Meet a Dancer: Amy Mastrangelo

In preparation for Luminarium's 2016 feature production PORTAL: Stories from the Edge, Luminarium's Publicity Intern, Lillian Gaylord, has interviewed each of the performers to better introduce them to you—our followers. Enjoy getting to know Amy Mastrangelo, then come see her perform at the show: November 11 & 12 at the Boston University Dance Theater. Grab your tickets here!

Amy Mastrangelo

Company Member since 2011

LG: You're one of the most senior members of the company. What's your relationship with the other dancers?

AM: As I have been for the last five years, I'm grateful to be a part of Luminarium. I value so much the opportunity to learn and grow as a dancer alongside my fellow company members. Gabby and Nikki have a contagious energy and enthusiasm whenever they move. Alison, Katharina, and Dream have such a refined balance of strength and grace. Melenie and Katie have a joy so visible in their movement, it reminds me why I love to dance just by watching them. I feel like every member of the company brings something unique to our group, which makes for a collection of eclectic and diverse movers. I love being with these people, I love dancing with these people, and above all, I love performing with these people. It's an incredible gift, when you're able to do what you love alongside people that you love.

Amy does creative partnering with some of Luminarium's youngest viewers at Summer in the City 2016. 

LG: You studied dance at Boston University; how does it feel to perform at your alma mater?

AM: Performing at the BU Dance Theater is like coming home for me. I spent hours, semesters, years, of my life in this space, and it is truly an emotional experience to be back within its walls. I'm the dancer I am today because of the classes I took, the pieces I performed, the work I created, and of course, the incredible people I moved with in this theater. I'm so excited and again, grateful, to be in a physical space that is so important to me, and to share it with my Luminarium family.

Amy Mastrangelo, performing the lead role in The Hostess Diaries at its July 2016 debut at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. Come see the piece onstage in PORTAL, November 11 & 12.

PORTAL: STORIES FROM THE EDGE

NOVEMBER 11 & 12 . 8PM

Boston University Dance Theater

Boston MA

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Meet a Dancer: Katie McGrail

In preparation for Luminarium's 2016 feature production PORTAL: Stories from the Edge, Luminarium's Publicity Intern, Lillian Gaylord, has interviewed each of the performers to better introduce them to you—our followers. Enjoy getting to know Katie McGrail, then come see her perform at the show: November 11 & 12 at the Boston University Dance Theater. Grab your tickets here!

Katie McGrail

Company Member since 2012

LG: You are in at least four out of the five pieces being performed in Portal, do you have a favorite piece, or one that challenges you the most as a dancer?

KM: Each of the pieces are so different. I feel like with each one I tap into different aspects of myself, so rather than being challenged by one particular piece, I think the challenge in performing all of these works in one show is that of embodying such different things one after the other. But that is what makes the process both fun and interesting. I can feel myself holding and using my body in very different ways in each piece. With rabbit hole cycles, which I’ve been lucky to have had a long process with, I feel the sound score intensely in my body. It feels otherworldly and urgent. That is juxtaposed with the Wayside Inn piece, which is an embodied history. This piece also feels otherworldly, but in a much more ethereal way, in which I feel a sense of floating through time and space. And THEN, there is the TEDxCambridge piece, which feels energetic and upbeat and is physically and mentally challenging due to it’s specificity. I also feel intensity in this piece, but in a much more playful way than rabbit hole. The other two pieces are still so new in my body, I’m still working on finding this kind of clarity in them. :)

Katie performing in The Hostess Diaries, also referred to as the Wayside Inn piece.
Photo: Karen Irwin Photography.

LG: How does your work with Luminarium tie into your Sociology-based Human Relations degree or your certificate in Community Action & Public Policy? If it doesn’t, in what other ways have you integrated those degrees with your work as a dancer/choreographer?

KM: Sociology is the study of human society. By choosing a more interdisciplinary route of study with Soc-based Human Relations, I learned to take a sociological lens and got to integrate some work in psychology, education, and human development. What could be more related to the creative, choreographic process?! To me, dance and choreography is often a way to make sense of ourselves and the world around us. I definitely feel this sensibility in both Kim and Merli’s creative processes. My background in Soc-based Human Relations informs how I understand myself and my world, and is therefore inherently present in how I understand and embody each of these works. I often find working with Luminarium feeds my curiosity about such things similarly to the way the study of those fields does.

