Below are a few of the questionnaires dance anywhere has invited the public to respond to regarding individual experiences with this year’s event. 

#1: Almut Küpper (WUPPERTAL, GERMANY)

Who are you? My Name is Almut Küpper and I’m originally from Freiburg im Breisgau ( Southern Germany) but currently live in Berlin (Northern Germany) for my dance education which i’m going to finish in August. I started late with dance, but once i found it never I never stopped doing it. The education was another step towards my dream to earn my money with dance. Being a choreographer is my goal.

Capturing situations everybody knows and getting people to see their own daily routine in a diffrent light. Relationships between people and what they do with us. I also love to work with teenagers, showing them a new way of expressing themself as someone gave me this chance one day. For just a few moments sometimes you can just see them dancing without thinking of their problems just feel their joy coming through while dancing. I love those moments. I remember having them myself when I was a teenager there were some of my happiest moments.

Where did you hear about dance anywhere? Actually a friend invited me over Facebook, and once I read everything I was very interested. But at this point I didn’t have any dance planned.

What inspired you to participate in dance anywhere 2013? Well, after my friend asked me I thought that’s it! So I registered on your homepage and than there was no going back. My friend didn’t know anything about it but when I told him he was happy beeing a part of a huge dance connection around the world even though it was his first dance, which I think is perfect. What better way to come to dance than on such a day??

What is your occupation? I’m on my way of becoming a professional dancer, my education will end in August.

Is dance a regular part of your life? If so, how does your dance anywhere experience relate to your regular dance practice/work? Dance is a huge part of my life. Apart from my regular training in school every day, I love doing other projects such as Workshops for Teenager or music videos with friends for people who love to spread their music with visual movement. But the dance anywhere experience this year was a new challenge for me to make a friend happy, which I love to do with dance bring joy to everyone I can!

What is your relationship to dance during the rest of the year? Well, because I’m dancing all day long in school sometimes it becomes a daily routine but then I try to break out doing events such as the dance anywhere project so [as to] keep the fun in dance – challenging myself everytime.

Where did you dance? I danced at an exhibition of a friend at the University of Wuppertal. Her subject was: “Dancing with Dementia.” She said dancing could help the family to stay connected with their loved ones even though they forget most other things. In that particular moment they’re just happy and they dance.

Who participated with you? A friend of mine André Schiller was my dance partner for this night, and he had never danced before so this was a challenge. I like working with him, he’s a hard working person and didn’t give up even though I pushed him hard to get a good result for the performance.

Please describe the dance you did. I actually never learnd to dance tango but I inspired myself from the music and Tango dances I have seen over the years. I tried to capture the feeling of a tango but most important for me was having fun and enjoy dancing.

Did you have an audience? How did they respond? We had a lot of audience members, and it grew during the performance. Most of the audience was people we knew as well as people visiting the exhibition at the University. My friends and familie were blown away from my friend because they didn’t expect him doing that. We kept the whole performance a secret until the last possible moment. A lot of people asked if we could do it again.

Were there any interesting comments/quotes from the audience or participants? Besides “WOW,” “You are an exceptional teacher” and “Good Job,” most of my family thanked me for pushing André into the dance world. Most of my friends and family are huge fans of Pina Bausch and myself, so dancing is a big part of their life as well and now André is a part of it. André got a lot of compliments about his performance and courage to just do it.

Did anyone unexpected join you? Not that I know of but it was still an unexpected event for most of the people!

How did your dance anywhere 2013 experience affect you? I trusted myself to do something without planing which I normaly do very specificly and with a set timetable, but I enjoyed throwing myself into a non-planned situation which was so much fun and I loved dancing without a education background. Looking forward to next year.

Did you walk away with any particular thoughts or feelings? I’m going to do something like this next year. Just a few hours of rehearsals and perform it somewhere unexpected.

To view Almut Kupper’s dance anywhere event page for more media and information on what she presented, click here.

#2: MARSHA KLEIN (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA)

Who are you? I am a visual artist and lover of dance.

Where did you hear about dance anywhere? From a colleague at KALA Art Institute in Berkeley.

What inspired you to participate in dance anywhere 2013? I have a performance piece that seemed like a good fit.

What is your occupation? I am a working artist.

Is dance a regular part of your life? Yes!

What is your relationship to dance during the rest of the year? I watch dance events, paint figurative work, dance for enjoyment.

Where did you dance? Legion of Honor

Who participated with you? One other woman, Grace Noyes, one photographer and one friend taking video with her iphone.

Please describe the dance you did. We did a procession carrying my handmade paper ribcage shields. Dressed in black, veiled and in red hats and shoes, we walked through the columned entry in front of the main entrance to the museum. We added some expressive arm movements.

Did you have an audience? Several people stopped to watch us as they were entering or leaving the museum.

How did they respond? They all seemed to enjoy it for the most part.

Were there any interesting comments/quotes from the audience or particpants? This is a joyful celebration of your work! Smile!

How did your dance anywhere 2013 experience affect you? I was so glad to be doing my performance piece there, and thoroughly enjoyed that folks all over the world were dancing at the same time.

Did you walk away with any particular thoughts or feelings? Yes! that it is a wonderful idea and I am glad you put it together. Especially that it is so inclusive and diverse.

To view Marsha Klein’s dance anywhere event page for more media and information on what she presented, click here.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!

Where did you dance on March 22nd, 2013? In your seat at the office? With a group at your favorite museum? At home with a friend or significant other? 

Tell us about your performance, however small (or large it might have been) by clicking here!