An Interview with Rachel Slater
How would you define contemporary dance to someone without a background in dance?
“It’s always a tricky question. I recently took a job teaching dance at a public high school. While some of my students are highly trained, others are new to dance. When I explain contemporary dance, I often tell them it’s a dance form that prioritizes expression, but it’s tough to define what it looks like because it can be presented in so many ways. It can be done to any sound score: pop music, spoken word, classical music, silence. There’s a range of performance spaces, from a proscenium to a warehouse, from site specific to film. As far as choreographic creation, contemporary dance can run the gamut. There’s a lot of freedom and variety in the way choreography is generated, more than what is often found in a traditional or classical setting. There’s often a focus on research and improvisation to generate material. What I end up saying to my students is that contemporary dance can look like almost anything, and is largely defined by its intention to be contemporary dance.”
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What do you perceive is your own contribution to the field of contemporary dance?
“As a choreographer, I’m interested in people. When I start to develop a new work, I’m interested in my dancers bringing their own perspectives, which I think is a distinguishing feature between classical and contemporary. I don’t want dancers who are blank slates waiting to be imprinted upon by a choreographer. If you go into a rehearsal process in a contemporary scene, you will often be asked to improvise, speak, write. As a choreographer, I’m interested in having real people in the room with me, not just someone who will nod their head and say, “Whatever you want.” I believe my work reflects that. I want to make work about a conversation relatable to the audience. Dance can often be elitist and obscure, but making dance about what’s personal can solve that.”