You also asked about the Community Action & Public Policy piece of my degree. On a somewhat different note than the performative focus, I have always appreciated the community orientation of Luminarium’s work. I love the work Kim and Merli both do to bridge the gap that sometimes exists between communities, community art, and high quality performance work. I find that the opportunities to work with Luminarium in community projects, showing work at festivals and historical sites, teaching and putting on workshops for children and communities to engage actively with dance, feeds this part of what I think is powerful and important about dance.

Katie, performing in the original version of rabbit hole cycles, 2015. Photo: Ryan Carollo.

LG: Both “rabbit hole cycles” and the TEDxCambridge piece have been performed before, but “rabbit hole cycles” has been reworked for this performance. Does this make the piece feel entirely new compared to the TEDxCambridge piece, or do you feel because they are both being performed in a new space for a new audience that they are each new in their own ways?

KM: I think they will each feel new in their own ways. rabbit hole cycles has been reworked for this show, but we have been in process with it for so long that in many ways I feel more at home in this piece. TEDx is familiar in that it is the same version we performed at the Boston Opera House, and I’m so looking forward to showing it again! But yet it still feels new, especially since TEDx was a one-night performance. The space will certainly influence the feel of each of these pieces as well, which will bring another element of newness to each. And as always with live performance, each experience is unique to the particular moment it exists in. I really think everything that’s going on in and around the theatre—from the audience to the weather to whatever may be happening in the larger world—affects the feel of a performance!

PORTAL: STORIES FROM THE EDGE

NOVEMBER 11 & 12 . 8PM

Boston University Dance Theater

Boston MA

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Meet a Dancer: Melenie Diarbekirian

In preparation for Luminarium's 2016 feature production PORTAL: Stories from the Edge, Luminarium's Publicity Intern, Lillian Gaylord, has interviewed each of the performers to better introduce them to you—our followers. Enjoy getting to know Melenie Diarbekirian, then come see her perform at the show: November 11 & 12 at the Boston University Dance Theater. Grab your tickets here!

Melenie Diarbekirian

Company Member since 2011

Photo: Kristyn Ulanday

LG: The “rabbit hole cycles” was first performed for Spektrel, and has been reworked for this year’s show, can you talk a bit about what was reworked and what that process was like?

MD: A duet between dancer Nikki Girroir and I has been added to the beginning of rabbit hole cycles. Other additions are still in the process of being worked out. It's been an interesting challenge diving back into this lengthy work, especially to get back into the mental state. The words that come to mind when performing this piece are dark, sneaky, and loony. It's been a challenge mentally, not only to figure out how to portray these emotions with the new choreography added and what my relationship with Nikki is, but getting the sequence of the piece has taken a number on my brain as well.

Melenie and Nikki rehearsing their new opening duet for rabbit hole cycles.

LG: You dance with various companies in the Boston area; what is unique about Luminarium?

MD: I feel grateful to have been with Luminarium for going on my 6th season. Every year, there is a new piece (or few new pieces) created that either involve intricate lighting, and/or some sort of prop.  In some cases, the source of light is the prop. These elements never take away, but add to the overall performance, and because we use them so often, it makes us stand out among other companies in the Boston area.  

LG: As an artist, how do you relate to the theme of Merli’s new work, “The Grass Never Grows Under Your Feet”?

MD: To be honest, I have never heard of the phrase "The Grass Never Grows Under Your Feet."  Merli introduced this to us in rehearsal and it's safe to say no one else knew what she was talking about either. After explaining to us what it meant, I relate to this phrase more on a personal level. I'm always looking to get things done, or want fast results for everything I do. When I slow down I feel as though I'm wasting time, or I'm not doing absolutely everything that I can be doing within 24 hours of a day. This piece explores what happens and what possibilities come up if you actually take the time to slow down and "let the grass grow under your feet." I'm looking forward to pulling from my own experiences when performing this to contribute to the piece as a whole.

Melenie performing with Luminarium at the Boston Opera House in June 2016.

LG: The TEDxCambridge Piece was a rousing success at the Boston Opera House, are you excited to be performing it again at BU?

MD: It's always a bummer when you only have just one shot to perform a piece that you put so much time and effort into. It doesn't allow you many chances to experience the difference from one performance to another. Needless to say, I'm definitely excited to bring this piece to the BU Dance Theater! 

