Blog

Member Spotlight: Q&A with Tannis Hugill

Who is Tannis Hugill in a sentence? 

I am a 79 year old cis-gender woman of Celtic ancestry who endeavors to integrate art, healing and spirituality into the performances, therapy and teaching she offers.

Tell us a bit about your work and practice.

I had been creating and performing dances since 1974 when, in the early 1980’s I was introduced to the healing power of art in my work with Hospital Audiences in New York City (NYC).  This organization employed artists to work in institutions using the medium in which they created.  For me it was dance and theatre.  I knew I had to learn more about human nature so, in 1991 I earned an MA in Somatic Psychology from Antioch University.  My life had moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1988 and I worked as co-director of Theater Unlimited, a company of disabled and non-disabled actors, while I studied to become a Registered Drama Therapist.  Because I knew I was primarily a dancer and was seriously studying Authentic Movement with Janet Adler, I also trained to become a Board-certified Dance/movement Therapist.

I began to experience intense spiritual energy moving my body in Authentic Movement in the mid-1990’s. Realizing I no longer could create secular performances, I began to create sacred ritual performance, most often using trance.

My dance and performing diminished for a while except participating in Contact Improv classes, an improv theatre group and voice studies.  During the late 1990’s I did several short solos using trance, and a full- length piece The Call whose central character was a wolf-headed goddess being.   My voice had become integrated with my moving.

How long have you been dancing?

I began ballet classes when I was 4 years old and decided I wanted to be a classical ballet dancer.  When I was 16 I realized I did not have the body to accomplish this goal so left dance until I was in my early 20’s when I began to study with Yvonne Rainer in New York City in 1970.  After a training with Anna Halprin in summer of 1972, I earned an MFA in Dance at New York University School of the Arts in 1972-74.  I had a solo performance at the Kitchen in 1975, and performed primarily solo performances at various venues NYC, including my own loft space called “A Clear Space”. I began making Talking Dances in 1977, so started studying voice.   I taught and performed in Germany in 1984-5. In San Francisco and Berkeley I continued to create and perform, though less as I was beginning my career first as a Drama Therapist, then as a Dance Therapist.

In 2001 my life brought me to Vancouver where I create sacred performance, have a private practice in Dance/movement and Drama Therapy, and teach Dance/movement Therapy, Authentic Movement and Ritual Body Postures,

How does dance fit into your life currently – are there any upcoming projects you want to share with us?

I do expressive movement and dance with my therapy clients and students when appropriate and often dance to music on the radio.  I have recently created a short video of my dance with the beings of the forest, which is largely in trance and am working on another.

I have just completed large film project co-created with Barbara Bickel and Gregory Wendt called Bearing Bloodlines: Ancestral Invocations which was very well received after it’s screenings last spring at The Dance Centre, on Gabriola Island and online. It is an Art/Ritual Documentary addressing Barbara’s and my efforts to understand the destructive behaviours of our colonial settler ancestors. Authentic Movement, Contact Improv’s Small Dance and trance were integral to it’s creation.  Although this film does not involve direct reconciliation work with the Indigenous people of North America, we believe it is relevant to issues present in this time regarding the necessity of this reconciliation.

How would you describe dance’s impact on your life?

I would say that dance is the centre of my life.  My engagement with dance and expressive movement has been the primary manifestation and agent unifying my creative, healing and spiritual being.

What three core values drive your engagement with dance? 

My trust in the infinite nature of creativity, no matter what ails humanity.
My trust in the integrity and truth of the body’s expression.
My trust in the limitless imagination living in the body and it’s capacity to access realms of the divine.

Do you have a particular practice that you carry out each day or have you implemented new practices over these last few years?

 I do Qi Gong daily and Pilates 2-3 times a week to maintain flexibility, strength and groundedness.  I also do regular vocal practice.

What would you say are the most significant benefits for you in being a Dance Centre member?

Being a member of the dance community and the significant support offered by The Dance Centre, and access to performances as well as news and information about the wide range of what this community of artists are doing.

Tannis’ Member Directory
Website
Instagram
________________________________________________________________________________________

Interested in becoming a Dance Centre Member? Learn more here.
We support the development of dance in BC as a resource centre providing programs and services for dance professionals.

Photos by Gregory Wendt and Dona McAdams