What is “The Moon-dancer”?

The Moon-dancer is an ongoing series of dances and dance short films inspired by the phases, symbolisms, and moods of Earth’s moon which seeks to bring art, music, and written word to life through movement.

Since its conception in 2021, when I first danced to Claude Debussy’s “Clair de lune,” I have had the delight to share The Moon-dancer at studio recitals and community gatherings around my home state of North Carolina. These dances juxtapose unique styles—from ballet-inspired interpretive dance to tap and jazz—against unexpected works of music from the late 19th through mid-20th centuries. This series is a visual and audial scrapbook of my discoveries, musings, and fascinations; and it serves as a filmed documentation of my technical and artistic development.

A Note on the Music:

The late 19th through mid-20th centuries were times of artistic revolution—and times I find to be particularly fascinating! Visual art broke from photorealism; written word and theatre ventured into new realms of expression; and music followed suite as composers rebelled against classical “perfection” and reinvented what “classical” meant.

These composers explored varying levels of dissonance, atonalism, minimalism, wandering melodies, and vicious repetition. Scott Joplin introduced speedy, passionate ragtime to classical structure; George Gershwin brought the rollicking fire of jazz to the concert hall. Claude Debussy mastered luminous, rule defying Impressionism; Arnold Schonberg crafted new rules for his spiky 12-tone system.

We too are in time of revolution. Today, the “new” rules and standards have become the old ones to be broken, challenged, and explored anew. I believe it is easy to forget how relevant and thrilling the music of the late 19th through mid-20th centuries really is—to merely see it as part of our “Relaxing Classics” playlist, or of our strange, out-of-reach concert repertoire. My goal is to present a selection of these works in new, surprising, and inspiring ways through The Moon-dancer.

Our Look:

Every dance is filmed in a specific, thoughtfully picked place. So far, we have visited locations as diverse as fine art galleries and beaches. Dances such as “The Moon-dancer: First Quarter” include intricate layering of separately filmed b-roll. In “The Moon-dancer: Solar Eclipse” I even have the chance to dance with myself! We are always trying to push our skills and vision just a little farther! The Moon-dancer’s costume, hair, and make-up was created by artist Carrie Leigh Dickey (who also happens to be my wonderful mom!). She also serves as chief editor and postproduction guru (AKA, the incredible woman who listens to my and my dance instructor’s wild ideas and does not think we are too insane!).

People Who Make the Magic:

The Moon-dancer would never be possible without the guidance of my dance instructor, K. Partridge of Juxtaposition Fine Arts. Ms. K. is my mentor, co-choreographer, and conspirator! She along with my mother—Carrie—and Luke Dickey—my awesome dad!—plus several of our amazing, daring friends are the forces responsible for capturing these dances on camera. Together, we have flown drones over Shell Island (and rescued that sound speaker from Impending Doom by Wave), fastened innumerable origami cranes to a tree in a Spring windstorm (not to mention the backdrop that almost blew away), and jimmy-rigged a portable spotlight with tape—praying it wouldn’t slowly sink down the wall into oblivion. I believe the results of these collaborative endeavors are truly touched by magic!