Dance is a calling for many, but the life of a dancer can be short lived as a result of injury, burnout, work, parenthood or other factors. Today, dancers are seeking ways to keep dance close even when external pressures collide with dance careers. Dance Informa connected with two independent NYC-based dance professionals, Anabella Lenzu and Danielle Marie Fusco, who were faced with the question of how to keep dance close when challenges and focus were pulling them in other directions. Both say that exploring dance and shaping pedagogy on their own terms has created a freedom to dance in alignment with their authentic selves which has allowed them to have a relationship with dance that allows for true artistic expression, longevity and joy.
Here are their stories.
Anabella Lenzu is a dancer, choreographer, scholar and educator who has performed extensively in the US, Argentina, Spain and Italy. She is classically trained at the Teatro Colòn (Buenos Aires) and came to NY to study Humphrey, Limón, and Graham and has been her home for the past 19 years. She is artistic director of Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama (ALDD). When she became a mother, her artistic life shifted dramatically. Wanting to explore themes real to her, such as motherhood, she was told “motherhood is not sexy.” In spite of this, she has created a body of work that explores womanhood, immigration and the role of women in society. Her artist statement begins: “Art is a political act: dance is a discipline and revolt, my body is my country.”
Your most recent work, Listen to Your Mother, is a choreographic research project dedicated to the lives of women-identifying artists who are immigrant mothers living in New York City. How was this project born?
“The work began because I was stuck in two worlds: being a dancer/choreographer and being a mother. I got a residency in 2022 at Movement Research for new parents. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of guilt that I wasn’t spending time with my kids when I was in the studio, but then feeling guilty for being with them and not working on my art. When I got the residency, I decided not to run away from my current reality, but delve deeper into what it means to be a mother and artist.”
What would you say is the most challenging part of being a mother and an artist?
“For some reason, every time I had a show, my kids were home sick. Or, I had to bring my kids to the studio because I couldn’t afford childcare. I put a crying baby on loop for the soundtrack for Listen to Your Mother. One of the producers said, ‘You have to change that soundtrack, it’s driving me crazy.’ I told him, ‘This is my life!’ The work touches on many aspects of motherhood, but it’s not only for mothers. I like to disrupt people’s artificial concepts of how they need to present themselves. The experience of being a mother is often invisible. My life was full of crying babies and I wanted to get at something real.”
You recently published a book, Teaching and Learning Dance through Meaningful Gestures, which is full of wonderful details about performing and training.
“My career has spanned 35 years, and over this time, I’ve been noticing and thinking about dance training and performance and wanted to write something that connected theory with praxis. My mentor, Jim May (from the Anna Sokolow Company) suggested that there has not been a book published about the process recently. I began the book when I had my first child and had time to think about my experience and then I wrote Chapter II, ‘Learning Dance,’ when my second child was born. The book and my babies were growing together, but now the book is out in the world and it’s doing very well.”
Anabella Lenzu will be holding a Book Launch and Reading on February 23, at Peridance Center in NYC. For more information, visit www.anabellalenzu.com/meaningful-gestures.
Danelle Marie Fusco is an Italian-American artist, healer and mystic creatrix. Trained in Graham and Luigi jazz, she is also an accomplished aerial arist who has taught internationally and performed in several dance companies in NYC. When an injury left her unable to perform in the typical high octane level she was going, she dove deep into her Italian roots and discovered folk dances and healing traditions in early Italian culture. Belief in the famous quote by Graham — “the body doesn’t lie” — has led her to alchemize dance with her practice as a healer. She designs workshops and performances that bring together movement, the healing arts and weaves into it the rich cultural symbolism of her Italian heritage.
What has your journey been to bring you to this moment?
“When I was injured, it led me to ask myself, ‘Who am I?’ Dance is such a big part of my life, but the injury made me step back and while I was healing, I felt drawn to dig deeper into my Italian roots. I started researching the area where my family is from and discovered a rich tradition of dance, many of which are centered on women and shamanism. I’m also a Reiki Master, and the blend of shamanism and dance in Italian folkloric dance weaves together two important parts of myself.”
Can you talk about your ‘American Strega,’ and the connection to your discoveries about Italian dance and culture?
“Strega means witch in Italian. Witches were medicine women and healers. I was born with spiritual gifts and, in my research, I connected with the traditions of the Italian healers (known as guaratici). There are many dances in Italian folk dances such as the Tarantella and Pizzica which are centered on mythical stories about the bite of the tarantula spider and are dances of healing. These dances are preserved in a few places, and I study with Alessandra Belloni and I Guillari di Piazza who have a lot of knowledge of this dance tradition.”
What are you working on, and are there any new modalities that have surfaced from your exploration into Italian dance culture?
“I’m currently building performance repertoire around themes of Southern Italian mysticism through dance and circus arts that are accompanied by workshops in traditional dance such as Tarantella and a new healing dance workshop called Alchemove that fuses shamanic practices of dance, ritual, light language, somatic deep stretch and energy healing. I’ll be offering workshops and have a robust performing schedule on the horizon.”
Danielle Marie Fusco will be performing La Madre as part of the Festa Della Donna on March 9, at Columbus Citizens Foundation in NYC. To learn more, head to www.daniellemariefusco.com.
By Nicole Colbert of Dance Informa.
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