{"id":4699,"date":"2020-05-20T04:31:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T10:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/?p=4699"},"modified":"2025-08-12T02:21:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T08:21:58","slug":"portrait-of-rudy-perez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/20\/portrait-of-rudy-perez\/","title":{"rendered":"Portrait of Rudy Perez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Last year, in <a href=\"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/28\/everybody-dance-now\/#rudy_perez\">Everybody Dance Now 1<\/a>, I reminisced about studying with dancer-choreographer Rudy Perez in the early 1980s. Nearly four decades later Rudy agreed to let me interview him a week ago, on May 13. What follows has been lightly edited for clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We begin where I left off in that prior post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>My regret is that virtually no streaming video of Rudy&#8217;s oeuvre is available for me to point to. That makes the trailer for the 2006 documentary, <em>Countdown: Reflections on a Life in Dance<\/em>, a brief, beneficial artifact. Distributor Alexander Street does <a href=\"https:\/\/search.alexanderstreet.com\/preview\/work\/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C1746127\">provide a transcript<\/a> of the film. Depending on the operational status of your local library, you might be able to borrow the documentary <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/775453364\">via WorldCat<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Countdown: Reflections on a Life in Dance (Rudy Perez)\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jJBE-1G-l6s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy Perez:<\/span> Did you see the <em>District 1<\/em>&nbsp;[1973] piece that I did for WGBH-TV?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David Hughes:<\/span> Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Working on that level, professionally you really had to know what you were doing and you had to make quick, quick, quick, quick choices. And I look back and when that came about I thought, <em>Well maybe that&#8217;s an area I would like to pursue.<\/em> But then I realized that you do it once, you do it. I didn\u2019t want to spend time redoing something, whereas in a live performance you can make subtle changes every time you do the work or whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Right. I wrote that up in the <a href=\"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/28\/everybody-dance-now\/#rudy_perez\">blog post<\/a> that I sent to you. And I was impressed by how whoever had written the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120602212114\/http:\/\/main.wgbh.org\/wgbh\/NTW\/FA\/TITLES\/District22.HTML\">description<\/a> noted that you were very meticulous in designing that piece, because it was not going to be a live performance. It was going to be captured on film and so a lot of planning had to go into it. And you did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Yeah, I was ready for it also, because at that time I wanted to see if I could pursue different areas with my work. And it satisfied that, but I realized it wasn\u2019t really what I wanted to do. I\u2019m glad I did it. It was good experience. WGBH, they rolled out the carpet and the people I worked with were very generous and I learned a lot. Wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> The reason I wanted to interview you: the things you\u2019ve been sending to your mailing list I find really interesting because I\u2019ve been working as a lay historian for the last fifteen years or so and so I just thought, <em>Why not ask\u00a0you?<\/em><a id=\"counting\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">From Rudy&#8217;s mailing list, February 5, 2019:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Merce was always an inspiration, although I wasn\u2019t at my best doing all that counting, he certainly helped me to raise my own bar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">In the 1970s I was invited to appear on <em>The Today Show<\/em> along with Twyla Tharp to help promote Don McDonagh\u2019s book,\u00a0<em>The Rise and Fall and Rise of Modern Dance<\/em>. I was allowed one minute and 40 seconds. And I was delirious because I wanted to do part of\u00a0<em>Coverage<\/em>. Bumping into Merce at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Westbeth_Artists_Community\">Westbeth<\/a> he suggested I do one second from each section. Again he provided a challenge that influenced my work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well, I think for me the mailing list is a good means of letting people know where I\u2019m coming from and why I am who I am, which I think is very important, more so today than ever because for me that holds me up. I mean, when you think about what\u2019s going on, I\u2019m so fortunate to have been of a certain generation where things were quite different. They were difficult in their own way, but there are strengths there that I\u2019ve gathered, you know, having gone through the Great Depression and having to do with my mother dying at a very early age and all that sort of stuff. It goes way back and that haunts me sometimes. I hate to say that, but\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\"><em>From Rudy, April 29, 2020:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Dear Mr. Breznican,<\/span><br><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Thank you for your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2020\/03\/a-first-look-at-steven-spielbergs-west-side-story\">article<\/a> on the current <em>West Side Story<\/em> film in <em>Vanity Fair<\/em>.