{"id":25367,"date":"2014-04-03T15:09:43","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T21:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=25367"},"modified":"2018-12-13T13:16:05","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T19:16:05","slug":"yebel-gallegos-tara-mcarthur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/yebel-gallegos-tara-mcarthur\/","title":{"rendered":"Yebel Gallegos & Tara McArthur"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This year has been one of great change for Ririe-Woodbury. In addition to celebrating the 50th Anniversary and welcoming new Artistic Director Daniel Charon the company has also welcomed new dancer Yebel Gallegos as they prepare to say goodbye to Tara McArthur. Rather than interview either, it seemed appropriate to share their own conversations about their experiences dancing for the company as they\u2019ve overlapped this past season. They discuss their backgrounds, recent company performances and also plans for their futures inside and outside of the company dynamic.<\/span><\/p>\n

On joining the company\u2026<\/strong>
\nTM: I started dancing in Northern California. At a young age I was doing jazz, ballet and all that good stuff. I showed up to Cal State Long Beach in Southern California and was introduced to modern training which is where I fell in love with contemporary movement. I had two professors at Long Beach, Keith Johnson & Andy Vaca, who choreographed for Ririe Woodbury so as I started looking into companies, it was one of the first places I auditioned. I started in 2008 doing the Nikolais repertoire and joined the main company in 2010. And here I am.<\/p>\n

YG: I was first exposed to dance being part of a Latin family. Socially, dancing was always the main event; it was always the thing to do. There I was as a 4, 5 and 6 year old boy dancing with my aunt, she was teaching me the classics. It never occurred to me dance was something I could do as a career until I took a class in high school and fell in love with it. I decided it\u2019s what I wanted to do in college. I started training at UT Austin and in four and a half years got a BFA. While at UT Austin I did an exchange with the professional dance school of Delfos Danza in Mazatlan Mexico. That\u2019s how my link to Mexico started to build. After that exchange I came back to Austin and finished my degree but moved back right away to Mazatlan and graduated with the school. I met Lourdes Luna, a pretty well-known choreographer in Mexico. She invited me to work with her new company in Yucatan and I stayed for five years. I was looking for more and looking to learn so I moved to California with my partner Alvin and got an e-mail about the audition for RW. I thought, \u201cwhy not?\u201d\u2026I wasn\u2019t really sure what I\u2019d do in the states but thought it would be a great way to start this new stage of my career. I needed to network and meet new people. Luckily, I got the job. One of the things I\u2019ve enjoyed most with RW is training every day and taking class every day without looking for space or teachers. It\u2019s nice to have that comfort, to arrive and take class\u2026nice to be challenged as a dancer with so many styles of repertory. It keeps us on our feet. Because I\u2019d worked with one choreographer in Mexico it was all her style and I got the point I could read her mind. I kind of plateaued.<\/p>\n

TM: I\u2019d say that\u2019s mostly what I will miss most about the company. When I joined it was exactly what I wanted: to train consistently, to have the variety of voices in the repertory, but also to be able get in the mind space of a single choreography [the Artistic Director]. To have that all in one job was great. I enjoyed the teaching as well. I felt confident in my teaching and knew it was a good skill to have. Having this myriad of experiences under one roof I will miss. I will miss the support and connection with all of these dancers. We are a really tight knit group, we basically live together.<\/p>\n

On a recent tour\u2026<\/strong>
\nTM: We recently toured in Colorado and as with all of our tours, it\u2019s striking to me how far reaching the company is. You go to these small towns and someone always has a connection with Joan or Shirley. There is\u2026there is\u2026<\/p>\n

YG: A force<\/p>\n

TM: Yeah, it\u2019s a force that precedes you. Where everyone welcomes you with open arms.<\/p>\n

YG: As people come out of the audience knowing Gigi [Arrington, Education Director] from elementary school, it gives you an idea of how much outreach and how many connections these women have built. It\u2019s good to be a part of that.<\/p>\n

TM: When we go out of state it\u2019s different than working in Utah. The public schools here are familiar with getting access to the arts and that\u2019s great. But as we travel to schools doing lecture demonstrations in California or Colorado the kids aren\u2019t necessarily getting that stuff.<\/p>\n

YG: You can tell it\u2019s the first time they were exposed to it. Utah students are already an audience.<\/p>\n

TM: For me, these changes refresh the lecture demonstrations a bit\u2026.the repetitiveness of doing them. I enjoy having audiences where it\u2019s the first thing they\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n

On dancing together\u2026.<\/strong>
\nYG: The only creative process we fully shared was a new duet by Stephanie Nugent.<\/p>\n

TM: This duet [which premiered at Momentum in December], was a process. It was a lot of improvisation within a structure Stephanie gave us.<\/p>\n

YG: It would\u2019ve been ideal for me \u2014 but it was difficult because we never had the time to explore all of it. Every time we touched base was quick and immediate.<\/p>\n

TM: We were always exploring the concepts in performance.<\/p>\n

YG: It got better through the performances.<\/p>\n

TM: It was trial and error but I feel satisfied. We just did it again in Colorado. That last time I think we finally nailed it in some ways. So I\u2019m satisfied we finally learned how to perform together in the moment but it\u2019s too bad we can\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n

