Zbikowski is the founder and artistic director of the dance company Abby Z and The New Utility. Credit: Courtesy of Abby Zbikowski
The Department of Dance will join the Creative Pathfinders web series to interview Ohio State alumnae Dianne McIntyre and Abby Zbikowski on tactics for working in the performing arts industry and the evolution of dance.
Creative Pathfinders, a webinar series hosted by the Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise, will take place Wednesday from 12:30-1:30 p.m and highlight the successes of Ohio State’s art departments and their creativity, diversity and change over the years through the perspective of arts alumni.
“We’re going to talk about how you don’t just all of a sudden arrive at being seen as somebody that’s successful,” Zbikowski said. “All performing arts are really difficult fields.”
Zbikowski received her master’s in fine arts in dance in 2012 and is now an associate professor of dance at the University of Illinois, teaching contemporary technique and creative process. She is also the founder and artistic director of the dance company Abby Z and the New Utility, located in New York City.
“The company is called the New Utility because I’m really interested in what dance does, like what things do and not just what they look like,” Zbikowski said. “How they activate conversation, create a space for people to come and assemble and watch or even for the company to assemble and work together.”
McIntyre, who got her bachelor’s in fine arts in 1969, is an independent choreographer and founded the dance company New Sounds and Motion, also located in New York City. In the past, she has choreographed for Philadanco, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.
Zbikowski and McIntyre said they are still planning out all the topics that will be covered in the webinar, but they plan to touch on how dancers can establish themselves in the field, make connections and the steps for going from graduate student to professor.
McIntyre said she hopes sharing her story and experience in dance will inspire others who are currently in the Department of Dance to look inside themselves and see where dance takes them. She said she encourages current dance majors to absorb everything they can from every opportunity the Department of Dance offers them.
“You will appreciate that knowledge you will receive,” McIntyre said. “You give your whole self to your training, to everything you’re learning in the studio or outside of the studio.”
Zbikowski said she encourages current dance majors not to dim their own shine out of fear of being seen as different or weird.
“Having your own point of view makes you vulnerable and kind of makes you an outsider, but we need those different perspectives in the field because that’s how conversations move forward,” Zbikowski said.
Registration for Wednesday’s webinar is posted on the Department of Dance event page. More information on the Creative Pathfinders series can be found on the website for the Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise.
