I’ve been an editor at Cal since 2006. While I write about faculty and students every day, I rarely get to work with them directly. I’m also a dance and theater artist. In 2015, I asked the chair of the theater department if I could audition for their major annual dance production. Not only did she say “yes,” but I was in it for three consecutive years. And it lit the way to additional collaborations with other departments, including co-creating three hilarious pieces with Ph.D. students in bioengineering! My friends often comment on how lucky the students are to work with a professional, blah blah blah, to which I say, “I’m the lucky one!” As a middle-aged woman trying to keep up with younger students, I’m moving my body in challenging ways. I’ve worked with three esteemed choreographers and one world-renowned professor. In true Berkeley style, every piece has been rooted in issues of social justice or science, opening my mind to new ways of thinking. But most importantly, I get to hang out with our curious, brilliant, compassionate, kind, adventurous students — helping me feel more connected to Berkeley’s mission and more hopeful for our future.
Pictured: Flag, choreographed by Ann Carlson for Berkeley Dance Project 2015.
