THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST'S A TO Z: G for Ariel GROSSMAN and Jonathon Matthews GUZMÁN

Grossman:

It never felt like it was a choice, it’s a need! My earliest memory of needing dance was the summer before 3rd grade. My best friend at the time was attending the Joffrey Ballet School and I told my mom that I really wanted to go with her and take ballet. My mom often waited until I asked her for something a few times to gauge my real interest; when I was persistent enough, she knew that I really  meant it. (She did this when I wanted my ears pierced too!) After training and performing for many years, I shifted my focus to choreography. My body was rejecting the intensity of the repetitive training, and my interests were more centered in creating for a group of dancers. I had also begun teaching and since I was performing with my students every day, I didn't feel the need to perform on a stage any more. It was a very natural progression.

Matthews-Guzmán:

Call me naïve, but pursuing a degree in dance left me with a sense that I would simply enter the profession. It’s obviously a more involved conversation than that, but my transition out of college was additionally cushioned by an organic sequence of projects and collaborations that signaled to me: “Well, you’re in this now.”

Grossman:

Right now, today, I would say myself! Which feels like a really strange response, but my life and the experiences and connections that I facilitate have informed my work and life.

Another answer would be my children. Becoming a mother has grounded me and given me a sense of self that has influenced choices, direction and leadership.

Maggie Smith, who recently came out with a memoir, is also a huge influence on me right now.

Matthews-Guzmán:

So many people, but one wild chain of folks is responsible for getting me reconnected with Irish dance by total happenstance: when I was a freshman at Tisch Dance, I was in a piece by Deborah Jowitt who was looking for a buoyant, hopping phrase. I had remembered one step from my brief training, which she enthusiastically allowed in the piece. Not only was this process my first time dancing independently from music, but Deborah later told Seán Curran that I had Irish dance training led to Seán connecting me with Darrah Carr, with whom I’ve re-immersed myself with a form of dance I never thought I’d do again.

Grossman:

Farting and poop jokes.

Matthews-Guzmán:

A chance encounter on the street with someone I know.

Grossman:

Yoga, meditating, crying, writing, talking about my feelings with my people and THERAPY!

Matthews-Guzmán:

Lately it’s been taking long strolls in my down time. It’s very easy to get sucked into task after task, but to really step away and wander about resets my system. Getting off transit a stop early helps to transition from one headspace to another, assuming one is running on time!

Grossman:

Plants. I am kind of keeping them alive and as much as my kids want pets, how on earth can I keep anything else on a bathroom schedule or breathing!?

Matthews-Guzmán:

Both are wonderful, but the company of animals really reconnects me with a sense of tenderness. I grew up with dogs and a cat, and currently back home are two cats and a dog. In the city, I leap at the opportunity to pet sit, and I’m getting to know my roommate’s chihuahua, who feels more like another roommate than a pet.

Grossman:

I don’t love cooking; it is stressful! But I like to eat at home and go out when someone else orders yummy food and I can eat off everyone else’s plate. I like to try all the things. Dessert is always a must. Butter is my newest obsession.

Matthews-Guzmán:

The pandemic really sparked a reverence and joy for cooking in me (which sadly goes out the window when things get hectic). In particular, I love making a meal with someone.

Eating out feels more like a gift for when things are at relative peace or a job has been well done. Either way, big hearty pastas will always have my heart/stomach.

Grossman:

Wow these are tough questions! I think, relive the past and try to be kinder to myself. Though… I’d like to know my kids will have a beautiful life and that I will be okay.

Matthews-Guzmán:

I’d love to relive my times making art abroad: studying at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, learning to accompany dance in Florence, performing in a swimming pool in India, dancing in Ireland — so many formative experiences in brief but full time periods. I would want to allow myself to explore more, as I often focused on my main reason for being there.

Grossman:

Breath. Honesty. Thoughtful calm conversations. Then yelling and processing with people who can listen and love me. I’m making it my mission to normalize imperfection as a goal.

Matthews-Guzmán:

Moving slowly and breathing through it. Keeping my awareness open for subtle solutions. Speaking with trusted compatriots. Remaining flexible, but holding onto what I know is important while also honoring my limits.

Grossman:

These have hopefully been the hardest few years I will ever have to experience. The joy and success I’ve experienced in the same moment of deep grief and fear has been disarming. Read my book when it comes out, as it will explain a lot.

Matthews-Guzmán:

I was in a relationship that was ending just when the pandemic began, and we lived together through the beginning of it. So I’ve grappled with some tricky housing situations, embraced a non-binary gender identity, and learned that I have ADHD. The pandemic years came with a seasonal depression that had me split between two very different sides of myself and others. I went from freelancer to full-time with a stubborn determination to keep up with my disparate activities — a wakeup call to take more agency and accountability, which is still very much in process.

