OTIS Blog

BDF
THE CAST OF HAIR IN LOS ANGELES
All I can say is that we had a good time.  Wish you could have been there. It was amazing how this show resonates right now.  Would love to mount it again.

CHIAROSCURO

MARCH 2, 2015
IN THE BEGINNING
I’ve come a long way to get to here.  I’ve had had a big career in the entertainment business. I have worked hard and thrived long in every aspect of show business. However, I must say the thing that has always gotten me to where I’ve wanted to go was the dance. Many people think of me as a commercial artist but for the few who really know me know me as a concert dancer and choreographer. This is how I started. 
 
My work as a concert modern dance choreographer has made a difference has always made a difference for me. Not always liked by the critics though here were always filled houses and standing ovations. But I have come to realize that I wasn’t talking to the critics. My work had a way of speaking to the common man. That's not to say that I haven't  gotten rave reviews by many periodicals. 
 
I had an opportunity to leave the country and to travel to France and Germany to see a lot of international dance. The Apollo Theater had a grant to let one of their artists have an artistic exchange with various dance artists around the world. And so I traveled.  I was able to meet Akram Khan, Aakash Odero, William Forsythe, the company Black Grace out of New Zealand and I saw Boxe Boxe by Compagnie Kafig. As well I looked and watched every kind of dance that I could online.   Became very familiar with companies and choreographers in the United States and abroad. What a wonderful time. I learned a lot about the contemporary dance world. Thank you Apollo Theater and Mikki Sheppard.
 
Presently something has come over me where I feel the need to choreograph for the dance world again. I am a bit anxious but my wife says that I am always anxious before doing a new idea or project.  This spirit that leads me to the dance is important because it will sustain me in difficult times when I am working on a new piece.  I am going to have to figure out how I put such a big project together. Costumes, lighting, idea, music, rehearsal space, stage manager, ballet master, money to pay for all of this etc. etc. 
 
This is truly a journey. Starting from scratch, building a team that would like to help me move this dance journey forward.  There are lots of decisions to make. I hope that you will join me on this journey as I chronicle how I get from the page to the stage.
 
If you have any questions about the business of choreography that I can answer please feel free to ask me here. I will answer all of them.