Auditorium Theatre 2019-2020 Trinity Irish Dance Company

January 18 - March 8, 2020 | AUDITORIUM THEATRE 2019-20 | 21 What do you hope audience members take away with them after they experience the piece? Ode is a work that straddles two very contrasting tones. It displays feelings of both hope and despair and pits them right next to one another. My wish is that the audience will really sit with those feelings, allowing them to both agitate and inspire — to witness the power of art and its ability to spark feelings and conversations that can lead to great change. You also choreographed the 2017 work Members Don’t Get Weary for Ailey and the 2015 piece Gêmeos for Ailey II. When did you first become interested in choreography and what inspired you to make the jump from dancer to choreographer? I became interested in choreography at a very young age, when I was around 16 years old. At the moment I don’t feel that I’ve made “the jump” from dancer to choreographer, I am very much both of those things and I would love for it to remain that way for as long as possible. What’s it like to work with your fellow dancers in your new role? And has your perspective on performing with the company as a dancer shifted at all since you’ve been choreographing? Working with my fellow dancers as Resident Choreographer has been really wonderful so far! Since dance is an art form that requires you to be so vulnerable, I really try to cultivate an environment of ease, openness, and honesty — three things that I think really help contribute to making good work. As a dancer with the company, I find that I enjoy it more now that I am choreographing for the company. For the moments when I am on stage, I am not in charge, I am not the driver, I am in the passenger seat. It feels very liberating! You’ve been performing with the company since 2002. What are some of your favorite memories? Some of my favorite memories of my time dancing with Ailey will always be centered around performing in Paris at Théâtre du Châtelet and performing for my family and friends in my hometown of Miami, FL. The welcome is always so warm! Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs at the Auditorium Theatre March 4-8. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Jamar Roberts' Ode PAUL KOLNIK