Michael Crotty is a
graduate student with the Department of Modern Dance. He studied dance and
choreography at the Ohio State University and the Rotterdamse Dansacademie
(NL), where he received his diploma. He has performed and shown his own work throughout
the U.S., The Netherlands, and Belgium. His choreography has been featured on
the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, including the opening of the BROAD
Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA (LA County Museum of Art) and NowNext Capri In
Las Vegas, NV.
In addition, Michael
has been developing movement research in improvisation, and choreography by
exploring how a heightened sense of awareness can allow movement vocabulary to
be shaped by the environments performed in. He is inspired by the instant
dynamics that are built with other dance artists and how these relationships
influence the approaches to decision-making and performance styles.
Tell me more about your pre-professional training and dance
career prior to coming here to study at the U.
I was at Ohio State University as a dancer, but not for very
long. This was because the graduate coordinator of Rotterdam Conservatory came
to Ohio State and she showed videos to introduce some of the dance students
there to Western European contemporary dance. I saw a video of Netherlands
Dance Theater and I completely fell in love with it. I fell in love with the
form and the aesthetic. Two months later, I had gotten in. I then transferred
to Codarts.
I started working as a stagiaire (which is an apprentice)
with Jerome Meyer and Isabelle Chaffeuad who had a company that they ran as
co-artistic directors, called “MCDance”. That really also changed my approach
to training significantly. They were both from Netherlands Dance Theater and
Batsheva Dance Company, so their style was a fusion and interpretation of those
contrasts of classical sensibility and contemporary sensibility. I had to find
a middle ground within their vocabulary.
I worked in Europe for a while with choreographers Vaclav
Kunes, Machteld Van Bronkhorst (both in the Netherlands). I then reconnected
with a choreographer, Kate Hutter, that I had met in 2001. I had become very
interested in the work that she was creating in the States and she
coincidentally was starting a company called the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance
Company. When I was home visiting for the holidays, I went to LA to watch one
of the rehearsals, which I really liked. I auditioned and was offered a
fulltime position in the company from 2007 – 2014.
What drew you to this department at the University of
Utah?
I was drawn to this department initially because of the
geographical location. Ultimately, I wanted to be in an environment that was
stimulating while offering me what I need creatively. I was drawn to Salt Lake
City because it is beautiful. I wanted to be in an environment that inspired me
outside of dance because I feel that it feeds my work in a very positive way.
What are some inspiring things you have seen thus far
here in Salt Lake City?
I think the volume of dance here is very inspiring, as well
as the diversity of the type of work that is being created. When I was in LA
there were all these dancers from Salt Lake City who were so emotive and powerful.
There is something about Salt Lake City that produces wonderful dancers. Salt
Lake City feels up and coming. There is a lot of dance and a lot of things to
see here. Just the fact that you can pick and choose each week what to see is a
luxury.
What do you look forward to doing in these three years in
the graduate dance program?
I would like to focus on creating theatrical and dynamic
work. I am also interested in creating work that makes use of the interpersonal
relationships that develop in the process. I am interested in how dancers
grapple with material and how they interpret the material, which in turn shapes
the final work. I looked at graduate school as some sort of test kitchen to
play with the ideas relating to my work.
Interview by Allison Shir for the College of Fine Arts, edited by Jennie Nicholls-Smith.
