people. I also adore cats – especially Tigerlily, my cat from home, who makes a special appearance in one of the Dance Films. After taking much of this difficult year off, I finally started my fourth year this term, and I’ve loved being part of Grinnell’s Dance Ensemble. I’ve been learning and exploring so much about my own movement, a welcome departure from about 12 months of quarantine-induced horizontal (very still) resting. I’m carrying forward with me a lot of the noticing that we practiced with guest choreographer Nicole, in our exploration of ‘Path.’ As pandemic isolation has become less intense, I’ve found myself walking new paths, as well as familiar ones, and being present through my senses and my motion in a new (or perhaps newly rediscovered) way.
Jax Seiler (he/him) is a third year checking in from southern Illinois. He’s found the virtual dance experience to be an interesting challenge, but certainly not one he regrets taking on. With virtual classes, it’s often easy to get stuck in the same spot, physically and mentally, and having a reason to get up and move has been a massive help. Dance has been an important form of self-expression for Jax since joining Celeste’s Movement for the Performer class during his second year, and he’s looking forward to finishing off his time at Grinnell next year with the Dance Ensemble community by his side.
