Dawn Stoppiello is a choreographer, dancer and media artist who has dedicated her career to computer mediated live performance. For nearly twenty years she has created choreography for bodies interfaced to computers through sensory systems. She is recognized as a pioneer in the genre of dance & technology. A recent mark of distinction is the prestigious Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation, which she received in 2004 for her sustained achievement in her field.
With composer Mark Coniglio she is co-founder and co-director of Troika Ranch, a performance group committed to creating hybrid, media intensive performances. Her work for Troika Ranch has been presented in New York City at venues including Danspace Project, The Kitchen and 3LD Art and Technology Center. The company has toured nationally from California to Nebraska to Rhode Island and many places between. International appearances include the Monaco Dance Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco, the Forum Neues Musiktheater in Stuttgart, Germany, Fondation Royaumont in Asnières-sur-Oise, France and multi-city tours of the United Kingdom including performances at The Laban Centre (London) The Unity Theater (Liverpool), and The Junction (Cambridge). Stoppiello regularly lectures and teaches workshops on interactive performance throughout Australia, Western Europe, Canada and the United States.
Her current project with Troika Ranch, Loop Diver, is an evening length dance theater performance that portrays an encounter with violence, and the attempts of its characters to escape from the resulting prisons of repetition. This live, evening-length multimedia work is built completely from interwoven loops of movement, text, music and interactive visuals. Loop Diver has been commissioned by the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska with support from the Creative Campus Innovations Program (funds from the Doris Duke Foundation) and will premiere in Nebraska in October 2009.
Stoppiello’s choreography has received numerous honors. In 2003 Troika Ranch was honored with the Time Out New York Dance Audience “Bessie” Award, received an Honorable Mention at the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica Cyberarts Competition in Linz, Austria and a “Eddy” award from Entertainment Design Magazine in New York City in 2005.
Ms. Stoppiello's dance career began in Portland, Oregon at the Jefferson High School for the Performing Arts where she toured the Pacific Northwest with the nationally acclaimed Jefferson Dancers. She left Oregon for Los Angeles where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from California Institute of the Arts in 1989. During that time she was honored with a Princess Grace Foundation scholarship in Dance (1987) and performed professionally with Jazz Tap Ensemble and Chicago Repertory Dance Ensemble. After graduation, she was a member of the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company where she remained until 1992. Stoppiello has taught on the dance faculty of Loyola Marymount University, Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has been a guest artist at the New York State Summer School for the Arts, the CSU Summer Arts program, Point Park University, George Washington University, and Brown University, among several others.
What brought
you to CalArts?
Bella Lewitzky and her company were guest artists at Jefferson High School for the Performing Arts in Portland, OR, where I was a student, the company visit might have been in 1983 I think. I immediately fell in love with her work and found out from my teachers about CalArts and that Bella had been the founding dean of the Dance School and that some of her former dancers (Rebecca Bobelle and Kurt Weinheimer) and her long-time musical director (Larry Attaway) taught there and if I wanted to work in her company, it seemed like the right place for me to study. So, I auditioned for CalAts in 1984, the year I was graduating from high school. Then after I was accepted I realized that I could not afford to go and knew nothing about financial aid. So, I gave up on the idea. I subsequently had been invited to work as an apprentice with Jazz Tap Ensemble so moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 1985. While working with JTE I decided to take a dance class at a place called The House in Santa Monica and the teacher was Rebecca Bobelle. She remembered me from the audition and we talked. She literally took me by the hand and whisked me up to Valencia to meet Christyne Lawson and get working on how to pay my tuition. I would never have thought it possible for me to attend CalArts without Rebecca’s guidance. She and Christyne really made it happen for me by getting me all the forms I needed for Pell and Cal grants and loans and the like. It was all very last minute but I moved up to the dorms and enrolled in classes all within a month’s time. Best decision I even made. Excellent guidance from excellent women.
How has your CalArts educations been relevant to your professional path?