YG: But that\u2019s just like life. You just get a taste and then it\u2019s done. It will be one of my favorite pieces because it\u2019s so different than what I\u2019ve done. It\u2019s quirky.<\/p>\n

TM: Stephanie said we are both languid movers and this forced us to be staccato.<\/p>\n

YG: And it had varieties of movement\u2026short and quick but lengthening again and fnding expansion.<\/p>\n

TM: I am so glad we overlapped. I think your fluidity and articulation in the body is a quality we haven\u2019t had in a male dancer in a long time. It added new flavor to the mix.<\/p>\n

YG: Tara was one of the first people I was able to connect with. She\u2019s a great person to get along with and anyone will say that. We share a sensibility. We are both sensitive people. We were able to understand each other very quickly and it feels easy to dance with Tara. I hope it will happen again in the future sometime.<\/p>\n

T: We are both Cancers.<\/p>\n

On arriving and departing\u2026<\/strong>
\nYG: It feels like Ririe really prepares us as dancers. It\u2019s maybe scary for you to leave, Tara, but you have so many tools under your belt. Teaching, choreographing, dancing for so many choreographers. It\u2019s scary but it\u2019s all there and it\u2019s kind of exciting<\/p>\n

TM: I don\u2019t think I will ever feel prepared but definitely feel different than when I graduated six years ago and hoping that I can carry that with me as I head into the future. I feel like I\u2019m free-falling. It\u2019s not good or bad but a contrast to the past four years of life being very planned out in terms of the type of dancing, structure of taking class every day, working 9-5. I have embraced that schedule and am now feeling it\u2019s time for a shift. In an ideal world I just want to make myself available for projects that I will feel fulfilled in. Because I\u2019ve had such great exposure to many different aesthetics I know much more about the kinds of projects and movement that are fulfilling to me. I\u2019ve learned more about myself and my body. I feel like I can go out and seek those collaborations.<\/p>\n

YG: It\u2019s been a great first year for me so far. I feel I\u2019ve learned a lot but it\u2019s been a little hectic because it\u2019s the 50th Anniversary. I came in and it\u2019s been non-stop. It\u2019s been great because I feel like I\u2019m learning but next year I hope to feel more settled in, like everything is sinking into my body. I hope to feel more connected to the community too because I haven\u2019t been able to get to know too many people in Salt Lake. I want to feel part of something in the city, not like someone who just came in. I think also with the 50th anniversary as all the alumni came, I was able to see the lineage of dancers who were here and know I get to be a part of that.<\/p>\n

TM: I feel like it\u2019s a great time to jump in to the company but it also feels a good time to leave.<\/p>\n

YG: The changes\u2026.<\/p>\n

TM: The changes are so rich. It\u2019s a great send off or a great welcome. Although\u2026I\u2019m sure it was intense\u2026<\/p>\n

YG: (laughter)<\/p>\n

TM: It feels so much more satisfied leaving with this celebration.<\/p>\n

YG: Leaving with a bang. It felt easier for me that Daniel [Charon, Artistic Director] was coming in at the same time as me because it wasn\u2019t just one person dealing with something new but everyone was dealing with change. The dancers were able to mesh together and find each other more efficiently. It allowed the other dancers to welcome me and say alright, let\u2019s do it, rather than coming into something really set.<\/p>\n

TM: That\u2019s true. In the past it has been hard when just one dancer joined an otherwise set company with an Artistic Director who had been with us as well. With Daniel coming in it was fresh for everyone. It was also poignant timing to have a new director for the 50th.<\/p>\n

YG: I\u2019m hoping my time with the company will feed me with art and new tools. i hope to be able to give something to the company for as long as I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n

TM: I think you already have.<\/p>\n

YG: Just like you did. Whoever comes in will have big shoes to fill. It\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

TM: I\u2019m able to look from the outside just a little more when we are performing or taking class. Taking all of you dancers in. I got so used to dancing with the same people I wasn\u2019t even watching them any more.<\/p>\n

YG: Tara is obviously a beautiful dancer. When I saw her at the audition I wanted to dance with her. I wanted to be lucky enough to dance with these people. When Tara decided to leave, maybe a week after that, I saw a change \u2014 something bigger and even more beautiful. The weight was off your shoulders with the decision being made, she was taking it all in and enjoying dancing with us. That\u2019s a wonderful spot to be in as a dancer \u2014 to just be there. It\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n

TM: I don\u2019t know if I feel that way but I\u2019m going to try and embody it because you said it.<\/p>\n

YG: You were right at the cusp of all this change and I\u2019d feel happy about that. The company has been refreshed. Joan and Shirley have opened up their baby to see where it can go. With their vision it feels like it will push through for another 50 years.<\/p>\n

See McArthur\u2019s last performance with the company this season and the conclusion of Gallego\u2019s first season with\u00a0Accelerate<\/em>, April 24-26 at the Rose.\u00a0www.arttix.org<\/a>,\u00a0www.ririewoodbury.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article is published in collaboration with\u00a0loveDANCEmore<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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