Celebrating its fiftieth year, the Walker’s annual showcase of local dance, Choreographers’ Evening, returns to the McGuire stage this November. Co-curators Judith Howard and Alanna Morris also make their return, having both presented solo works in the 1980s and 2010s, respectively. Opening up their curatorial process, Howard and Morris sat down to discuss the impact this annual tradition has had on their work and the Twin Cities dance community.
Judith Howard
Have you been in Choreographers’ Evening before?
Alanna Morris
I have, it was 2010. I did a solo piece. What was crazy was that I double-booked myself. I was one of the dancers that stayed on contract to work Black Nativity at the Penumbra Theatre. I went to [the Artistic Directors] and I explained the situation. I said, “It's a great opportunity for me to show my work. I'm really, really excited. I love this solo.” I had been working on it for a year, and it didn't feel finished until I presented it at the Walker. How about you?
JH
Choreographers’ Evening got me back into dance. I had left dance for a number of years and then I watched a documentary called Pumping Iron, which had Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. They were becoming champions in their forties. Now, I wasn't in my forties. I was still younger, but I went, “If they can do that, I am going to dance again. And I made this solo.”
AM
A solo too.
JH
Yeah. I made a solo and I auditioned it. At that point, I didn't even know what a unitard was, because I'd been out of the world for a little while. It was ‘81 or ‘82. So, I bought a white unitard. I would never wear a unitard now, but I wore a Pearl necklace and my hair was down to my back. Michael Engel, who just passed, was a really wonderful dancer and person in our dance community here. He was the curator of that Choreographers’ Evening, and he chose me to be in it.
AM
Was it the same situation where it was a showcase where one piece after another piece was presented?
JH
Yes. Same structure.

I've been in Choreographers’ Evening several times in my history. What I love is that they're investing. What they're doing is deepening the contact with what Choreographers’ Evening is. That's how it feels to me with all of this, talking about mentoring, meeting with people, and gathering people.
AM
You're lighting up when you talk about it and it happened in the early eighties. I light up when I talk about my first experience in 2010. What is it about Choreographers’ Evening from your experience that makes you feel so good?
JH
That's a great question. Right away I think the DNA in Choreographers’ Evening is about the independent artist. It's not necessarily about companies. I don't think companies are left out, but it began with Judith Brin Ingber who started the Minnesota Independent Choreographers Alliance. The DNA is really about supporting independent choreographers. I light up because that's where I feel I fit. It's a place you can make work and be a dancer as well. What lights you up?
AM
Well, it's just so beautiful to hear you contextualize that because you know, as a New York import, that is something that I tell people a lot when they ask me, “What is it like?” Meaning the art scene. The creative scene [in Minnesota]. I always say there's a really strong, independent voice here. Where people are doing things that are experimental, (laughs) for lack of a better term. That's also really supported with infrastructure and audiences. I feel like that's unique.
JH
Being in the dressing room during Choreographers’ Evening with so many different artists who are all making work. It’s really exciting. I'm getting chills.
AM
I'm feeling something very beautiful right now coming from my belly all the way up through my head. It is a community, but without any sense of otherness or elitism.
JH
I feel like with most showcases, the program director creates the shell. This program is a completely different animal based on who is curating and the curator has a lot of agency.
AM
That's very interesting. That also is part of a healthy ecosystem where we can see a variety of things. Not everything is going to be your cup of tea; but you can see the love, work, diligence, and passion going into it.
JH
It also helps as an audience member to know what the curation was because it helps guide you to understand why these were chosen to put together, which brings me to us. So far in our discussions, we are very open. We seem very open.
When we had our first discussion, I wrote down a couple of things, you said and one of them was divination. I went and looked it up. One can think it means spiritual, but it means finding something through intuition. Finding something without knowing what it is.
AM
I want to add to that. Divination is also adherence to some sort of guide. Classically it's some sort of Oracle, but I’ve been thinking of it being an artist’s voice. What are you listening to as an artist making work? It could be the voice inside you. What questions are you asking? What are you defining? What's orientating you this way? I think guidance, openness asking questions, being led, and making choices. That's really important.
JH
I think that is our guiding word in a way. That's where I think it brings us together. I think you do have an admitted spirituality; and I have one that's more internal and not as articulated.
