I have been fascinated by dance since jr. high school. We did an intro to ballroom in the 8th grade. In high school & jr. college I attended school dance functions with regularity. As a young scientific type I found that dance balanced my tendency toward introverted science & math preoccupations. I rewarded my efforts with a dance event. I did this as an undergrad & masters candidate at San Diego State University, as a Ph.D. candidate at Washington State University, as a research associate while in the Texas Forest Service, and as a software engineer.

In 1980 when my family moved back to San Diego from Texas, I chanced upon a studio for free form modern improvisation called Dance Jam. I remember standing against the wall, totally intimidated by what I saw on the dance floor. When i finally gathered up the courage to move into the space, a lady named Cheryl joined me for my first ever modern dance. I was totally hooked at age 33.

I came to understand that I am a auditory-visual kinesthet -- my primary mode of deep learning is through touch with visual & auditory amplification. I spent the next 15 years going deeper & deeper into free form then contact improvisational modern dance. Since partners for modern improv are few & far between, I came up with props I could use in place of partners: various fans, daggers, antlers, shields, & large hoops of cloth.

This section of the website is for dance videos. Talking about dance doesn't work very well for me. Poetry is more useful so there will be a section for poetry. Dance as an art form lasts minutes unless documented with video. The catch there is someone needs to take the video. So a good improv video means that dancers intersect with someone who is willing & able to video the performance. Of hundreds of performance pieces, only a few were documented. All of the prop dance videos were autobiographical self-portraits.