<\/span><br><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">&nbsp; &nbsp;Thought I would like to share with you that I saw the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibdb.com\/broadway-production\/west-side-story-2639\">original<\/a> <em>West Side Story<\/em> with Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert, and the unbelievable Chita Rivera. I too was brought up on listening to the original LP of <em>West Side Story<\/em>, with Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert on the cover. I lived in the building where that photo was taken. It was a cold water flat with a toilet in the hallway for each apartment, a laundry tub that we took baths in, with a coal bin chute where they would deposit coal in front of the building. How&#8217;s that for memories? That whole area was eventually torn down to build Lincoln Center. That was then. Thanks for helping me relive and share that time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4723 size-full\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"524\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/west_side_story.jpg?resize=525%2C524&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"West Side Story LP cover\" class=\"wp-image-4723\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/west_side_story.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/west_side_story.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/west_side_story.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/west_side_story.jpg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.popspotsnyc.com\/westsidestory\/\">See<\/a> Bob Egan\u2019s <strong>PopSpots<\/strong> for how he IDed the location of this famous photograph, taken in front of the building where Rudy lived.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> That\u2019s what I wanted to know. I know you came from the Bronx, but I really don\u2019t know anything about your early life. So that\u2019s what I wanted to delve into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well, mother dying at seven [years of age in 1937], and my immediately being in numerous hospitals for three years, recovering from having tuberculosis. So that really had a great deal to do with my feeling of not belonging and being angry&nbsp;at that early age. Not having any roots anywhere, then later my mother dying. That really kind of haunts me sometimes and I try to think, <em>Well maybe that was meant to be.<\/em> And it\u2019s certainly part of what I\u2019ve become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> So, who were the people in your family?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well, I have three brothers, there are four of us, and we\u2019re not all from the same father. So that I found out much later. And I sort of suspected that all along as I was growing up because I felt that my other brothers were getting a little more [<em>chuckles<\/em>] attention than I was. I was just being difficult anyway; I was angry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> I was reading the piece that you sent by Jeff Slayton who is recognizing the similarities between AIDS and now, the new pandemic\u2014he titled it &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ladancechronicle.com\/in-the-crosshairs-once-again\/\">In the Crosshairs Once Again<\/a>.\u201d And I read his bio and it said he began dancing in order to correct his hip dysplasia. What was your impetus for dance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> I think it\u2019s sort of recorded that I didn\u2019t set out to be a dancer; it was just a hobby at the time. I don\u2019t think that I had the kind of confidence to say that I wanted to be a dancer. From what I could see, dancers at that time were [white]. Not that I don\u2019t consider myself white; I certainly was not of dark color whereby people would say that I was otherwise. I mean I am Puerto Rican. Dance was a hobby. Because I was a very good social dancer, as a young person, being a Latino, you got me on the dance floor and you couldn\u2019t get me off. And I think someone suggested that I take a dance class. And that got me going. So it was not anything I intended. But it was something I depended on for many, many years, and having spent that much time doing, I then got into knowing more about dance and became interested. And then in the \u201960s, when the whole <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Judson_Dance_Theater\">Judson<\/a> period came about, I got involved in what was going on there and decided to do my own work.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4718 size-full\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"674\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/judson_poster.jpg?resize=525%2C674&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Judson Dance Theater Poster\" class=\"wp-image-4718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/judson_poster.jpg?w=700&amp;ssl=1 700w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/judson_poster.jpg?resize=234%2C300&amp;ssl=1 234w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Concert of Dance, Judson Memorial Church; Yvonne Rainer (American, born 1934), Steve Paxton; 1962; offset; Sheet: 27.8 \u00d7 21.6 cm (10 15\/16 \u00d7 8 1\/2 in.); 2006.M.24.73; Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2006.M.24). From the exhibition Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done, MoMA, 2018\u20132019. More images <a href=\"https:\/\/contemporaryartdaily.com\/2019\/02\/judson-dance-theater-at-museum-of-modern-art\/\">here<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> So one of my questions that I had given you was, <em>Did you have influences before you worked with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham and the Judson folks?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well, as a kid I liked ice skating\u2014not that I was an ice skater\u2014but I liked seeing the movies, the musicals, and all that sort of stuff. It\u2019s hard to say. I just like moving. I didn\u2019t get to study with Martha until the mid \u201950s. But prior to that I was taken to my first dance class. The studio was called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Dance_Group\">New Dance Group<\/a>. It was a place where they had a lot of dance, mostly modern dance, not show-biz or jazz. It was somewhere out in midtown Manhattan, West 47th Street or something. And there I was not knowing really what I was getting into but really liking the fact that I was being active in movement. And I liked the structure and discipline of the classes. Then I became curious.