I feel like I'm working very strongly right now to return to dance. Re-making myself and using a practice to really bring forth my intuition. That's why divination felt so good to me because as an artist I am the messenger a lot of times. (laughs) Before there are even words, there's the body, which is the divination, which leads you and guides you. I love that word that you brought forth.
AM
I didn't even remember that. (laughs) This is great. As curators, we have to have a statement. We have to have a point of view. People want to be in on what is guiding this curation. We want to know what's guiding you. It is as simple as questioning the questions.
JH
I love questioning the questions. It brings to mind looking in a mirror that looks into another mirror. Where you see a tunnel of the same image over and over and over and over and over again.
AM
Yeah.
JH
I feel like we're both open and don't want to impose an aesthetic on the people that we invite.
AM
Right. For me, it's all about what the artist is considering. Personally, I'm focused on rigor and pleasure. Guided around questions around that. Why do we have to move? Why do I have to ground myself in this way physically or in space? What about that is rigorous? It can be expressed in different ways. What makes this pleasurable? We want to really open this up and people should be able to feel free to do what their heart really wants to do.
I also remember saying to you that Choreographers’ Evening is not an opportunity to throw something on stage that you've done before. Not that you can't revisit. This is an opportunity to do something new.
JH
I love this rigor and pleasure. That's great. How does that play out? Say in it two or three hours of rehearsal, how does a question play out?
AM
Maybe it's just about being present with the intent the whole time. Just letting it wash over you and also checking in. If I'm going into a space where I'm going to be working with dancers that I don't know. I ask myself, “What do I have to bring? What do I have to offer?” To quote Jamie J Philbert, “Be the practice.”
JH
That's awesome. Be the practice
AM
It's huge. But, I feel like that is what we're talking about. We talked about words like “bold” and “daring.” How those words can be problematic. (laughs) That is why I loved your approach to generating words, throwing some of them into the air, and seeing what they feel like.
JH
Joyful interrogators.
AM
Dance expanders.
JH
Emerging makers.
AM
Established tricksters.
JH
Serious inquirers.
AM
Holy survivors.
JH
Proposers of futures.
AM
Freedom lovers.
JH
Form conveyors.
AM
Physical thinkers.
JH
Black and brown diviners.
AM
Queer creators.
JH
Bold dreamers.
AM
Practical schemers.
JH
Feral collaborators.
AM
Doubtful believers.
JH
Minnesota makers.
AM
This is beautiful.
JH
I want to invite people in without having to say specifically, this is what you have to be.
AM
Yeah. Because what are we going to say? “We want long legs?!” “What's your look?!” “Your background?!” All that kind of stuff for me is not my business! (laughs) You bring what you bring; and then it's magic because the people are there for the same reasons. And not because they walk the same roads.
Have you ever been somewhere where you feel like you know what the aesthetic is and then you get an outlier? Your first response is, “What are they doing here?” Then you let that go and realize,” I know exactly why they're here.” We're both supposed to be here. That's what I envision for this Choreographers’ Evening.
JH
Yes. I also don't have a predetermined idea of what I want. I want to see what people are thinking about. I want to see what they're making.
AM
That's exactly it. I want to engage with what folks are engaging in. Wherever I can, I want to open up something like office hours. If you want to chat about your proposal or chat about your audition. I'm cool to tease something out with someone.
JH
Yeah. I think that's about relationships with the people that we are inviting in and we can't take everybody. That's the hard part of the job.
But I think what Choreographers’ Evening can do for us and for people is to see what's going on in the community. What's coming out, what's being divined. What's coming up and out. No pressure.
The body knows before the words. You know? What is so phenomenal about dance, art, and physical performance is that the body tunes in to what's happening or what's next. Even though it's so present. The body's so here.
AM
Yes. It's like this temperature check for us to see where people are, what they are thinking of; and, hopefully, what needs to happen now. I think that Choreographers’ Evening can be more than a choreographer showcase.
Showcases like this where you get to investigate your ideas and put them into a piece of work, put it on the body, put it on stage; but you're also getting some mentorship--artistic and professional. You're also connecting with artists. At the very least, make sure that the people who are selected and perform can stay connected with each other.
JH
It helps us understand the work when you develop that relationship with an artist. I think it's important to develop this sort of this dialogue or more than a dialogue. I was thinking about the community of the show. I don't like matching. I like things to be all different.
