Artist's Statement
Whether through the shared ritual of a class or a performance, dance is about connecting to self and community, journey and transformation. As embodied knowledge that is simultaneously cognitive, sensuous, and emotional, dance is a powerful means to express, celebrate, and transform human experience.
My vocabulary as a performer, choreographer and educator emerges from years of creative work in a variety of settings, from dancing and choreographing for professional dance companies to using dance as an empowerment tool in community work with youth and adults. Throughout my creative process I carry an open-ended question about what it means to embody the range of dance forms that inspire and challenge me: what are the cultural and historical narratives embodied in these expressions? Where are the boundaries around each “form,” and what concepts of culture, identity, and beauty do they contain and communicate? Are these boundaries ever restrictive of development and transformation or can our disciplined study of them lead to liberation and a deeper awareness of self? How do individuals and communities continue to make traditional, social, and “concert” dance forms meaningful?
As an American dancer and choreographer, the landscape of my dance journey has always been “multicultural.” I therefore feel that I am always engaging “pure” dance forms as a participant-observer - searching for the ideas, aesthetics, and energetic qualities that teach and inform - and creating spaces where each body may tell its own story.
In the studio, on the street, at a house party, on the concert stage, or in a ceremony, dance is a practice that can lead us away from strict dualities and compartmentalization towards more integrated experiences of mind-body-spirit. Dance encourages us to stay rooted in our bodies as we act, decide, and participate in the world.
Bio
Rebecca Bliss is a Brooklyn-based teacher, performer, and choreographer. After receiving her initial training in Modern and Ballet at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Rebecca studied intensively in Cuba over several years with artists from prominent national dance companies, including Yoruba Andabo, Conjunto Folklorico Nacional, Ban Rra Rra, and Ballet Folklorico Cutumba, and with professors from the Insituto Superior de Arte in Havana. She completed an individualized masters degree at New York University in January 2009, with a focus on pedagogy and performance related to her work in Cuba and Cuban dance.
Rebecca currently performs with Rumbatap, San Melao, Ara Oko, and Areytos Performance Works, with recent appearances at Judson Memorial Church, Central Park Summerstage, Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, Symphony Space, Rutgers Unversity, and Drom NYC. In March 2010, Aretyos Performance Works presented her latest piece Permiso (2010) in an evening of Cuba-inspired contemporary and traditional works at the Hostos Center for Arts & Culture.
In addition to conducting master classes for local Universities, including Barnard College, Sarah Lawrence College, and Rutgers University, Rebecca has over nine years of experience teaching classes to youth and adults in after-school and community settings. Rebecca continues to offer ongoing adult classes in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and has worked as a teaching artist at El Puente Academy for Peace and Social Justice, Project Reach Youth, School of the Future, and the Lexington School for the Deaf. She will teach a semester course on Afro-Cuban dance at Barnard College in the fall of 2010.
Additional dance training includes: Cuban Salsa with the pioneer of the local Cuba Salsa movement, Karim Noak, African Contemporary dance with Ronald K. Brown, Ballet with Merceditas Mañago-Alexander and Beth Goheen, and participation in several summer intensives, including the Jacob’s Pillow Cultural Traditions Program, and two-month professional training hosted by Germaine Acogny and her company Janti-Bi in Senegal, West Africa. She is the 2003 recipient of the Brooklyn Arts exchange “Pass it On” award for excellence in arts education.
Gratitude to my students for their passion, dedication, and support, and to the following Cuban artists and mentors: Jennyselt Galata Calvo, Luis "Nichito" Castillo, Alfredo O'Farrill Pacheco, Ranses Charon Echevarria, and Idalberto Bandera.
