dani tirrell on Dance Place’s New Curatorial Vision…
It’s March 11th, the weather outside is a little chilly, a far cry from the near t-shirt weather of the day before. However, inside, Dance Place is just as much in flux as the weather is. As we had been gearing up for Class: The Carla Perlo Story, a completely different ‘history-making’ event had happened shortly before that. For the first time in Dance Place’s history, we welcome our first Curator and Producer, dani tirrell.
“Okay, let’s do this,” dani says as dani sits down in front of the multi-colored glass of the Dance Place famous Janey Corner, “Is it possible for you to sit across me, I want this conversation to be as natural as possible.” That naturalism, that want to just listen, hear, and respond genuinely, is something dani and I talk about a lot over the course of our conversation. In fact it’s the heart and soul of dani’s approach to his role.
“My job is to listen,” dani begins, “to listen to what people have to say, to listen to what people are longing for and wanting, and to bring that into the space.”
That’s a large task to take on in Washington D.C., a city with an ever evolving arts scene. However, dani has the experience and the chops to deliver. A native of Detroit, Michigan and longtime resident of Seattle, Washington, dani tirrell uses dani’s background in street and club dance to combine culture and community. Through this, much of tirrell’s work centers itself in collaboration, community, and uplifting marginalized people and their voices. In dani’s departure, the Seattle Times noted that dani leaves “a strong legacy,” and a “big void”. Between dani’s immeasurably appreciated community engagement, groundbreaking work and accolades at University of Washington, one would assume that the artistic connoisseur would come in with lots of strong opinions and suggestions. However, that’s not quite the case.
“I think where people get it wrong, especially if they’re new inside of a place, inside of a community, they come in thinking they know all the answers, and this is what I’m going to come to do to make it better,” dani says.
“That’s not my job. My job is just to listen to what people have to say, to listen to what people are longing for and wanting, and to bring that into space.”
To this dani offers an even more nuanced and heartfelt objective, “… I don’t think initially things need to be fixed or change. I think you add value to things. So what in my experiences can I do to add value to what’s already here.”
As a self-identified ‘queer, Black, 40 plus year old trans spectrum movement, artists and person in the world,’ dani understands the importance of finding value, uplifting voices, and acknowledging how all of our lives and our experiences shape art and the art community around us, “We cannot move forward without thinking about what we’ve been through. When we look at [the] political climate…class…capitalism…homelessness…disability…how are we connecting what we’re going through in humanity and what we’re putting on stage?”
It’s a large and weighted question, but dani offers a simple solution to the problem, “We can’t talk about the uprising with Black Lives Matter. We cannot talk about LGBTQ rights. We cannot talk about disability justice. Without actually starting to do the work and put those things on stage in a way that is thoughtful and challenging for the audience.
This very strong, yet human response is definitely one that becomes even more clear when dani explains who dani’s inspiration is behind the curatorial work dani does.
“I do my work for Black folks in particular. I do the work because I know how important it is to have a seat at the table and a voice. I do this work because someone did it for me. I do this work because I stand on very, very strong shoulders. I do this work because I was called to do this work.”
It’s a very powerful call to action that dani gives themselves on a regular basis and one that drives their dani’s work to “take a chance,” on new voices. dani points out the ways that curation rarely strays away from artists that don’t have the recognition or funding as more established artists, but dani also points out that that’s where some of the strongest artistry is, and works towards how that can further inform others.
Already we have seen these feelings, ideas, and actions take form. After successfully pulling off and highlighting a strong sense of community with Class: The Carla Perlo story, and taking lead on the first Dance Place/DC Cypher, an event that will highlight the street and club dance scene in the DMV, we are seeing this vision start to take form. Given dani’s ability to build legacy, we are excited for the next chapter in the Dance Place journey to branch out once again reconnect with the D.C. dance community in new and innovative ways.
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