Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kat & Bianca Bark & Dam. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kat & Bianca, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

For our premier showcase, we choreographed a piece entitled, “co(n)razon”. In Ancient Greek Philosophy there are 7 major forms of love. Some of these describe physical love, platonic and familial love which includes friendships, committed love and selfless love. This piece dives into the importance of all forms of love while stepping away from the pressures of self-love. Our sense of identity is shaped by the love we allow from others as well as what we pour into the many communities we create around us. We connect with this because it describes the journey we went through to create our own community within the dance industry. This is the first piece we set on our company, and the first time we shared our movement with others. This was a vulnerable time for us as directors, because we didn’t know how the dancers would respond. Through that vulnerability we were able to create a piece that became larger than we could’ve ever imagined.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We met at the age of 14 at our hometown dance studio in Upstate NY. It was an instant connection that followed us through High School, college, and post graduation. After graduation we didn’t have opportunities to work together due to the pandemic. But once we were able to share the space again we realized our connection wasn’t affected by this time apart. We began researching and cultivating our movement which we now share with our 6 dancers, who have continuously challenged and uplift us. We are currently based in New York City, and are so proud to be one of few Latina-led dance collectives. From the beginning we immediately knew that festivals would be the most efficient way to be seen in our industry as a collective. We started applying to them as a duet, traveling wherever necessary to showcase our work. In doing festivals, we created the following we needed to support us. The support and love we received helped encourage us to self-fund our two showcases at the KnJ theater in Manhattan.
This past year we began teaching at Broadway Dance Center, and an integral part of our class is to practice not restricting movement to be one dimensional. We’re known for our stylized approach to contemporary dance. Our movement is athletic, intricate and focuses on musicality. We encourage our dancers to explore their individual artistry, which creates another layer to our movement. We come into class where we strive to cultivate a space where movement feels instinctive and honest. Something that sets us apart as choreographers is that there are two of us which allows us to challenge one another, and not fall into “movement habits”.
We are proud of how much we have accomplished in our first year and a half. In the past 18 months, we have performed in twelve festivals and hosted two shows at the KnJ Theater. In addition, we hosted our own festival this past July at Arts on Site. Our festival consisted of four showings, and showcased ten up and coming NYC local artists. We collaborated with Terre Dance Collective and Animus Movement this past summer, and had the opportunity to perform in two split bills. When producing a show we always keep the audience in mind. It is important to have our audience on the edge of their seats, and leave them with impassioned emotions and enthusiasm.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Something that society can do to help support upcoming artists and creatives is to treat their work the same way they treat small businesses. Artists, when creating work, have similar goals in growth and longevity. Remembering that to cultivate a thriving creative ecosystem we need to support not only large artists but the rising ones as well. And a huge way to do that is by promoting any art that you connect/feel strongly about.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

One of our many goals is to have our collective travel not only nationally but internationally. We want to share our vision with different audiences and see how our work resonates with people from different parts of the world. Within our travels, we would want to collaborate with other companies, and share our practice/movements with their dancers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_almacollective_
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@alma6078
• Other: GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/f627063a

Image Credits
Pictures by: Zani Razzaque and Scott Allen