We’ve all seen those amazing dance photographs – high extensions, flowing clothes, unreal shapes as they jump. But then you go to the studio to take your own pictures, and somehow, it’s not at all the same. The postures aren’t as strong, the shapes aren’t clear. What’s going on?? And how can you get those […]
5 Tips to Get Great Dance Photographs Read More »
Since the pandemic, more and more performing arts are going online. However, filming dance requires a fundamentally different approach than performing it live. I would even suggest that dance films are almost a whole other medium, as it requires thinking more like a filmmaker than a performer. That is, at least, what I learned when
Best Practices for Filming Dance and Dance Videos Read More »
When I lived in Seoul, I trained and performed with a company that regularly worked with differently abled dancers, and helped coordinate one of their initiatives, the Korea International Accessible Dance Festival. Here in Pakistan, I’ve done a few projects with differently abled dancers, in particular More Than My Gender and multiple collaborations with visual
Dos and Don’ts of Working With Differently-Abled Dancers Read More »
In a few past blogs I’ve pointed fingers at the more disappointing areas of the dance industry. It’s a bit strange that dance, unlike other art industries, has sort of avoided deeper scrutiny into its more unjust and discriminatory practices. Of course criticism does exist, and the academic field of dance studies has turned its
5 Ways that Dance Can Be More Inclusive Read More »
I used to joke that if you are an artist, you’ll have an existential crisis at least once every six months. It’s not really that funny, though, because it’s so true, and depending on how things are going I might have several crises in a much shorter timeframe. I think for an artist, questions like
5 Ways to Combat Artistic Existential Dread: Mental Health for Artists Read More »
Once you start working professionally you’ll start hearing about the branding. You need to have a brand, be a brand, brand yourself, blah blah blah. If you’re not tired of it already, you will be soon! It can be very challenging to try and figure out how to represent yourself as a business. This is
How to Brand Yourself as an Artist Read More »
I’m sure there are many people who are a bit confused by the genre of performance art, which can range from the baffling to the bizarre and everything in between. Sometimes it seems to overlap with performing arts in some way, and sometimes it’s on its own planet altogether. There is, however, a clear difference,
Performance Art vs Performing Arts Read More »
It should not come as a surprise that dance and contemporary dance, while often seen or celebrated as a connecting feature of humanity, has been used for colonial purposes. Whether that’s controlling who dances and why in colonized countries or ongoing barriers around who can do what style, it’s really only in the past couple
Why Contemporary Dance is Colonial Read More »
They say the hardest part is getting started. While having a training plan for dance doesn’t completely solve the problem, developing a routine and a consistent plan that you can follow does help. That’s what I’m here to help you with (hopefully.) Of course, what kind of training plan you make and how you make
How to Make a Training Plan for Dance Read More »
Let’s be real: stage fright isn’t just for newbies. It’s something that can continue, even with experienced performers and public speakers. Stage fright can come in various levels and affect people in different ways. For some it can be almost incapacitating. I don’t usually get nerves before performances anymore, but I’ve also been performing for
How to Deal with Stage Fright Read More »
It’d be nice to think that even as a beginning choreographer, I’ve always been great. That I was a wonderful choreographer and leader and my dancers have always loved working with me. Of course that can’t be true. Especially at the beginning of my career I made a lot of mistakes, both interpersonal and artistically.
5 Mistakes to Avoid as a Beginning Choreographer Read More »
When it comes to hubs for contemporary dance, most people you ask will say the US and Europe. They might be able to identify cities like New York, Amsterdam, or London. Generally, we assume that contemporary dance is a western thing, and when it appears globally, it’s in festivals or these western companies touring. I
Hubs for Contemporary Dance Abroad that Will Surprise You Read More »
Whether or not you are a professional dancer, dance fitness and training is a great way to stay lean and healthy. That doesn’t mean that a weekly Zumba class at your local gym is going to change your life. Even dancers also approach dance training incorrectly and end up losing strength even while practicing or
5 Best Practices for Dance Fitness and Training Read More »
This is one of the most common questions people ask me: how old is too old to start dancing? Perhaps they think that there is a universal age after which companies will not consider dancers, or that there is a single way of approaching dance training. So of course, my answer is always, it depends.
