Research Statement

As a hybrid artist, my research interests are multi-faceted and the threads interweave, enhance, and inform each other. My work addresses the relationship between emotion and physical expression, and the cultivation of connection — with one’s self, relationally with others, and how we locate within space(s). Specifically, a key component of my research is how to include the body as a healer in trauma-related therapies and wellness practices. With our rapidly shifting social, cultural, political, medical, and economic climates, now is an opportunity to embrace change and to activate change making. My process-based approach reflects this need for continual mutability and steadfastness that allows for a dynamic continuum of growth where there is no arrival or fixed point. Key pillars of my research are collaborative choreographic projects, directing a multi-disciplinary collective, performance, and wellness practices.  

 

Choreography:                                                                          

My choreographic research investigates how heightened emotional states can be released through movement — where incredible emotions are mobilized and shared. My research proposes that when our lived experiences are seen, heard, and felt in the company of others, the potential for emotional, biological, and spiritual healing can occur. My creative process allows for individual expression to be explored through tapping into powerful sources of energy within the body that give way to physical expression. This type of work often re-imprints the dancing body with new information that over time encourages creative and expressive expansion. My choreographic research is created in conversation with the performers I work with, drawing material from highly designed exercises (that include directives relating to memory, family/social structures, and non-linear storytelling). I allow structure to emerge from their biographical content.  

 

Performance: 

A large portion of my performance research over the last four years has been dedicated to performing with NYC based choreographer Joanna Kotze. ‘lectric eye, an evening length work, premiered at The Space at Irondale in Brooklyn, NY in February 2022. We will tour the work throughout this next year, culminating at the American Dance Festival’s 75th  Gala Concert in Durham, NC in June 2023. From 2018-2020, I also performed/collaborated with Bay Area choreographer Katie Faulkner to create This is the Year, an evening length duet work. Iterations of this work were presented in Topography, a shared evening of work by Dance West Fest artists (Salt Lake City) and ODC Dance Theatre (San Francisco). These collaborative projects reflect my interest in revealing process-based research over an extended period of time. 

 

Wellness Practices: 

My research in wellness practices aims to use an artistic context to broaden our understanding of how emotional health is related to movement practices and to develop divergent methods of approaching wellbeing. For me, wellness is a transformative, creative act of self-acceptance. My research within the Arts and Health Initiative on campus, my teaching within the Master of Arts in Teaching Program, and facilitation of The Expressive Body: Awakening whole body expression through movement, writing, and speaking, a six week workshop at the Huntsman Cancer Institute Wellness Center, has created interdisciplinary partnerships with diverse communities based on collaborative needs and desires.  

 

