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A
conversation with Peter Rothblatt is like a swim in a tropical ocean:
warm, refreshing and deep. In addition to teaching dance at R&M for
22 years, Peter worked in the R&M office before becoming Artistic
Director of Rhythm & Motion Dance Workout Program from 1994-2001.
During a recent interview, Peter shared insight about teaching and also
revealed how the philosophy inside R&M helps generate an
unparalleled mix of music, dance and community.
How would you describe your flavor of teaching?
I'm
demanding with a small 'd'. I want dancing to happen; not my
specificity, but a specificity. And I definitely want play. I want it
to be serious in the dancing but not seriousness in the person. I try
to say something completely irrelevant twice a class. I told a student
last week, 'Sixty percent of what I say is true, you just have to
figure out which part.'
My flavor is teaching. What I use to teach is whatever I can get my hands on. That's the serious part of me.
The
common thread is that I'm interested in dance, how bodies move. I'm
interested in how to get someone to understand something in a fairly
succinct and direct way so that they can actually move into a
relationship to dance that is as nuanced and personal as my
relationship to dance. We move from 'teacher' and 'dancer' to two
dancers.
The invitation
from Consuelo is that everyone gets to dance. That's been the training,
to show people how to move inside their own bodies.
What did you learn about R&M while working in the office?
Consuelo's
talked about a feminist business model and the ways it shows up. That
there are a lot of viewpoints available and then we arrive at some
truth based on the different viewpoints.
[For
example] Each dancer contributes choreography so that their lens, their
own style and tradition, gets to be part of the Rhythm & Motion
repertoire. And that's what we celebrate. That's why people go around,
in and out of the country, and they say can't find a class like this.
Because we're doing music from West Africa and then Usher and then an
Irish tune. You can find each of those elements but rarely can you find
that kind of mix of music and dance.
You mean, where each individual contributes to the community?
Yes.
From the beginning we've approached R&M as more tribal. You come,
there's people who know how to dance, they teach the ones who don't
know to dance and you're all in the same circle. People fumble and they
learn from the other dancers, not only from the teacher.
The
atmosphere we create, the full-bodied joyous dancing that we invite,
and the connections we try to make obvious--like that we're dancing
together--that inspires me. That's the part that is both fulfilling and
beautiful. It's an antidote to how we mostly live, which is more
isolated, disconnected, in the cubbyhole.
So many people get
turned onto dance through Rhythm & Motion classes. There's a
student who just found out about us and she was beaming during class.
That also inspires me.
Besides teaching Fusion Rhythms
Tue/Thurs 10:00am at the Commons, Peter is a massage therapist with ten
years experience. He is also the President of the Board of Performing
Arts Workshop, an organization that helps kids develop their creative
expression and critical thinking skills. For more information, contact Peter or see Performing Arts Workshop.
Staci Boden has been enjoying R&M dance since 1985 and is Editor of R&M's e-newsletter. Staci is Founder of Dancing-Tree Consulting,
a resource for individuals, groups and organizations to realize
potential in life and business. With services ranging from individual
coaching and guided visualization to copywriting and business
development, Dancing-Tree Consulting helps clients transform projects,
decisions and relationships.
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