Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

About Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

Movers and Shapers: A Dance Podcast brings to you stories of life in dance to guide and inspire yours. Tune in to hear candid conversations with dancers, choreographers, educators, company leaders, collaborators, and more, as they share personal journeys, creative insights, and ideas shaping the dance field today. Launched in 2015, the podcast is also a living archive of the field's evolving voices and stories. Hosted by Erin Carlisle Norton - dance artist, choreographer, movement educator, and company director of NJ/NYC-based The Moving Architects.

Publisher

Erin Carlisle Norton of The Moving Architects - Dance & Choreography

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 May 2015

Latest episode

26 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

215 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Jun 2026

   MSP 203: Among Company - Becoming a Dancer with Wendy Rogers

   What if dance isn't just about movement but also about the people who move with you through life? In this reflective episode, dancer, choreographer, and teacher Wendy Rogers joins the show to tell us all about her career and how collaboration guided her creative voice. Wendy's story is deeply rooted in experimentation, resilience, and the profound kinship shared between dancers. Tuning in, you'll hear about Wendy's early life and the struggles that shaped her, her dance education and how those formative years defined her career, the different projects and collectives she was a part of, and the transformative experiences that she had through dance. We explore and honor the wisdom of older, more experienced dancers before discussing what it means to keep learning and evolving across decades of practice. Wendy speaks about a life-altering incident that changed her relationship to her body and helped her step into her identity as a dancer. Our guest even delves into the birth of the Wendy Roger's Dance Company, the works she created, her years of teaching, and so much more! To hear all this and be reminded that relationships with other dancers is a gift, be sure to press play now! Key Points From This Episode: Welcoming Wendy Rogers to the show. A brief overview of Wendy's life and early struggles. How Wendy got involved in dance with Ruth Hatfield. Wendy tells us of her experience at Berkeley High School. Studying dance education and what made her pivot away from that. Creating the Moveable Feast and what that time was like for her. How Margaret Jenkin's piece, 'Summerspace' transformed Wendy. Wendy tells us about her dance collective, Among Company. What we can learn from older, more experienced dancers. How her accident changed her life and made her call herself a dancer. The Wendy Rogers Dance Company and the first dances she created. Why Wendy believes that relationships with other dancers are a gift. A brief overview of her time teaching and her 'ten-year projects'. What Wendy is up to now and what's next for her. For more on Movers & Shapers & Wendy: Instagram, Facebook, Show Notes (http://www.themovingarchitects.org/podcasts) Support this podcast in our 11th year! Make a tax-deductible donation today: The Moving Architects

2. 

   11 Jun 2026

   MSP 202: Authenticity in Motion - Jill Sifah Sigman on Dance, Props, and Purpose

   From her early experiences of finding freedom in ballet classes, to becoming a devoted bunhead, to her modern dance studies at Princeton, and her current work in choreography and movement artistry, Jill Sifah Sigman has a storied creative legacy. During this episode, we dive deep into the origins of the themes that continue to inform her work today. We also unpack the layered meaning of working with waste and donated objects to build structures she uses in her performances, how this differs from props and sets, and how this deeply meaningful practice shapes her work. Next, we explore the tension between the artifice we often associate with performance and the authentic expression she has always valued most about her dance practice. Building on this, we dive into what it might look like to strike a balance between work that is accessible and work that resonates with audiences in a more meaningful way. Join us for a truly expansive conversation with today's inspiring guest. Key Points From This Episode: Jill Sifah Sigman's journey to dance, from early ballet to choreography and movement artistry. How her studies shaped her relationship to archetypes, philosophy, and movement. Starting her company in 1998 after graduating from Princeton. Her journey to making and understanding site-specific work. Starting to work with waste in 2007, before it began to inform the message of her work. Meaningful opportunities to repurpose waste into structures used in her dance productions. Her journey to working with foraged plants. Distinguishing between the artifice and authenticity of performance. How plants, movement, and clay came to shape her project, Reseeding. Exploring insatiability, hoarding, and the antidote of soil. The power of art-making in facilitating connection. Navigating the tension between creating recognizable work and embracing experimentation. How her full-time care of her father informed her work and her response to the present. Jill Sifah Sigman is a choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, forager, and educator with a holistic vision of choreography that integrates human bodies, more-than-human beings like plants and soil, and things people throw away, in ways that catalyze presence and healing. For more on Movers & Shapers: Instagram & Facebook

3. 

   28 May 2026

   MSP 201: From the Stage to the Page with Rym Kechacha

   Sometimes you can get everything you want as a dancer, only to discover the reality is quite different from what you imagined it would be. In this episode, author and former dancer, Rym Kechacha, shares how that realization shaped her own journey, from early ballet training in London to dancing professionally with Northern Ballet, where touring life was both joyful and intensely demanding. She reflects on what it felt like to end her career as a dancer earlier than expected, and how that ending opened the door to a new creative identity. Rym traces her path into teaching, studying creative writing, and eventually publishing fiction, shaped by a lifelong love of books and fantasy. Our conversation explores her latest novel, The Apple and the Pearl, a ballet-inspired fantasy that captures both the beauty and cruelty of the stage world, blending realism with folkloric and fantastical elements. Thoughtful and candid about reinvention, artistry, and creative freedom, Rym offers her insights on what happens when one dream ends and another begins. Listen in for a rich discussion on dance, writing, and the stories that carry us forward! Key Points From This Episode: Rym's upbringing in London and her love of dance from a young age. How she persuaded her parents to let her attend ballet school at age 16. The demanding daily schedule of life at Central School of Ballet. Figuring out her plans after Ballet School and how her love of story ballets guided her. How she joined Northern Ballet and what it was like touring with the company. The serious impact of arts funding cuts and austerity measures in 2010. Losing her place at Northern Ballet: why it was both sad and liberating. What Rym did next in her career: travelling, au pairing, and becoming a teacher. How she rediscovered writing, earned her creative writing MA, and published her first novel. Reflections on the challenges of publishing and how ballet prepares you for rejection. Her experience writing her latest book, The Apple and The Pearl, and how it relates to ballet. A closer look at her upcoming novels, from Algerian history to London folklore and fantasy. Rym Kechacha is a former dancer, now writer from London, UK. For more on Rym & this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast Follow us on Instagram & Facebook

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