Before Anna Bass entered into her 14-year collaborative partnership with choreographer Monica Bill Barnes, she was inspired by another partnership—her James Madison University professors Cynthia Thompson and Kate Trammell.
“They’ve had a duet company for over 30 years, now, and are still performing and making work. It’s still a huge priority in their lives, and that’s amazing to me, because in a field where age is an issue, they have not made it so. It’s exactly the opposite. They inspired me to make performing a priority and to also make the relationships with the people I’m onstage with a priority.”