We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsey L. Miller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lindsey L. , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
As a choreographer, dance and movement is my medium of expression. I love being able to express through the physical body, because so much of life has emotions and stories that transcend spoken word or written dialogue. Dance is a universal language that can be understood across all cultures. I also love being an artist so that I can give a voice to important topics that audiences can experience in a visceral way. Environmental conservation concerns in the world is one of the themes that is the most meaningful for me to create choreographic works about. One of my most successful works in this category is “Plastic Ocean” that tackles the topic of the plastic epidemic in our oceans. The work began as a site-specific commission for the Westbeth gallery in NYC. From there the work was invited to be expanded and performed at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC, and later another version was invited to the Dzul International Dance Festival in Campeche, Mexico. The work consists of dancers moving throughout a sea of plastic bags wearing costumes by Zachary Alexander and dancing to original music by Bettina Sheppard. The visual of the dancers moving in waves throughout the overwhelming amount of plastic is quite striking. The bags almost create a type of water-like movement onstage to dance in, but the gravity of the message creates a bittersweet memorable image for audience members. I feel that works like this allow an audience to think about the importance of how they can make small changes in their own lives, like limiting single-use plastic, to help the world without overwhelming individuals with the fear and hopelessness that often comes along with climate change messages in the media.
Lindsey L. , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have been dancing as long as I can remember. The feeling of freedom in the body through dance has always made me feel the most alive and present in my own human experience within the world. My mom worked hard to give me opportunities to take dance classes since I was very young. My training first started in ballet and expanded into Irish dance, jazz dance, and modern dance, specifically Graham technique. In high school, I expanded into choreography and teaching. I spent summers studying with the Joffrey Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ballet Chicago, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the Twyla Tharp Foundation. I went on to complete a dance performance degree with honors at Illinois State University and on to the professional training program at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in NYC.
As a professional in the dance industry in NYC, my work spans across working as a dancer, choreographer, and dance/fitness/yoga teacher. As a dancer, I have worked for Alison Cook Beatty Dance, Quixotic, Lydia Johnson Dance, Beth Soll & Company, Trainor Dance, Ballet des Amériques, Benoit Swan Pouffer, and Abdur-Raheim Jackson. I have been featured as a dancer on film for Maroon 5 and Lorde’s tour visuals, “Run the World” (Starz), the feature film “Asura” filmed in Beijing, China. Additionally, I danced for Marc Jacobs’ NYFW show choreographed by Karole Armitage, Buglisi Dance Theatre’s Table of Silence, Heidi Latsky Dance’s On Display Installations, and as a guest dancer with Complexions Contemporary Ballet at the Park Avenue Armory.
I have been teaching for over ten years on faculty and as a guest artist across the country for many organizations, including Peridance Capezio Dance Center, Joffrey Ballet School, Greenwich Ballet Academy, Southern Association of Dance Masters, Ballet des Amériques School, McLean County Dance Association, Escuela Superior Ana Rosa Cáceres de Baqueiro, Pure Yoga, Equinox, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Illinois State University.
In 2013, I founded my own dance/media company, LLMoves, to develop a platform for my collaborative projects combining dance with fashion, film, photography, and music. My choreographic work has been featured in various dance and film festivals, including Cucalorus Film Festival, LA CineFest, winner of PBS’ channel THIRTEEN short film contest REEL13, American Dance Guild Festival, and ADF’s Movies by Movers Festival. Recent notable LLMoves’ performances include dancing at Jazz at Lincoln Center for APAP’s Booking Dance Festival, at the United Nations in NYC for World Oceans Day, in Campeche, Mexico for Dzul International Dance Festival, in LA for the San Pedro Festival of the Arts, and NYFW shows for designers Sho Konishi and Minika Ko.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think people who deem themselves as “non-creatives” do not understand two main things about my artist lifestyle. First and foremost, I firmly believe that all humans are innately creative. The reason why not everyone sees their own creativity is that creativity presents itself in so many different ways in life. The way each person addresses life’s challenges requires creativity in the mind. Also, everyone is capable of creating art. Art is extremely objective and to master an art form requires intense study and dedication, but that does not mean that non-masters of art forms cannot express themselves through dance, music, art, etc. if they feel drawn to it. I encourage everyone to listen to their inner artist and allow themselves to appreciate their own creativity shining through different art forms, as well as their everyday tasks.
The second main thing that people do not understand about my artist lifestyle is the instability in my career choice. I primarily work as a freelancer, so my day to day schedule varies drastically depending on what I am working on at the time. I sometimes go through stretches of time where I do not have opportunities to perform or choreograph. Those lulls in my stage and screen work allow me to focus more on other aspects of my craft, such as taking extra dance classes, taking singing lessons, exploring my visual art skills, and developing my skills and work as a teacher. Many people are perplexed as to how I manage this sort of a lifestyle without the consistency that a nine to five job offers, but I find that as long as I am savvy with my money and continue planting seeds with networking, auditioning, and creating my own opportunities, everything always seems to work out overall. The freedom of freelancing allows me to pave my own unique path and continue to grow my voice as an artist in new ways all the time.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The dance world is notoriously known for toxic messages regarding body types for dancers. As a female dancer who is almost six feet tall, I have heard endless negative feedback about my body shape and height. In the classical ballet world, traditionally men partner women wearing pointe shoes. As you can imagine, these shoes increase my height quite a bit, and therefore, to create the optimal proportions for partnering me, a male ballet dancer would have to be incredibly tall. Even in more contemporary dance forms, choreographers often enjoy creating partnering work where the men toss the women around with ease, and my size is not ideal. Over the years, I have struggled with quite a lot of body image issues. Over the years, I have learned that I cannot change my stature, so the only option I have is to stand out and be proud of my body how it is. I still find myself in many scenarios where I am immediately dismissed and not considered for jobs due to my height, but I also have found many situations where I am celebrated just how I am. And when others do not have jobs that fit my type, I have learned that I can utilize my choreographic and producing skills and create opportunities for myself and others. Learning to love your body, especially in a physical art form, is a lifelong journey, but embracing your own unique attributes is the only way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lindseylmiller.com
- Other: www.llmoves.com
Image Credits
Exquisite Colors Photography, Bjorn Bolinder, Lucas Chilczuk, John Camino, Billy Lee Silva