My improvisational music and dance group, Locomotors, is performing at the Windhover Center for Performing Arts in Rockport, MA on September 5th, 2025. Here’s a brief history of our origin and evolution.
I first had the idea for Locomotors while finishing my DMA at Stony Brook: a group based mostly in free improvisation (at the time, mostly music) anchored by short compositions built around rhythmic themes or ideas. (Yes, I was also hoping to be able to also use the composed material in Dalcroze eurhythmics lessons!) At school I took advantage of some of the excellent musicians who were there at the time. Here’s a wonderful flute player named Giovanni Perez:
And here’s a dynamite vibraphonist/percussionist named Ross Aftel:
I also tried the concept out with me on clarinet and my friend and colleague William Bauer on piano, and we played at several Dalcroze events and conferences:
During the pandemic, dancer and choreographer Dawn Pratson and I were meeting via Zoom for a teaching exchange. I helped her with piano improvisation and she worked with me on movement. The sessions were beneficial for both of us, but eventually we drifted into us just improvising in our primary domains — Dawn moving, me playing. Dawn is one of my favorite movers. I love the way she improvises. When I watch her I see someone having an experience rather than trying to express something, and I find that very moving and inspiring. Working together has changed the way I play in ways I am only beginning to understand. I have more patience to follow ideas through, and I am perhaps a less restless improviser. I’ve thought a lot about why this might be so, but I think it has something to do with the awareness that I will be directly and unavoidably influencing someone else’s creative process by the choices I make. Of course this happens in jazz as a matter of course, but it is less common to see in dance. When I realized this, the light bulb went on: improvised music as an equal partner with improvised dance, anchored by short compositions, organized sort of like a jazz group with heads or ‘tunes.’
Dawn and I did some performances in 2023, both on our own and at Dalcroze conferences. I managed to get some grant money and was able to hire the great saxophonist Marty Ehrlich for one of the shows. We performed at Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn. Boy was that fun!
When I decided this year that it was time for another round of performances, I thought of my longtime friend, visual artist Derick Melander. Derick has been creating beautiful and stunning sculpture out of used clothing for years, and he agreed to collaborate with us.
I also wanted to enlarge our circle of movers, and so we invited dancer/choreographer Sarah Slifer Swift to improvise with Dawn. Sarah is also the director of Movement Arts Gloucester Massachusetts (MAGMA).
Dawn and I value a kind of interplay between independence and dependence. We are definitely influenced by each other, but we reserve the right to respond by not directly responding to what the other is doing. She is not always dancing to what she hears and I am not playing what I see her do. Sarah will no doubt add further complication and inspiration. Dawn and Sarah have been working together for a while, but the four of us (including Derick) will only have the day of the performance to get to know each other!
Without giving too much away, Derick’s contribution does involve clothing (no surprise) but also invites the dancers to interact with clothing in unusual ways (more of a surprise).
So, in a day of rehearsal, we will organize a set, get used to working with Derick’s installation and get used to working with each other.
Did I mention that Windhover is an outdoor space and that for the first time I will not be playing an acoustic piano?
If you are in the area I hope you’ll come to see how it all turns out. I’ll be as curious as you to see what happens!
The next day, September 6, 1—4pm, Dawn and I will follow up the performance with a public workshop at MAGMA, a dance center and venue in nearby Gloucester. Information and registration is here. We have given workshops in our process for the Dalcroze Society of America, New York Dalcroze and at the International Conference of Dalcroze Studies. All are welcome regardless of background or experience. This session will culminate in an optional performance centered around one of our pieces.
A sketch for a logo. Cheesy, I know. But.. get it