It is entirely relevant. As I said, my initial desire to go to CalArts was to dance for Bella Lewitzky, which I eventually did. But while I was at CalArts my art horizons were broadened. I entered as a young dancer who only wanted to dance steps and be on stage. But then I learned about modernism and about fine art and theories and critical thinking and about collaboration and about having an individual voice and about making my own movement. I also met composer Mark Coniglio there who would become my primary artistic collaborator (and husband) for 20 years. CalArts had only 800 students during the time I was a student there (1985-1989). I am pretty sure we all knew each other by name if not by face. The fact that is was all in one building and that all the métiers were scattered around meant that you had to pass by the African drumming class or the painting studios or the acting studios on your way to your own classes. We all ate together. Danced at parties together. Swam in the pool together. This melding is what made me realize that I was in fact interested in the hybridization of forms and that I wanted to make my own path as an artist/choreographer in a collaborative setting. Mark and I and several of our fellow students (Ilaan Egeland, Sten Rudstrom, Peter Seidler, Cathy Galeto, Meredith Alex, Betsy Hearst, among others) decided to make a large-scale project for the Modular Theater in 1988/89 and applied for an interdisciplinary grant from the school to do it. We got the grant, I think it was $2,000 but it seemed like a lot then, and we set out to make The Need. Steven Lavine was new as president that year and he took an interest in the collaborative spirit and massive scope of our project. We used 13 dancers, 10 musicians and used video and theater and set design to transform the Mod. Steven gave us his personal support and brought many important CalArts big wigs to our show. Mark had just developed his wireless MidiDancer sensory suit for dancers to wear that allowed us to play music from a computer and we used that in The Need. Mark was the only student with a personal computer in his dorm room at the time. A Mac Plus! We ended up getting a bit of press on the MidiDancer and The Need and that was good for us and good for CalArts. The Need was really the birth of Troika Ranch although Mark and I didn’t know it at the time. After graduation that spring, I went on to dance with Bella and Mark continued to work as an assistant for Mort Subotnick, but we continued to create work together and in 5 years time Troika Ranch was founded. The name Troika Ranch refers to Mark and my creative methodology, which involves a hybrid of three artistic disciplines, dance/theater/media (the Troika), in cooperative interaction (the Ranch). This methodology was born out of our experiences at CalArts.
What
advice would you give to our current or perspective students?
Take full advantage of the professional artists (your teachers) the other students (your future collaborators and life long friends) and the resources (you’ll never get them like that again) while you are at CalArts. Don’t worry about sleep; you can sleep when you’re dead. Spend your time learning, absorbing, making, sharing, experimenting, and going for it all full steam ahead. If you want to make a career out of art, you won’t regret it.
CalArts is unique in that it houses the Schools of Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater as well as the Division of Library and Informational Resources under one roof. As a student, how did you engage with other members of the CalArts community and how did it influence your art making?
I said all this already. But, I will say it again; it is an intensely unique situation to be in, a gift. Also, the CalArts mafia really does exist. They are my people. We are a clan, no matter what our individual art form’s are. I have taught at numerous universities throughout the United States and have never come across the kind of cross-pollination and collaborative willingness between departments like I have known from CalArts.
How did the School of Dance fulfill your need to forge a career in dance?
Well, it’s funny this. I do have a career in dance but I feel like my career really sits within the broader realm of art and performance. After four years at CalArts, I was no longer interested in a traditional dance career and while Troika Ranch is known in many dance circles, I think our reputation and the work we produce is broader than that. I should mention though, that I was awarded a Dance Scholarship in 1987 from the Princess Grace Foundation. I think it was Larry Attaway who spearheaded this application for me. This scholarship paid for an entire year of my CalArts education, allowing me to graduate with less debt, an extremely important factor in my being able to continue as an artist. This scholarship also turned into my receiving the Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation in 2004. The Statue Award is given to previous scholarship and fellowship recipients over the years. The Princess Grace Foundation sends you a form so that you can keep them up to date on your career. I filled out these forms innocently each year until one afternoon I got the call that I would be one of two recipients of the Statue Award in 2004. Thrilling and surprising and humbling to know that the foundation was really following what I had been up to and were appreciative of my contributions to the field. So, again that all started at CalArts. Thanks for that.
How did the
technique classes prepare you for the physical demands of a career in dance?
Nothing can truly prepare you for the physical demands of a career in dance! But, no seriously, the classes were great. Don’t forget that two classes per day are a luxury in the real world. And my teachers came right out of the professional world. I had excellent training in various techniques. And the added bonus of rehearsing and performing side by side with my instructors for Dance Ensemble a few times taught me about dancing like a professional, in-situ with my idols. And the various guest teachers and choreographers that came though gave me a breadth of exposure to the kinds of work people were making at the time. Auditioning for them and working in some of their pieces prepared me in adapting to various styles and approaches.
How did the other curricular courses (composition, dance history, anatomy, etc) inform you about the world of dance and how did it prepare you to move forward with your ideas and personal voice?
