Today we’d like to introduce you to Brenna Mosser.
Hi Brenna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started dancing very young – my parents signed me up at the local studio. I always loved moving and dancing but didn’t really consider it as a career path until I realized it existed beyond my studio, around age 12 or 13.
My eyes really started opening to what dance could be when I went to Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, MN. There, we were ten minutes away from downtown Minneapolis where my teacher took us to see dance performances, then invite those same artists to give us workshops the next day. It was inspiring to see dancers perform outside of a tutu or even the all-black Martha Graham look. It was even more inspiring to get to talk with those artists and get their perspectives and methodologies when working in the dance field. This experience solidified my career choice.
From there, I was lucky enough to get to go overseas for my undergraduate work at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Dance and Music in London, UK, and le center national de la danse contemporaine in Angers, France. I learned a lot during this time about both American and European contemporary dance, but I kept getting sucked into the outside world. I started dreaming about farming and wanted to learn more about the plants and ecosystems that we depend on.
So after my studies I came back home and joined the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa, the quickest thing I could do to get to learn about the environment without going back to school, taking a break from my dance career at the time in order to do so. This experience was truly spectacular because I was able to use my body differently to help restore natural environments while soaking in as much information as fast as I could ask questions. Here I saw a lot of remnant landscapes that various naturalists were trying to preserve, and a LOT of examples of how the environment had been altered since colonial times, be it new roads blasted through our aquifers and wetlands, foreign plants bought at stores that took over and drowned out native plant species, or erosion that changed the courses of rivers because the deep-rooted native plants were no longer there to hold the soil together.
After two years of trying to preserve the small amount of remnant landscapes and removing an impossible number of invasive species, I decided I would try to wield a different sword in the best way I knew how through my dancing. I now use my platform to engage different audiences about environmental issues. I do this through the dance company that I started in 2019, Analog Dance Works.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I had a few, but they feel so trivial when I think of all the things that the world is going through right now. Mitigating recurring injuries and the financial struggle are the biggest hurdles that I deal with currently and feel lucky that it’s only that at the moment.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a dance artist who seeks to illuminate the awe in my surroundings by sculpting falls, stumbles, and asymmetries gracefully.
In my work, I create atmospheres and worlds on the stage that are my efforts to grapple with scientific facts and explorations. I am inspired the most by environmental science, physics, and natural history. When creating these atmospheres and worlds, I ask myself:
-How do I ingest and digest information?
-What do I hold on to and what do I shed from memory (where in my body am I holding memories, and how do these memories tether me to my understanding of the world)?
-How do I modify the information so that it fits my understanding of the world?
-What information forces me to shift my understanding of the world?
Imagery is extremely important in my work as well. When developing movement vocabulary, I spend several hours improvising – I turn off my brain, tune into my instinctual body, and let images come in to help guide my interior dialogue. I do not expect the imagery to make sense.
My most proud endeavor was my first production put on for Analog Dance Works. I got to put on a show premiering two very different dances on the science of climate change, I got to create a work that I’m really proud of, dance with some of my favorite artists and friends, and we established a blossoming partnership with a group of scientists from the University of Minnesota.
It was so rewarding to get to flex all my abilities as a choreographer, dancer, director, developer, administrator, marketing coordinator (I learned how to use Instagram just for this show), etc. It felt like all my training had led me to this one production, and I’ll cherish that for a long time.
Who else deserves credit for your story?
So many people! The artistic directors of the dance companies I work for have always been incredibly supportive by being willing to answer my questions, give me advice, and keep me focused on my goals. My fellow co-workers are always inspiring and push me to be a better version of myself every day. I think my parents deserve the biggest credit of all because when I decided I wanted to pursue dance as a career, they did everything they could to support me, and still do to this day.
My family is the reason I created Analog Dance Works – my two brothers and my dad are engineers and it we have had so many great conversations after performances about what the performance meant to them from their perspectives and experiences. Contemporary dance can be extremely esoteric, and I always enjoyed discussing ways to make it more accessible with them. Analog Dance Works’ mission is much broader than environmental issues because of this: Analog is committed to exploring intersections between dance and science. Our goal is to initiate dialogue about the facts of our present and the visions of our future through high-quality choreographic works and roundtable discussions. I hope to see you at one of our roundtables or our second show, slated for 2024.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.analogdanceworks.org
- Instagram: @analogdanceworks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/analogdanceworks/
Image Credits
Bill Cameron
