Strange Fire

Q&A: Dani Tirrell

By Rafael Soldi | January 13, 2022

dani tirrell is the founder and current artistic director of The Congregation a movement/art group. dani is currently teaching at Northwest Tap Connection and University of Washington Seattle and Bothell campuses. dani has created work for Dance This (Northwest Tap Connection), Strictly Seattle (advance/professional track), Seattle Repertory Theater, Nina Simone Four Women (Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton). dani is an Arts Matter Fellow, Artists Trust Fellow (Seattle) and 4Culture Arc Fellow (Seattle). dani is the Artist in Residence at Velocity Dance Center (2020/2021) and one of 6 Artists in Residence at On the Boards (Seattle, WA)

dani’s production of Black Bois (On the Boards and Seattle Theater Group) was a locally critically acclaimed work that produced sold-out shows in Seattle and is in development for a documentary film. In 2019 dani was the recipient of an Artist Trust Fellowship Award and a Dance Crush Award for Black Bois (performance). dani also received a 2018 Arts Matter Fellowship grant. dani’s new work 46, is a photo exhibit styled, staged, and photographed by dani. This work can be found online under dani’s Instagram profile.

Rafael Soldi: Hi Dani, thanks for chatting with me. I'm so glad you're a part of the Momentous Gesture exhibition. Tell me about The Bluest Feelings, the video work you've created for this show. What are some of the core themes that run through this piece?

dani tirrell: Thank you Rafael for inviting me to be a part of this Momentous Gesture. The Bluest Feelings actually started off as a group of photos I started to take with my cell phone. The video portion of this is just a movement reflection of the photos. The simplest way to put it is this…….the color blue is always in reflection of boyhood/maleness, what about those of us that live in our femininity? What if blue to us means softness and tenderness and everything that “masculinity” is not. What is the layer below blue that some men are not able to tap into? The Bluest Feelings for me is living in a space of my freedom from masculinity.  

 RS: When we first connected it was in early 2021, when we were deep in the most uncertain moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. Your work is often created on public stages, in collaboration with crews and large creative teams. What was your experience creating work in isolation? How did it feel to put your own body back at the center of a stage that is now also where you dwell.

dt: I created the photo portions of this work in 2020 when we had no place to go and no places to put on performance. This time on lockdown gave me a chance to create outside of dance. And for the most part I create most of my pieces in isolation before I pass it on to a creative team. I will say this work was not influenced by any voice except mine and that has been missing for a very long time. Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty secure in not having others influence my work... the difference is that this work was simply because I wanted to explore without any expectations.

RS: Though your work has always been personal, this feels maybe like a new level of inviting the public into your private self?

dt: Yes, because I have a relationship with my body that is not always positive. I really pushed myself to show something to people I rarely do. I was afraid and also it was a feeling of relief. I can also normally hide in dance with costumes or covering my face, this time I just wanted to be open. 

RS: Let's talk about gesture for a moment. When curating this show I knew we couldn't discuss gesture without talking about the place where it most often originates: the body. As a spectrum movement artist, I knew you'd have a very intimate relationship to gesture. Can you talk about what role gesture has played both in your practice but also in the building of your personal identity?

dt: That is simply how we communicate. Before language with our tongue we had gestures.  Before I could use words to express what I was feeling, movement/dance was my voice. Gesture from women/femmes has always been a part of my identity. It is power in witnessing women and femmes move…their non-verbal is iconic. My identity is built because Black women and femmes in particular have taken the time to invest in me. 

RS: You've been creating outstanding dance and stage works in the Seattle area for the last decade. I first experienced your work by way of your widely acclaimed piece Black Bois. You describe it as "the story of our fathers, brothers, lovers and friends. Black Bois is a love letter to our bodies, minds and spirits so we know that we are loved." I was so blown away by this work and the talent you invited to bless the stage. To me this work felt urgent, visceral—like it needed to happen now. How did Black Bois come about? What was your process for condensing so many facets and aspects of Black male identity into one work?

dt: Black Bois came to be because of my father, my brother and my brother's son who passed away at 13. It was urgent to tell a story of Black male bodies that we do not see play out in the news or other stories. I wanted to shift the narrative on Black bodies, I wanted this story to reflect the beauty I see in Black people. 

 Many of the stories came from stories that I have experienced first hand, stories for the cast members and “pop culture”. We did not want to create a world that was not real. We wanted to make sure that every person in the theater knew that these were lives that were actually lived.

RS: Lastly, let's touch base on your upcoming projects and research. What can you share about FagGod and your move to Washington, D.C.?

dt: FagGod is a work in progress and it is ever changing. We hope to get that off the ground in 2023. D.C. is a move that my partner and I have talked about for less than a year. It happened so fast, I am working for an organization called Dance Place as one of two Associate Curator and Producers. I hope this new job will help me do what I always do….be in space with great people. 

RS: Thank you dani, best of luck with these upcoming projects. 

dt: You are welcome and thank you!