Joe Goode, artistic director of dance theater company Joe Goode Performance Group, knows the value of including his dancers in the creative process. When he first arrived in San Francisco and danced for Margaret Jenkins, he was amazed to find that she encouraged her dancers to create and contribute movement to her own choreography.
“Margaret’s democratic approach to art-making revolutionized my thinking. The idea of throwing the creative space open was unlike the way my previous master teachers and choreographers worked–before, the choreographer was the demi-god who decided everything. Now that I create work, I’ve learned that my vision can only be as good as the vision of the people in the room. I really have to enlist them fully in the creative process and let them have ownership of the movement.”
The Joe Goode Performance Group premieres Goode’s Hush at Z Space in San Francisco through October 5. www.joegoode.org
Photo by RJ Muna
