Anna Merritt
About
Anna Merritt is a New York based dance artist and recent graduate of The University of the Arts School of Dance under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. During her time at university she has staged a solo work entitled, “The Anti Self Self Portrait” and most recently, her senior thesis, “Dizzy but Not Lonely.” She has had the opportunity to work with artists such as Jesse Zaritt, Katie Swords-Thurman, Paul Matteson, Jennifer Nugent, and Curt Haworth.
In addition to traveling abroad and working with international artists, Anna has attended The NYU Tisch Summer Dance Residency, David Dorfman Dance Summer Intensive, is a 3-time American Dance Festival alum and most recently completed The P.A.R.T.S Summer Program in Brussels, Belgium under the direction of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
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Professional CV • Dance CV
Artist Statement
I want to feel the wind, be the wind, make the wind. I want to feel the wind padding my falls, guiding my momentum, hugging and loving my body, a 360-degree wind—it cannot help but fill and support you. Wind as radical supporter, guider, encourager, and lover. My dances seek to create currents in the space and inside of myself.
I am on a mountaintop surrounded by snowcaps. Sometimes I am in the woods, in between the trees. Other times I am in a field—the tall grass blows all around me. I transport between and through these different homes. The air feels different but familiar in each one—it is limitless and liberating. My many different homes smell of things I know to be true—Pine trees in November, morning dew in July, fallen leaves in October, and picnics in May.
I bring myself to the places and memories of my past through a vivid and thoughtful reimagining of my own history. I recontextualize and rewrite my experiences and interests in terms of the present and what I have to offer now. I use my upbringing in North Carolina as a container for limitless potential. The seasons, scenery, geography, people, and traditions of this place are embedded in my body. Sometimes I feel like a fiddle or a banjo. Sometimes I need to deconstruct a square dance with my friends. Other times I make the mountains. My home in the foothills has given me roots to grow in new spaces.
I give myself permission to make my homes, my dances, and my interests pink, floral, shiny, sparkly, and plastic. While my interests are largely related to and of nature, I value absurdist combinations of aesthetics—combining and collaging conflicting textures, colors, materials, and music. If my work could scream a color it would scream pink.
My dancing is informed by my own anatomy. My bones love gravity. They love to swing, drop, fold, and fall under their own weight. I use my weight and the momentum I generate to my advantage—I want to move practically, efficiently, and safely. I believe dance and class should be loving, exciting, playful, caring, and effortful.