PORTAL: STORIES FROM THE EDGE

NOVEMBER 11 & 12 . 8PM

Boston University Dance Theater

Boston MA

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Meet a Dancer: Gabby Pacheco

In preparation for Luminarium's 2016 feature production PORTAL: Stories from the Edge, Luminarium's Publicity Intern, Lillian Gaylord, has interviewed each of the performers to better introduce them to you—our followers. Enjoy getting to know Gabby Pacheco, then come see her perform at the show: November 11 & 12 at the Boston University Dance Theater. Grab your tickets here!

Gabby Pacheco

Company Member since 2014

Photo: Kristyn Ulanday

LG: How long have you been with Luminarium Dance Company, and what drew you to the company initially?

GP: This is my third season with Luminarium! They were one of the first companies I found as I was graduating college and I found that their ideas and movement related so closely to what I had done in school.  It made college to real world transition so easy!

Gabby Pacheco performing in the first iteration of rabbit hole cycles in 2015.
Photo: Ryan Carollo.

LG: Of the three pieces you’re in, is there one which you relate to the most or that was the most challenging/interesting?

GP: Although all the works interest and challenge me in different ways, rabbit hole cycles really sticks out due to its content and character play. We have spent more than a year picking this piece apart and can continue to do so for much longer and find so much within the work. I appreciate the depth of the work and I think it allows so much room for interpretation. That challenges me as the dancer to be very clear and precise when performing to guide the viewer in this journey.

Gabby sharing her thoughts on performing at the Boston Opera House
in Luminarium's behind-the-scenes documentary. View the documentary here.

LG: What was it like to perform the TEDxCambridge Piece at the Boston Opera House? Are you excited to bring it back to BU? Why or why not?

GP: It was an unreal experience performing at the Boston Opera House! The entire process in itself was so memorable and we tried to soak up every minute of it. I am excited to bring it to BU and to see how the size or shape of the stage can change the performance. I’m also interested to see what Kim and Merli have up their sleeve for lighting and stage design. I can’t wait to bring it back!

PORTAL: STORIES FROM THE EDGE

NOVEMBER 11 & 12 . 8PM

Boston University Dance Theater

Boston MA

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Meet a Dancer: Katharina Schier

In preparation for Luminarium's 2016 feature production PORTAL: Stories from the Edge, Luminarium's Publicity Intern, Lillian Gaylord, has interviewed each of the performers to better introduce them to you—our followers. Enjoy getting to know Katharina Schier, then come see her perform at the show: November 11 & 12 at the Boston University Dance Theater. Grab your tickets here!

Katharina Schier

Guest Performer since June 2016

LG: You are in Kim’s new (currently untitled) work, she mentioned that the process was pretty in depth and “outside the norm,” could you elaborate on that?

KS: Having the opportunity to be a part of Kim’s new work has been very special because Katie and I are able to participate in the creation of the work. It is not just a duet of two dancers, it is a duet of Katie and I. This is unique from other processes where you may just learn a sequence of steps from a choreographer. With Kim we have been experimenting with her ideas and I feel that Katie and I are able to help materialize some of Kim’s artistic visions. For this reason stepping out and watching ourselves on video after Kim’s rehearsal is breathtaking and special because in a sense I had not “seen” the choreography before then. This is because she really experimented with movements on OUR bodies instead of showing as all the choreography and asking us to learn it from her dancing.

Rehearsal photo of Katie and Katharina manipulating movement from Kim in the studio.

LG: Do you feel that the discussions, compositions, and trust exercises helped you connect to the work and to Katie? If so, in what ways?

KS: I definitely feel that the discussions, compositions and trust exercises Kim conducted helped me throughout this process. This is my first season working with Luminarium and for me, feeling comfortable and welcome in rehearsals allows me to feel creatively uninhibited which I really appreciate in a dance rehearsal. Through many of the events and rehearsals with Luminarium I feel I have been able to connect with Katie individually but also I have began to get to know her as a dancer and that is key in creating such an intense and closely intertwined duet. 

Katharina performing at her first event with Luminarium:
300 Years at Longfellow's Wayside Inn, July 2016. Photo: ryan Carollo.

LG: Is this your first time working with Luminarium? If so, what drew you to the company? If not, how does this show compare to work you’ve done with them in the past?

KS: I feel my path crossed with Luminarium Dance Company by chance, but I could not be happier or more grateful that it did. I feel in Luminarium I am not just a dancing body but that it is a place where the dance artist is a contributing creative asset. This is my first time working with Luminarium and I hope to continue to have opportunities to be a part of their process.

PORTAL: STORIES FROM THE EDGE

NOVEMBER 11 & 12 . 8PM

Boston University Dance Theater

Boston MA

BUY TICKETS