Staff Blog
2ND SEASON ARTS: Miro’s back, tell a friend
posted by Carolyn Huckabay
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| Photo | Neal Santos |
| Amanda Miller, Miro choreographer |
Today’s cover package features a story on Miro Dance Theatre, which recently wrapped up a two-week trip to India for the new piece “How Am I Not Myself?” and is gearing up for a finale performance at the Painted Bride in late January. (We gave you the heads-up about the company’s latest venture back in November, when the performance was still very much a work-in-progress.)
“How Am I Not Myself?” centers on choreographer Amanda Miller’s relationship with fellow dancer Viji Rao; the two women discovered that despite being born on opposite hemispheres, their dance lives are quite parallel. CP’s Lauren F. Friedman chatted with Miller on the challenges of moving from classical to contemporary dance, which is the dominant theme running through the piece, and a dominant theme in both Rao and Miller’s lives.
Here’s an excerpt:
At the How Am I Not Myself? première in Bangalore, a conservative audience of traditional Indian dance enthusiasts packed the theater. “They didn’t understand what Viji was doing because it looked so contemporary, but whatever I did just looked like ballet to them,” explains Miller. “I have a feeling we might get the opposite reaction with Western audiences who know ballet but don’t know about Indian classical dance.”
Miller emphasizes that the dancers’ stories are the same, even though their styles of movement are different. “We share that we’re still connected to the classical and contemporary worlds,” she explains. “I’m very passionate about my teaching, but I make contemporary work. We each found another person who understood … how you could have passion for both, [and] maybe even contempt.”
We’d also like to point you in the direction of phillyist.com, which has for the past few weeks hosted the entirety of Miro’s travel videos. The latest, No. 19, is a clip from a performance in Ahmedebad. Check it out and tell me if you can figure out whether the dog’s cameo was intentional.
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