Reconnecting with Kerrie Anne Grace, a Former Avodah Dance Ensemble Dancer

One morning I got a text from a dancer who had performed for two seasons with The Avodah Dance Ensemble, saying that she was planning a trip to Costa Rica.  If you are a regular reader of this Mostly Dance you know that I was the founder, and Artistic Director and choreographer of Avodah for over 30 years. I was delighted to hear from Kerrie and told her I would love to see her.

It worked best in both of our schedules for her to plan on visiting at the end of her trip. Kerrie arrived late Thursday afternoon, stayed overnight and then later the next morning caught her flight back to the United States.  It gave us plenty of time to catch up on the events in each other’s lives.

Kerrie was in Avodah at the time of a major transition for the company.  For the first time, we had received sufficient grant money to hire dancers full time for a sixteen-week season.  We also had a major new work, The Forgiveness Project, that was going to take us to weeklong residencies in four different places, including our first visit to a women’s prison.  (See blog.)  I found this prison experience to be life changing, as did Kerrie, who continued with Avodah for the next season.  Here are some pictures of her performing with the company.

I loved learning about what Kerrie is doing today and was in awe of her good business sense in running a performing arts school, Forevermore Dance & Theatre Arts, located in the outskirts of Chicago.  The school includes three studios for dance classes, two music studios and an area that can be used as a black box for performances.  Her management skills are impressive, as well as the way she was able to keep her business open during COVID.  A particular highlight for me was when I shared that I couldn’t figure out how to build a real dance studio here on the property, and she came up with a wonderful idea.  There are  two open spaces – one outdoor and one indoor – that are plenty big enough for a small class or group to work.  Neither is ideal,but they could work. One is where cars park, right by the entrance to the house, and the other is the atrium of the house, where there are plants and easy-to-move furniture.  Next problem… tile-on-cement floors.  I showed Kerrie some 2 ft.-by-2 ft. pads that I had found at the store and was using for yoga.  They are designed to be put together, and we tested 4 made into a large square and saw that it could work if I purchased enough.  Granted … not a real dance studio but still a place for movement activities that would be safe.  I am very grateful for her suggestion.

Not only did we have fun catching up, but we both gave each other ideas for the future.  The visit was meaningful and reminded me, especially at this time with so much world stress, that we definitely need to reach out to people who played important roles in our lives even if we haven’t seen them for a very long time.  It was over twenty years ago that Kerrie danced with Avodah.  When we work as a team in the arts, a bond develops that provides a rich connection.  It stays strong over time and provides purposeful further interactions many years later.

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