Composition was key for me, as I would soon realize that making my own choreography was where I wanted to spend my time. I also think that in today’s contemporary companies, much more creativity is asked of the dancers. It is rare that as a dancer you will purely be taught steps. It is much more likely that you will be asked to contribute your own ideas, come up with your own movements and participate in the composition of a choreographer’s vision. This is what happens in my company and I value dancers with a range of improvisational and compositional skills. Dance History is necessary for a student to find their place in the larger context of the field. It is important to understand what came before, why it came, the theories behind each artists approach, the interconnectedness of dancers and other artists and how you might borrow and assimilate all of that history into your own time. Anatomy class served me on a personal level for injury prevention and/or recovery, but it also served me in terms of making money. I worked as a personal trainer and taught Pilates in NYC for a few years. Let’s not forget that CalArts was teaching Pilates WAY before it became trendy for the world at large. If you are going to work with bodies then it is imperative that you know something about how they function. I was a guest at a University for a semester and found out that the students there had no anatomy class. I was appalled at this lack and so I taught them a one-day intensive seminar on the bones, muscles and a bit of kinesiology. You have to know your instrument if you are going to play it well. There is the old stereotype that dancers are dumb. We have to continue to dispel that stereotype. Knowledge from outside of your field is what can inspire you to make work that can provide audiences with more then cool dance steps. It is also what keeps you connected to the larger world. Get out of the studio. Bring what’s out there back into the studio. Mix and match.
How has the
technical production requirements of the program informed the way you
communicate about your work?
Learning about theater production has been crucial for me. In the beginning, Troika Ranch had no lighting designer, stage manager, production manager, technical director, etc. It was just Mark and I out there on the road and we had to be able to talk to the technical directors of theaters and design the technical set up for our shows. We had to know the difference between a Par Can and a Fresnel. Had to know how an RCA cable was different from an XLR cable was different from a VGA cable. Had to know about Lee and Rosco gel. Had to know about mixing colored light. Had to know how much power we could draw from the system. Had to know as much as we could. And we continued to learn. Now we are fortunate enough to have a production team that travels with us, but it is still important that we know how to speak their language. Troika Ranch is also a very technical company. Our needs are often greater then the average dance company and we supply most of our own specialized equipment. We now have specific tech riders that are sent to the theater before we arrive. You might think as a choreographer that you only need to concern yourself with the dancers, not true. Know as much as you can. The knowledge will serve you and allow for more efficient tech rehearsals! And more fulfilling of your vision.
CalArts has a strong mentoring system for each student. How did you find the guidance and support of your mentor as a student? Have you had the opportunity to mentor young artist in your career?
As I said in the first paragraph, Rebecca Bobelle was responsible for getting me to CalArts. She was also my mentor and being able to talk to her about professional and personal matters helped me get through the difficult times. She was my friend as well as my mentor. I felt that I could openly speak to any of the CalArts faculty while I was a student. I came to appreciate each one for different reasons and at different times of need. I felt I could connect to them as people as well as experienced professionals. I have done some mentoring for young artists. Not in any ongoing way but I am often asked to have meetings with them as they are developing their work or writing a thesis or applying for a scholarship for schol. In fact I have a meeting tomorrow with a young composer who will be working on a dance project. He was referred to me by Mort Subotnick, who continues to be another mentor and friend. Sharing across the generations is important and I try to engage with younger artists as much as I can. We learn from each other.
Do you continue to work or correspond with any CalArtians?
Mark Coniglio is still the artistic
co-director of Troika Ranch with me. I have collaborated and remained friends
with so many artists I met while at CalArts. Here’s a list of a few: Anthony
Gongora (dance), Ilaan Egeland (dance), Michael Wiess (music), Jim Carney
(music), Heidi Bayer (film), Ernie Lafky (theater), Sten Rudstrom (art),
Meredith Alex (costume design), Katherine Livingston (dance), Makram Hamdan
(dance), Frit & Frat Fuller (dance), Peter Seidler (art), Andy Barbera (music),
J Granelli (music), Peter Epstein (music), Ralph Elessi (music), Ravi Coletrane
(music), Lana Halvorsen (dance), Piro Patton (music), Lisa Townsend (dance),
Kate Weare (dance), David Stout (music), Betsy Herst (padt), oh the list goes
on. And I am finding more now that I have a FaceBook page!!
Links for this Artist:
www.troikaranch.org/press.html
Photo Credits:
Dawn Headshot: Jennifer
Sherburn
Robert Clark and Daniel Suominen in 16 [R]evolutions: Richard Termine
Cable Monster: Piro Patton
Johanna Levy in 16 [R]evolutions (2006):
Johanna Levy
JJ Kovacevich, Daniel Suominen, Robert Clark, Lucia Tong, Johanna Levy and Ben Wegman in "Loop Diver" (in progress 2007): Oscar Sol
Dawn Stoppiello, Sandra Tillett and Michou Szabo in "Future Memory": Richard Termine
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