Research Keywords

  • Performance Studies
  • Healing Trauma
  • Dance and Wellness

Creative Research

  • "Heartland: Studies of the Heart" (2018-Present) "Heartland" is a body of research in which Heller explores the idioms, sensations, associations, and physical spaces of the heart. This research has premiered as individual studies and pop-up events in both Salt Lake City and San Francisco. "Heartland" will culminate as an evening length work in 2020. -Commissioned solo for "Movement for Sound: 5 Dancers Respond to the Music of Mike Wall," presented by the Shawl Anderson Dance Center (October 2018), Berkeley, CA. Live performance and composition by Mike Wall, 15 minutes. -Performing Dance Company (November 2018): Trio, Music by Mike Wall Collaboration with Wendy Wischer (Art and Art History) Curatorial/Production, completed 10/20/2018.
  • LITTLE SEISMIC DANCE COMPANY, KATIE FAULKNER; SAN FRANCISCO Performer/collaborator for evening-length work, "Divining." Residency and showing at ODC Dance Theatre, CA. Premiere in Summer 2019. Performance, in progress 08/2018.
  • Joanna Kotze, NYC based choreographer Performer/collaborator for new work, ‘lectric eye, trio. Three-week Schonberg Artist in-residency with Kotze. Performance at The Yard, Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Performance, completed 05/2018.
  • THE MIDDLE WAY: Premiere for the Gala Concert, School of Dance, University of Utah. Quintet, music arrangement and composition by Mike Wall, 15 minutes; Kingsbury Hall. Choreography, completed 03/2018.
  • REGALIA: Finalist for Repertory Dance Theatre’s choreography competition and gala, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City, UT. Competition, completed 02/10/2018.
  • "very vary": Evening length dance work, presented by the Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Berkeley, CA (December 2017). Sextet, original music composition and performance by Mike Wall, additional collaborations with visual artist Gretchen Reynolds and print maker Kate Thomas. Also presented at the Eccles Regent Street Theater, Salt Lake City (May 2017). In addition, excerpts of "very vary" were performed at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in the Eccles Auditorium for patients and staff (May 2017). Choreography, completed 05/11/2017.
  • "The Most Delicate Timekeepers," quintet. Choreography for the Performing Dance Company's spring concert, Department of Modern Dance, University of Utah as well as the Distinguished Alumni Concert at Kingsbury Hall. Choreography, refereed, completed 09/2016.
  • Choreographer, Co-Director, Producer, Performer for "Bright Loud." "mighty," a duet, was presented alongside the work of Chicago-based artists Jessie Young and Josh Andersen. Presented by Links Hall. Curatorial/Production, completed 05/23/2016.
  • "Into Real," quintet. Premiered at the Courage Theatre, Westminster College (SLC). Commission, completed 12/07/2015.
  • SPLITS Co-created duet with Netta Yerushalmy (NYC and Israeli based choreographer), 16 minutes, original music composition by Mike Wall. Presented by Movement Research at the Judson Church, NYC. Choreography, refereed, completed 11/2015.
  • Produced "Fault Rising: An Evening of Dance and Puppet Art." Choreography included: "This is your Paradise," trio and "Two Awash," duet. Gowanus Art + Production (NYC). Curatorial/Production, completed 10/15/2015.
  • "This is your Paradise," trio and "Two Awash," duet. Performed at the Mahaney Center for the Arts, Middlebury College (VT) as part of "Until the Golden Tides," an evening of work by Molly Heller and Scotty Hardwig. Choreography, completed 10/14/2015.
  • Performed and Choreographed "Bump and Run," duet. Performed as part of the faculty showing at Salt Dance Fest, Marriott Center for Dance, University of Utah. Performance, completed 06/12/2015.
  • Curated and presented work in "Making Space: An Evening of Curated Choreography," KANEKO, Omaha, NE. Choreography: "Iron (anne) Glass," solo. Curatorial/Production, completed 02/14/2015.
  • IF A SNAKE SHOULD BITE Self-produced concert held at the Ladies’ Literary Club (SLC), sponsored in part by the Department of Modern Dance, University of Utah. An intimate evening of dance choreography researching performance as a cathartic act and the relationship between physical expression and emotional trauma. Choreography Included: • "This is your Paradise," trio, 22 minutes, music by Marshall Tucker Band, Peter, Paul and Mary and Neil Young. • "Splits," a collaborative duet with NYC artist Netta Yerushalmy, 15 minutes, music composition by Mike Wall. Choreography, completed 11/2014.

Presentations

  • NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE, SALT LAKE CITY (2018) Co-presenting with Assistant Professor Kate Mattingly and Associate Professor Michelle Lavigne, San Francisco University. Our three part presentation, "Playing with/while/within Dancing: Communicating for/with/about Dance," draws from different definitions of play, examining how dance as a theatre art form is characterized as an academic discipline, performative practice, and cultural object. In conversation, we will explore how writing for/with/about dance is a kind of play that can happen between dancers, writers, and choreographers. Presentation, Presented, 11/15/2018.
  • "Wellness within Pedagogy": Invited lecture/discussion at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, Berkeley, CA for instructors in higher education. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/18/2018.
  • Invited lecture/discussion for interns at The Yard, Martha's Vineyard focused on graduate school and higher education within the field of dance. Part of a Schonberg artist residency with choreographer Joanna Kotze. Invited Talk/Keynote, Submitted, 05/31/2018.
  • UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, LIFE LONG LEARNING (2012-PRESENT) “Steep, Sip, Savor: An Introduction to Tea.” Invited lecture-demonstration for Continuing Education students. Presentation, Presented, 12/2016.
  • NOW-ID Invited panelist alongside Now-ID directors Charlotte Boye-Christensen and Nathan Webster, discussing space as a collaborator. Other, Presented, 11/2016.
  • TEDx SALTLAKECITY Selected to present "mighty," Kingsbury Hall. Music composition by Mike Wall. Presentation, Presented, 09/2016.
  • RIRIE-WOODBURY PROFESSIONAL INTENSIVE, SLC (2016) “Cultivating a Dynamic Wellness Practice.” Invited lecture-demonstration for festival participants. Presentation, Presented, 07/2016.
  • Guest Artist and Lecturer, Department of Dance, Middlebury College (VT). Presented: "Fostering Adaptability, Resilience and an Entrepreneurial Spirit in the Arts.". Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/12/2015.

Geographical Regions of Interest

  • Lithuania
    Culturally interesting, related to ancestry.
  • Switzerland
    Geographically inspiring, related to ancestry.