AM
Maybe we can propose some sort of outside meeting. A little hangout where people can talk to each other. I just know when you're doing work and you're in a show, you want to see things; but you also have your stuff to do. You don't know what anyone's process is. Somebody might need to meditate for 30 minutes with their eyes closed. They don't have time to be looking at what someone else is doing. So maybe there's like a little social time for the performers to be like,” Hey, I love that stuff you’re doing. Let’s chat about it.”
You know, we don't have many of these opportunities to like see each other. I'm still crying over the Sage Awards. We don't have the Sage Awards anymore. Where can we connect with others in the community and say, “Hey, how are you doing?” You know, I feel like Choreographers’ Evening is a similar thing in that you get everyone together in one place.
JH
You're right. We need to bookmark that. Heart of the community. I think that's a really important parallel that you just made. Also, when we talk about futures, there's something in me that doesn't want to think about the 50th year.
AM
Oh.
JH
Like, let’s not dwell on the past. I would rather think about 50 years more. You know?
What's being catapulted by the fact of there have been 50 years of Choreographers’ Evening? 50 years is a fulcrum. I'm always trying to read the landscape. What are people doing? We're going through this time. The social justice movement and the pandemic. One of our students at Carlton went to the American college dance conference and noticed that all the work there was united by this sense of wanting to be together. They saw hundreds of pieces of choreography by young choreographers. An adjudicator on the panel said,” I'm noticing a theme of getting together or wanting to be together.”
AM
Oh definitely.
JH
I don't pretend to know, but I'm observing.
AM
Just speaking from my personal experience, I do feel it's about getting together. But, it’s not just any old getting together. It's asking,” What are we doing as we get together? What have you been doing? What have I been doing?” It's stronger, more potent getting- togethers.
JH
I think we can look to Choreographers’ Evening as a divining rod, as an antenna of what's happening.▪︎
Experience the fiftieth Choreographers’ Evening on November 26, 2022.
Judith Howard has been making dances in the Twin Cities for more than 30 years and her work has been presented at numerous venues, nationally and internationally, including the Walker Art Center, the Southern Theater, 9x22 Dance Lab, the NY Improvisation Festival and the Festival of Contemporary Dance in Yaroslavl, Russia. Her choreographic research includes the equation of gender and spectacle, geopolitical injustices, subversive and collaborative procedures, ineffable states of being, and pushing the proscenium. She has performed the work of numerous choreographers including: Super Group, HIJACK, Morgan Thorson, Laurie Van Wieren, Off-Leash Area, Shapiro and Smith, Skewed Visions, April Sellers, and Mad King Thomas. Her work has been supported by the McKnight and Jerome Foundations, the MN Regional Arts Council, and Carleton College. She was selected “Twin Cities Best Choreographer” in 2005, and has received Sage Awards for: Outstanding Performance (with April Sellers, 2006), Outstanding Dance Educator (2014), and Outstanding Performer for her solo in the work of Super Group (2016). Howard is currently a professor in dance at Carleton College, where she is the chair of the Theater and Dance Department and director of the Dance Program.
Alanna Morris is a Dancer-Choreographer, Educator, Artist Organizer, and Curator. Morris danced with TU Dance (St. Paul) under Artistic Directors, Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands from 2007–2017. In 2020, they served as the company’s Artistic Associate and is a founding teaching artist at the School at TU Dance Center. In 2018 they were named Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch!” In 2019, Minneapolis’ City Pages’ Artist of the Year and Best Choreographer for their solo, "Yam, Potatoe an Fish!" They have received fellowships from the McKnight Foundation for Dance (2015) and Choreography (2021) and is a Springboard Danse Montreal Fellow (2022). Alanna returns from working in Montréal for the month of June, researching and presenting her choreography for an ensemble of danseurs. Morris is the Artistic Director of AMVTP/I.AM.Arts, founded in 2017 to produce collaborative solo dance works and global commissions that uplift and inspire our humanity; educational programs that utilize the creative arts as a tool for self-development; and community-building initiatives that assist mid-career women Creatives with spiritual, professional, and economic resources to thrive. Morris is currently developing a thesis around the divinity of black-ness, being researched in phases over multiple years and collaborative solo performance. Its last presentation was co-presented by the Great Northern Festival, the Cowles Center for Dance, and Northrop February 2022 for in-person and livestream audiences. Morris is currently touring Let The Crows Come with Ashwini Ramaswamy and collaborators. She is a Visiting Professor of Dance at Carleton College and a graduate of the Juilliard School and LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts (NY). www.alannamvt.com