How Old is Too Old to Start Dancing? Read More »
While there are certain hubs around the world for dance, there are also many dance opportunities abroad. You can develop an excellent dance career in other countries. Or, you could find other dance opportunities abroad that you might not get in your home country. A few things to note before we begin: I’m writing this
Dancing Beyond Borders: Dance Opportunities Abroad Read More »
A performing arts career is not typically advised by your local high school guidance counsellor. They’re the sort of careers you expect parents to frown at, long dinners with extended family asking when you’ll get a real job. Of course, that is all normative bull**** if you ask me. The truth is that a performing
The Secret to a Performing Arts Career Read More »
I know what you’re thinking – dance degrees are probably useless. There are many reasons: dance careers are short, it won’t be recognized by anyone but dance companies, etc. However, the situation is a bit more nuanced, and that’s what I’ll be looking at it in this article. To start with, I’ll talk about the
Are Dance Degrees Worth It? Read More »
Over the years there have been various dance fitness crazes. From Five Rhythms to Zumba, there’s always some new version of moving to music that the fitness world has picked up. It makes sense, after all, it’s lot more fun to jive to the beat than squats. Dance performance, on the other hand, seems to
Dance Fitness vs Dance Performance Read More »
I’ve discussed solo dance performances in this blog before, focusing on how they work and the stories we can tell. Today, however, we’re looking more generally at characters in solo performances, whether it be dance, theatre, mime, film, or other performing arts. This is applicable for all kinds of situations, from creating or choosing monologues
Tips for Making Memorable Characters for Solo Performances Read More »
Have you ever been to a dance performance and left thinking, what was that all about? You aren’t alone – I’ve seen a lot of performances that are almost stubbornly obtuse. Sometimes that’s deliberate: the whole philosophy of post modern and contemporary dance was all about creating movement for movement’s sake. NO meaning should be
How to Think of Stories for Dance Performance Read More »
When you are building characters for the stage or the screen, movement is hugely important. It’s probably more important for stage as the screen is more focused on the face and tighter frames, but nonetheless understanding how movement works for characters is a great skill to have for any actor. I also think it’s important
How to Use Movement to Build Characters for Stage and Screen Read More »
Stage presence and stage persona are both terms used, sometimes interchangeably, in the performing arts. They don’t mean the same thing, however, and refer to different skills. Still, both are great assets for any performing artist, and indeed, having a strong stage presence is something that could be make or break for performers. While some
Stage Presence vs Stage Persona Read More »
When you enter the world of being a professional artist, you need to have something that makes you stand out from the crowd. Even if art remains a hobby, having a distinct artistic voice is something that people talk about a lot. But what is it? How do you get it or find it? How
Finding Your Artistic Voice Read More »
Solo performance can be a scary thing, but it has its advantages. I’ve been performing dance and dance theater solo for close to six years now and know from experience that preparing for solo performances requires its own storytelling techniques, and there are some things that work better than others. This article is a quick
How to Prepare for a Solo Performance Read More »
Improvisation is one of the best skills I ever learned in performing arts. And yes, I mean skill! It’s something that you can learn and get better at. As a performer, I use improvisation both in my studio practice and performance. There are some dance styles which are entirely based on improv, such as contact
How to Use Improvisation in Practice and Performance Read More »
I have a new short story collection out! Crooked Paths to Home is a collection of seven short stories, ranging from twisted fairytales to sci fi. From the description: Crooked Paths to Home is an eclectic bunch of stories featuring a variety of colorful characters struggle to find their way in their surroundings, set in
Crooked Paths to Home: New Short Story Collection Read More »
FINALLY I’ve done it. The 4 characters, or my new alter egos, have been unleashed upon the world. There’s a lot to announce, but let me start by explaining what the characters are even for. I was inspired by David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and other alter egos, and by the French comedy with its cast
