Independence

~ At 15 the opportunity arose to live on my own in NYC and audition for theater, TV and film. It yielded no fame and fortune, but many rich life experiences. 

~ Attended the North Carolina School of the Arts for my senior year of high school to study Theater.

University era

~ An intensive study of movement at New York University’s Experimental Theater Wing, under the guidance of many stellar teachers. 

~ Performed in productions directed by Annie-B Parson & Paul Lazar and Maureen Flemming.

~ Highlight was a tour of Eastern Europe with La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Company in a dance opera version of “Oedipus”.

Out in the world

~ Spent a summer in Scotland, working in a pub and learning how to pour a good pint.

~ Lived for a few years in South East Asia- working a job in communications in India, traveling the Himalayas, trekking through Nepal and experiencing Malaysia and Indonesia.

Dancing in Japan

~ Joined Min Tanaka’s farm and dance company, Tokason, in the countryside of Japan in 1997 where the exploration of dance deepened exponentially.

~ From 1997-2002, danced in dozens of performances under Tanaka’s direction. Pieces played in theaters large and small in Japan, the United States and Europe, as well as in rice fields, forests and museums.

Farming in Japan

~ As part of Tokason, farmed vegetables, rice and green tea.

~ Learned how to make traditional pickles from the old farmers next door, how to hang up persimmons in the winter to dry them, how to make charcoal from bamboo, how to cook rice over fire, how to repair the delicate paper of the shoji screens, how to let the world and the work inform the dance.

In the Jungle

~ From 2003-2005, lived on an off-grid homestead on the island of Maui and continued to explore the body in relation to nature, through Permaculture, landscaping, gardening and solo performances.

~ Grew much of my own food and once again spent most of the time under the open sky.