Dance Preview: RDT Link Series' Matriarch 

• Logan Sorensen

Like institutions of all kinds, arts organizations are asking themselves questions about inclusion—what kind of voices, or bodies, have historically been prioritized, and how to shift those paradigms. For dancer/choreographer Jaclyn Brown, that idea extends from those we see on a stage to those we might see in the audience.

As part of Repertory Dance Theatre's Link Series, Brown is presenting Matriarch, an evening-length work addressing themes of maternity. In part, it's an opportunity to reimagine the notion of what a dancer looks like, beyond historical expectations for a very specific body type, born out of Brown's own experience as a dancer and mother.

"It's kind of something I've been playing with in my choreography for a while," Brown says. "I had my daughter four years into my career with RDT. ... Just recently, having entered graduate school and trying to find my choreographic voice, that's just the material that interests me. It's the forefront of my life. And maybe I've experienced some issues in the field of dance."

Brown is clear that such issues are not unique or particular to the organizations she has been a part of. Indeed, it's the field of professional dance as a whole that she believes is overdue for exploring the types of bodies we see—and don't see—in performances.

"There's a lot of non-conforming bodies when it comes to dance, not just mothers," Brown says. "Abled and not abled, bodies of color, fat vs. thin. This is just one population affected by that body aesthetic. And I get why it's there. [But modern dance pioneer] Isadora Duncan was breaking the mold by wearing a toga and nothing on her feet.

"In my piece, we're embracing that post-partum body as something that's normal, and should be expected. I actually think the post-partum experience is great ground for an artist to explore what's happening to the body; it's actually coming back together. I'd like to see [motherhood] as an opportunity rather than career suicide. The body is always changing. I think it's natural to expect that."

It's also natural to expect that those who have had children continue to ... well, have children. Theater spaces haven't always been particularly welcoming to children, either for performers who have them, or for audience members who might need to decide whether to attend a show or be with their children, but not both. That's why it was particularly important to Brown that Matriarch is part of the Link Series, which invites attendance by audience members of all ages, and where ushers are given specific instructions not to try to "shush" children.

"It's very difficult for parents to get child care, because it can be very expensive," she says. "[For dancers] that's part of the hidden work of a mother who also dances; they have to be near them all the time. ... It's also not ideal to have to change your identity to come to the theater; you're saying, 'I want you to be somebody who's not attached.' It's like a removal of identity."

Brown also embraces the idea that there doesn't have to be some black-and-white delineation between material that's "for kids" and material that's "for adults." While she acknowledges having to make a few tweaks to her content to be sure it's appropriate for all ages, like removing profanities from music, in general she's most concerned with providing an experience that's not dumbed down just because children happen to be in the audience.

"For the most part, that's what I want: for it to be over their heads," Brown says. "I want kids to be saying, 'What's going on here,' to hear that. That's how you know they're learning."

Additionally, Brown thinks its important to expose children to the ideas that their parents may have struggles with issues, including something like post-partum depression. "I don't want my kids to just see me being well all the time," she says. "It's not just 'good-feeling' dance. They need to understand it's okay not to be okay sometimes, and this is how we reach out for support."

As much as it's an act of support for a different way of thinking about the relationship between motherhood and dance overall, Matriarch is also, for Brown, an act of support for these specific dancers— Marisa Augustine-Crowder, LayCee Barnett, Jess MacDonald, Lacie Scott, and Alicia Trump—who are part of the production. "I feel like these particular women are women who are maybe fading into the background of the performing world because they've chosen the path of parenthood," Brown says. "It was important to do this in a big theater, doing big art. They're so used to putting their needs second. I just want them to be seen."