Introducing my four new characters Read More »
I like alter egos. I never really considered myself an actress, but perhaps that was because to act you play other people’s characters. I’ve always enjoyed creating my own. That’s why I talk about myself as a storyteller. Not every story has to tell you everything about itself! Some stories are just frames, a look,
Artistic Alter Egos and the Next Step Read More »
In July this year, I will have spent 10 years in Asia – from Cambodia to South Korea and then to Pakistan, where I currently live. People tell me all the time here in Pakistan: “Everyone here wants to go there, so why would you want to come here?” It drives me absolutely bonkers, because
Why I don’t live in the West: an Essay Read More »
A couple weeks ago, my brain had a hiccup. It does that sometimes, it’s not unusual, but this one manifested differently. The best word I could use for it was content fatigue. I didn’t want to look at my discord, or twitter, or any social media, and my brain felt like a saturated sponge that
Communtiy Fatigue: Is there a web3 for loners? Read More »
Over the past few days, on the advice of a dear friend, I tried to get in on the World of Women Galaxy hype from @worldofwomennft. I entered giveaways, raffles, joined the discord. The #publicsale is not an option, bcuz simply put, I don’t have the money. I was not successful. And if I’m being
Queen Bitch and other collections on Opensea Read More »
Back in 2006, my dad and I started working on a thing called Not This Day. It was part of my dad’s reawakening, when he quit his law practice and tried to start a new life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as successful as he planned, and a few years later he went bankrupt. He never
From The Archives: Not This Day on YouTube Read More »
I’m delighted to introduce More Than My Gender, a spoken word/dance performance video produced in collaboration with British Council as part of the WOW grants project. More Than My Gender investigates and challenges the assumption that everything a woman is must be measured against her gender. MTMG is performed by me, Sarah Mumtaz, and Tanzila
Introducing “More Than My Gender”! Read More »
On a recent trip to Islamabad, I was browsing around Saeed Book Bank in the F7 Markaz. A giant, three-story building packed to the gills with books, Saeed Book Bank is one of my favorite places in Islamabad. I’ve spent over an hour wandering around, browsing coffee table books on gems and architecture, academic texts
Colonization and the imperative of interculturality Read More »
There’s something I’ve noticed throughout the past couple years of the COVID pandemic. It’s not a researched or scholarly position, it’s an observation and an intuition. Really, it boils down to something very simple: colonized countries have a very different relationship with suffering than the colonizing countries. In case you’re new to my journey, I’ve
Colonization and the Politics of Suffering Read More »
I don’t often talk publicly or post about diversity or allyship. If I do, it’s to repost something on twitter or insta. I don’t usually speak up, for a few reasons. One, I often don’t see it as my place, and the world doesn’t need more white voices telling people what to do. Two, I
Being a Better Ally: Diversity and Allyship Vlog Read More »
There are many layers to this video. On the first layer, it’s a recitation of Mary Oliver’s beloved poem, Wild Geese, which is one of my favorite poems ever. It’s inspired by some videos I saw recently which were an audiovisual representation of some Charles Bukowski’s poems. But instead of taking footage from existing movies
Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese Dance Cover: 2021 year in review Read More »
How dare you speak to me of freedom, while yet I see the sky? The sky is bluer at altitude. Maybe it’s clearer as well. The air is sharper and thinner, and it makes you aware of how you breathe and when, and the effort it takes to walk. I’m aware of a lot of
The Hills Are Alive: Dancing and Hiking in the Swiss Alps Read More »
The Pirate is a sci fi short story mystery thriller, set in a world where the space junk problem has gotten so bad that rockets can’t fly and no one on the surface can see the stars. That’s the way it’s been for over a thousand years, but everything is about to change. After a
The Pirate: A Sci fi Short Story Thriller Read More »
You may have never heard the name David Joseph Wesley, but you’ve almost certainly heard his music. He creates film, tv, and video game music and has even been nominated for a Grammy award. His music is a wild mix of styles and genres but often works with high powered synthesizers such as the Prophet
Gillian Performs to Video Game Music by David Joseph Wesley Read More »
