This interview is the first of profiles and reflections from CJ Donohoe, Dance Complex Community Ambassador, in the reinvigorated Dance Complex blog. Stay tuned as we continue to illuminate the individuals that make up this vibrant dance community. 

With sweat beading down our backs, Victoria and I settled into the benches of Studio 2, saying goodbyes to Anja, another classtaker. Victoria just led us through VLA DANCE’s first improvisation class of their new workshop series, guiding us through movement prompts of lengthening, spiraling, explosive energy, and rest. Read on to learn more about Victoria, Director of VLA DANCE , and her fire for creating opportunity and structure for community and professional dancers and performers. 

CJ Donohoe: What brought you to land in Boston?

Victoria Awkward: So I was originally from Natick, right outside of Boston. I didn’t want to come to Boston originally, I wanted to go to New York, but I got a dance opportunity in Boston, so I came here. Through that, I met a lot of collaborators that I enjoyed working with and pretty quickly started to choreograph, and realized I could start my own company with the people I was working with.

C: How did you first learn about The Dance Complex? 

V: I’ve been coming here since I was in high school when I would come via the commuter rail, or take the green line into Boston.

C: Is there something you remember from your early days here?

V: I can’t remember the first class that I took, but there are classes that really stuck with me, like Midday Movement Series, which I’m still part of now. At the time, through Midday I was also taking a lot of classes with a teacher named Michael Figueroa, who had his own company in Boston called Ruckus Dance. And through classes, and being in that community, I got to work with his company. 

C: Have you ever performed here? 

V: At the Canal Space, VLA DANCE  did a show called In The Space Between (ITSB), which is a show about identity and freedom through the lens of queerness. I’m actually returning to that show because it was a short show, 30 minutes. We’re in residence with The Theatre Offensive (TTO) for the next two years to lengthen the show. TTO is  a performance-based company who works  through the lens of BIPOC queer aesthetics. In the legacy of BIPOC queer artistry, ITSB is an interdisciplinary work that highlights multiple performance and visual art mediums. For example VLA DANCE works with a music director, Desiré Graham, who  helps to bring out sound and vocalization with the dancers, as well as contributing her own singing. 

C: I find it a lot easier for people to access dance when there are those multiple avenues. 

V: Absolutely. Especially in Boston, even though there is a lot of dance here, the institutions and funding organizations tend to place a higher value on visual arts and music. So when you have interdisciplinary mediums, it’s an entryway into dance.

C: How long have you had VLA? 

V: VLA DANCE was founded in 2019.

C: This is a new workshop series that you’re embarking on, today’s improv class and the two other technique classes. What was the development period like to create these classes?

V: We’ve held regular classes since 2020, and all of the different core members have contributed to what that experience has been. Most recently, myself and Sasha Peterson, the lead class teacher for VLA DANCE, spent a few months with Marissa Molinar of Midday Movement Series to redefine what our aesthetics are, what our technique is, and what we really want class takers to take away from class. If you come to my other offering on Wednesdays and also Sasha’s offering at the Foundry on Fridays, you will experience a class that pushes stamina, strength, and artistry through VLA DANCE tools and technique. Regarding the improv class – I’ve always used improv in developing choreography and in my contemporary technique classes. Usually at the end of my contemporary technique classes, I will improv and use collective memory to build the class final phrase work. Starting a class dedicated specifically to improvisation allows me to explore something I enjoy while also picking apart the tools that I use in my technique class in a more focused way. For example, in one moment we will just think about the lengthening, or just think about the spiraling, whereas in VLA technique class, we’re thinking about those cues as we’re pliéing, as we’re doing phrase work etc. 

C: I’m interested in the class takeaways, particularly for this class. What are you hoping people take away after they leave? 

V: I want people to be able to honor their individuality, to really feel freedom and choice-making in what they already bring to the table, but also to feel challenged within that and to allow themselves to explore new versions of who they are within dance. 

C: I was really struck with what you were saying at the end of class… 

V: Yes, I was saying that we always have a fire within but it takes time to let that fire grow. I think that really relates to the offerings I have for VLA DANCE. I started teaching even before I had formally with VLA DANCE through Midday Movement Series in 2019. But it was just this year that I really feel very excited to teach and very clear about what I’m teaching. So I feel a lot of gratitude. If the class is two people or 20 people, either way, I still have this really full experience. But it took me a few years to get there. I had to be patient to experience that growth, and I’m thankful for those who supported me and were patient with me. 

C: What were some factors of getting you there? 

V: Continuing to show up. That goes a long way. Learning takes time. We want it to be fast, it’s just not. 

C: I was also seeing some of your community dance engagements, particularly the free outdoor doodling class. I was hoping you could talk about VLA’s connection to community, and having classes geared towards the advanced dancer and the community dancer. 

V: Since we have such clarity now within what we’re offering, we can really teach to a wide range of people because we really understand what we’re trying to get the classtaker to accomplish, and beginners need clarity. For advanced dancers, it’s “okay, I’m advanced, and now class is boring because I know what I’m doing,” so then having even more specificity challenges the advanced dancer. There are times when we do have separate levels, but the levels are more about pacing – the advanced class is pretty fast. However, the outdoor free programming was through a cohort with the Design Studio for Social Intervention, the Dance Court. The idea is to eventually see free public space with dance courts, just like a basketball court. Outdoors, indoors, all of it. So we were part of prototyping the very beginning of how that could look. 

C: Where do you see VLA DANCE, The Dance Complex, and dance and art in Boston heading towards in the future?

V: With VLA DANCE, we’re really working as a cohort. The core members of VLA DANCE also have leadership positions, and we make collective choices about how the organization is growing. The idea is that in 10 years from now, the company could keep going and be led by other people, but the ethos remains the same. With that, redefining what a dance company could look like. We do want to be full-time, but full-time in the sense that our mission and our projects are consistent, but there’s flexibility for artists to engage in a full, meaningful, and balanced life. And then, of course, getting paid and having health care and all that would be great. It’s a process of redefining what a dance company could be as – who I want to hold space with working towards a similar mission – and letting that grow to eventually be paid full-time. VLA DANCE is also serving the community, helping people to feel embodiment. Embodiment really teaches people to be active choice-makers. I feel our world needs more people who are active in their choices, instead of letting the systems that are in place continue, because they’re not working for most people. In terms of Boston and Greater Boston, I really hope that our government and private foundations can support the arts more. I think artists are really struggling and a lot of them are lacking resources, beyond but also including financial support. But artists are really important in driving cultural change and creating a world that’s fun and enjoyable to live in. And I think The Dance Complex has the potential to be a voice in making that change.

C: Thank you. Anything else you want to let the people know?

V: I have a show coming up on November 30 and December 16, the information will be on my website. It’s called For Nina, it’s a trio honoring the legacy of Nina Simone. There’s a vocalist, Desiré Graham, a pianist Hua Ye (Jane) and a youth cohort. It’ll be in Boston at Hibernian Hall and then in Cambridge at the Multicultural Arts Center.

Join Victoria on Wednesday mornings for Contemporary 10-12 pm throughout October, Improvisation 10-11 am on Thursdays on October 26, November 30, and December 14, as well as an additional Contemporary workshop with Sasha on Friday 10/20 10-11:30am. Book class at vladance.com/education.