Getting back to basics can free your creativity!

 While staging Paul Taylor's "Roses" on Rambert dance company in London, England a number of years ago, I took ballet class with the dancers, and met the teacher, Luc Louis de Lairesse. He recently published online an interview with me which you can read on his Substack page here luclouisdelairesse - walkyourtalk-interviews 

in Paul Taylor's "Roses" with Lisa Viola. Photo: Lois Greenfield

I may have mentioned before that I have always loved to return to basic instructional exercises and classes, no matter how long I had been dancing. At Paul Taylor there was no required "company" class and each dancer developed their own "warm up" routine. If you watched closely, you could see how they were using the most fundamental movements and exercises to prepare their bodies to take on the challenges of the day, whether in a creative rehearsal or a live performance. To this day, I could probably teach you, quite accurately, the sequence of basic exercises that I used for almost 15 years to "warm up" for my performances with the Taylor Company. Dancing for Mr. Taylor meant learning his aesthetic style and unique technical demands by learning and rehearsing his repertoire of dances. In my generation dancing with the company, all of the choreography was by Paul Taylor with only a couple of exceptions.

Finding freedom within choreographed sequences that needed to be precisely and musically reproduced came for me through hours of thought and practice. Not executing choreography and technique without precision could lead to disaster! Yet performing, for me, was about focusing more on the intent and dramatic purpose behind the choreography. To get there, constantly sharpening the execution of my "basics" meant that I did not have to think about the "how" of dancing, but more on the "why"!

Regular classes in ballet, modern, Judo, writing, drawing... all contribute to our enjoyment of expression and interaction. And mostly the classes I am talking about guide us through the basics every single time. There is a wonderful article, written by a former professional dancer turned neuroscientist, Julia F. Christensen, that speaks to how returning to basics can offer ongoing benefits to our creativity and expression. aeon.co/essays/you-need-to-build-mastery-in-order-to-find-your-flow? 

As dancers gather in Taylor Modern classes here at the Taylor School this week, many are preparing for the open audition to secure a place in the Paul Taylor Dance Company. And many have different dance basics to which they can and should turn to keep them dancing at their best! Yet for the dozens of dancers who will come to audition, there will only be a couple of jobs available. So the personal reward of enjoying their individual accomplishments and command over their own bodies should be their first priority. Their sense of fulfillment will make them stand out, and it will be a happier moment if the people watching both perceive and invite that dancer to join the company. Yet it will be a happy event nonetheless, if a sense of self-worth and accomplishment is the starting point.