Grossman:

I am sharing the deepest parts of myself fully and honestly in a way I was only beginning to do before the pandemic. Going through a, let’s call it “complicated” divorce with two young children has forced/invited me to use my work as a processing tool, not just an expression of my experience.

Matthews-Guzmán:

I’ve become less interested in style, and more in actions, connections, and experiences. From my own relationship with Irish dance, I’m really drawn to folk dance of all kinds, and audience participation feels like such a necessary response to having spent so much time watching virtual performances. I am all the more in favor of exposed wiring and acknowledging mistakes, as well as presentations that do not default to evening-length performances, but have breaks, or shift in and out of different performative environments.

Grossman:

Oh! I love, love, loved Bobbi Jene Smith's Broken Theater at La MaMa Moves! 2023.

Matthews-Guzmán:

Tere O’Connor’s Rivulets at Baryshnikov Arts Center in December 2022. So many captivating textures and peculiar interactions between diverse bodies along a ride I didn’t feel the need to scrutinize.

Grossman:

For Ariel Rivka Dance performances, I try to give the dancers space from my energy as I can be a bit… much! I like to greet most of the audience members as they arrive and introduce myself to new faces. Sometimes I feel really shy, but I want people to feel comfortable and know how important it is that they are there.

Matthews-Guzmán:

I love gathering in a circle with whomever I am sharing the stage with to breathe and get grounded together. I find it helps to get present to engage in a focusing activity that is both reverent and humorous. Any sort of intention setting, accompanied with any sort of mutually supportive contact.

Grossman:

Rehearsals are magical, and I would love to watch William Forsythe, Balanchine or Martha Graham start a work.

Matthews-Guzmán:

Merce Cunningham asking Gus Solomons, Jr. to join his company (which meant leaving Martha Graham). Gus tells the story marvelously on a Mondays with Merce video, but to have seen the two together in that way, hearing their banter, and witnessing such an impactful decision being made — not to mention whatever meal they were having — just wow.

Grossman:

Alan Barnes, who danced for Forsythe (summer of 2003 at Ailey), and I’d love to take a jazz class.

Matthews-Guzmán:

Franklin Barefoot; he was a classmate at Tisch who isn’t making dance anymore, as far as I know. His movement language is one of a kind — intricate, difficult, deadpan, funny, musical, cinematic, and architectural. Cunningham-esque, but marinated in camp.  He crafts mind-numbing coordinations and pushes you to your physical edge, rendering one alienated within nostalgia.

Grossman:

Currently I’m obsessed with Maggie Smith, who just published a beautiful memoir about divorce, betrayal, motherhood and being a professional female creative. She says words that I have been looking for and only know how to express through movement.

Matthews-Guzmán:

I’m really enjoying Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne on the Peacock network. It goes deep in a light packaging. I love how airtight each episode’s plot is, the retro vibe, and how time, perspective, and causality continually shift.

Grossman:

I mean…NYC is pretty special. And it's my home.

But I actually think some of my best ideas come from being away from art completely and just having space to think.  

Matthews-Guzmán:

It’s pretty hard to beat New York City. There’s something for everyone, whether it’s a high-profile show you gotta catch or a brilliant busker you happen to find, you can’t go long without an aesthetic encounter.

Grossman:

Currently The New York Times Spelling Bee! Is that social media?

Matthews-Guzmán:

I suppose I look at Instagram the most, as a kind of average of everything. It’s changed so much, and it’s kind of overwhelming to parse through all the new features, but it’s also amazing to see all the inventive ways folks find to share information and content there.

Grossman:

Give all of yourself, to yourself and to your work.

Matthews-Guzmán:

Go where you are valued and can shine. Advocate for your needs and learning styles in rehearsal. Prioritize lineage and community over gig-hopping. Follow and provide interest.

Grossman:

Give people a chance. Come see rehearsals. Come for 15 minutes to see and meet us! We have things to say and dancers who are sharing their souls. It's worth the time to try something new!

Matthews-Guzmán:

Tell people about them. Take people to their shows. Take their classes.  Express why their work resonates with you. If you can approach them, let them know that they made an impact on you. There is endless potential in dialogue. If you can, ask how you can get involved; if someone in a position of power is curious about something these artists do, bring them up and build a bridge.

Grossman:

We are proud to offer MOTIONAL LITERACY, our educational programming professional workshops and classes that are open to the public. It is also part of our mission to  make performances accessible to everyone, not just financially, but I also want people to feel welcome and seen, and to know that dance is for everyone! Movement is magical and imperative, no matter who or what you are.

Matthews-Guzmán:

I have written for Eye on Dance and the Arts since 2014 with the goal of unpacking rather than judging work. I have also had the privilege to teach dance to some degree since graduating. I love working with beginners and folks who aren’t so much on a professional track. It’s important to keep dance as something everyone can do and understand, so that our audiences are more than just the folks putting it out there, and that movement doesn’t end up as something that only happens on a stage at a ticket price.