Support for Susan Rethorst
Donation protected
UPDATE: As we wrap up this campaign, I want to extend a big thank you to all who supported. And a word from Sue: "I'm very grateful, heat-warmed, and flattered by the generous response to this campaign."
Thank you all so much.
*
Susan Rethorst is a dancer, choreographer, writer and teacher. Over the course of her career, her work has had an impact on countless dance students in North America and Europe. I count myself among them. Along with this photo of Susan, circa 1980, I am including my well-worn copy of her book, “A Choreographic Mind: Autobodygraphical Writings”. I am grateful to have gotten to study with Susan during the years when she was writing this book, and I have returned to it again and again, in my own dance-making practice.
Susan has an as yet undiagnosed (no doctor appointments until after the pandemic) disability that is suspected (by geriatric nurses at her nearby senior center) to be multiple sclerosis or a related condition that has her walker/wheelchair dependent. Funds raised will go directly to purchasing an electric wheelchair and a new computer, in order for Susan to maintain her independence and carry on with her work.
In response to her disability, Susan conceived of a project that can accommodate her limited physicality--‘Stealing from Myself’ in which she takes ‘greatest hits’ from her own body of work and sequences them to create a new choreography. The excerpts necessarily recontextualize one another while making evident its ongoing artistic concerns.
*
I know I am not alone in having been shaped by Susan’s teaching, honed by many years of experience, her wisdom, generosity, and humor. Included here are just a few student testimonials. If you know Susan, if she has touched your life at some point over the years, please consider donating to this campaign. Consider sharing with your own networks, and feel free to add a few words about the impact Susan has had on you: as a dancer, a choreographer, a student, and a friend.
Thank you so much for your consideration, and your generosity.
-Michael Winward
“For me during the SEAD years, she opened my mind by making me ask myself necessary questions about myself and my interests in dance. It was incredibly valuable to have someone who was completely dedicated to help me find my own interests, in a time when my world otherwise mostly consisted of desperately chasing other people's interests. And during years of working as a dancer and performer in other people's work it's always been useful to remind myself to keep asking those questions.”
-Ida Hellsten
“Her text and teaching of The Game was deeply influential in the way I began to approach making - specifically composition and mark making in visual art, though it did of course influence my movement practice. Her idea of "allowance" and "justness," while only a small portion of her genius, has freed me to make from a more real trust in physical and material intelligence. I have used The Game in my drawing courses and believe in its effectiveness as a tool for learning to let yourself make; to get out of your own way. The sense of "not mattering" she associates with getting control and planning out of the way is the point of the exercise and the base point from which I have been working since discovering this model years ago. I am grateful for her influence in my life and the countless students of mine over the years she has indirectly affected.”
-Emilee Lord
“I think Susan never got the honour she deserved because she has never been very loud about her making and mind. And I think she deserves more attention. In particular as a teacher. With her I have experienced immense freedom in making. She never put me (or I d say any in the class) in a box, but gave us a sense of safety that accumulated in me in solid trust in my making. Even now, when having read so much on research, philosophy etc. I still go back to this sense of trust in what I do. Susan was never in competition with me as a student (which is not a given in art academies); but made me grow because she can really give space.”
-Jana unmüßig
Thank you all so much.
*
Susan Rethorst is a dancer, choreographer, writer and teacher. Over the course of her career, her work has had an impact on countless dance students in North America and Europe. I count myself among them. Along with this photo of Susan, circa 1980, I am including my well-worn copy of her book, “A Choreographic Mind: Autobodygraphical Writings”. I am grateful to have gotten to study with Susan during the years when she was writing this book, and I have returned to it again and again, in my own dance-making practice.
Susan has an as yet undiagnosed (no doctor appointments until after the pandemic) disability that is suspected (by geriatric nurses at her nearby senior center) to be multiple sclerosis or a related condition that has her walker/wheelchair dependent. Funds raised will go directly to purchasing an electric wheelchair and a new computer, in order for Susan to maintain her independence and carry on with her work.
In response to her disability, Susan conceived of a project that can accommodate her limited physicality--‘Stealing from Myself’ in which she takes ‘greatest hits’ from her own body of work and sequences them to create a new choreography. The excerpts necessarily recontextualize one another while making evident its ongoing artistic concerns.
*
I know I am not alone in having been shaped by Susan’s teaching, honed by many years of experience, her wisdom, generosity, and humor. Included here are just a few student testimonials. If you know Susan, if she has touched your life at some point over the years, please consider donating to this campaign. Consider sharing with your own networks, and feel free to add a few words about the impact Susan has had on you: as a dancer, a choreographer, a student, and a friend.
Thank you so much for your consideration, and your generosity.
-Michael Winward
“For me during the SEAD years, she opened my mind by making me ask myself necessary questions about myself and my interests in dance. It was incredibly valuable to have someone who was completely dedicated to help me find my own interests, in a time when my world otherwise mostly consisted of desperately chasing other people's interests. And during years of working as a dancer and performer in other people's work it's always been useful to remind myself to keep asking those questions.”
-Ida Hellsten
“Her text and teaching of The Game was deeply influential in the way I began to approach making - specifically composition and mark making in visual art, though it did of course influence my movement practice. Her idea of "allowance" and "justness," while only a small portion of her genius, has freed me to make from a more real trust in physical and material intelligence. I have used The Game in my drawing courses and believe in its effectiveness as a tool for learning to let yourself make; to get out of your own way. The sense of "not mattering" she associates with getting control and planning out of the way is the point of the exercise and the base point from which I have been working since discovering this model years ago. I am grateful for her influence in my life and the countless students of mine over the years she has indirectly affected.”
-Emilee Lord
“I think Susan never got the honour she deserved because she has never been very loud about her making and mind. And I think she deserves more attention. In particular as a teacher. With her I have experienced immense freedom in making. She never put me (or I d say any in the class) in a box, but gave us a sense of safety that accumulated in me in solid trust in my making. Even now, when having read so much on research, philosophy etc. I still go back to this sense of trust in what I do. Susan was never in competition with me as a student (which is not a given in art academies); but made me grow because she can really give space.”
-Jana unmüßig
Organizer
John Winward
Organizer
Boston, MA