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"525\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity.jpg?resize=525%2C525&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Rudy Perez Publicity\" class=\"wp-image-4708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_publicity-scaled.jpg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clockwise, from top, Rudy Perez\u2019s informational brochure, New York; double-duty announcement for <strong>Meridian Pass<\/strong> (1982) performed in 1983 on UCLA\u2019s Architecture Quad and his Art Moves workshops that <a href=\"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/author\/andreacarney\/\">Andrea<\/a> and I attended (we also appeared in iterations of Meridian Pass); flyer for a 2003 site-specific performance in Pasadena featuring a photo of Rudy on a New York subway; postcard for <strong>The Dance-Crazy Kid from New Jersey Meets Hofmannsthal<\/strong>&nbsp;(1992), an ambitious collaboration with dancers and actors, original score and live musicians, and visual artist\u2014an homage to dance pioneer <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ruth_St._Denis\">Ruth St. Denis<\/a>. (Click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> In the work that we did in your workshops (and then sometimes the workshops&#8217; participants would morph into kinda like extras, supers for your company), I remember you talking about props. You were communicating something along the lines of: <em>You have to be careful with props.<\/em> It\u2019s like you can\u2019t be controlled by them. You just have to be wary. Could you expound on your relationship with using objects in your work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Hoo, hoo, hoo. That\u2019s certainly a big question and a lot of times I really point that out in classes that I teach. I always see props as a sort of extension of what you are doing and your energy. It takes whatever you\u2019re doing\u2014like when I did the piece <em>Bang Bang<\/em> [1966] with Julia Child\u2019s commentary on asparagus. She was talking about asparagus and I was doing this solo with a pole\u2014and I didn\u2019t see the connection until someone mentioned that later: they thought it was kind of phallic. And then I heard that she heard about it and she kinda giggled over it.&nbsp;[<em>both laugh<\/em>]<a id=\"running_board\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4721 size-full\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Rudy_Perez_Dance_Theater.jpg?resize=525%2C448&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Still from Running Board for a Narrative\" class=\"wp-image-4721\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Rudy_Perez_Dance_Theater.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Rudy_Perez_Dance_Theater.jpg?resize=300%2C256&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Rudy_Perez_Dance_Theater.jpg?resize=768%2C656&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy Perez in a still from <strong>Running Board for a Narrative<\/strong> (1973) performed at the Los Angeles Photography Center, November 1987. Rudy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/oac.cdlib.org\/findaid\/ark:\/13030\/kt1b69r96f\/entire_text\/#aspace_ref100_66x\">archive at USC<\/a> fills the viewer in on the objects involved in the solo: 1 white karate suit, 2 red flashlights, reflectors, life preserver, red headband, Jolly Green Giant doll with rope. (Photo: Paul Chinn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> I\u2019ve evolved so much. I\u2019m so aware. I had a stint as a volunteer at Bellevue Hospital because I studied at the time in the late \u201960s with someone named Marian Chase who was a dance therapist at St Elizabeths Hospital in DC. And that influenced me a lot. I got to learn how to bring myself down to the level of where people were, how to use my voice, and it was quite interesting and it really influenced me a great deal. And I owe to that experience how I work and how I listen and how I care. And to this day I mention it to everybody: <em>You\u2019re talking too loud; you\u2019re not listening.&nbsp;<\/em>[<em>both laugh<\/em>]&nbsp;Which of course is very much the case today. People don\u2019t listen and they answer before they even think about what they\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers2.jpg?resize=525%2C618&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Elaine Summers and Rudy Perez photo\" class=\"wp-image-4717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers2.jpg?w=680&amp;ssl=1 680w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers2.jpg?resize=255%2C300&amp;ssl=1 255w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4716 size-full\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"457\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers.jpg?resize=525%2C457&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Elaine Summers and Rudy Perez photo\" class=\"wp-image-4716\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers.jpg?w=920&amp;ssl=1 920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers.jpg?resize=300%2C261&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/summers.jpg?resize=768%2C668&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Elaine Summers and Rudy Perez, ca. 1962, photographer unknown. From a contact sheet that documents the creation of <strong>Take Your Alligator With You<\/strong> (1963), credited as Rudy\u2019s first work of choreography at Judson. (Images courtesy <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rudyperezdance.org\/rudy--elaine-summers.html\">Rudy Perez Dance<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> You kind of touched on something that I wanted to talk with you about. The notion of indeterminacy or, let\u2019s say, taking a score and then creating a dance that to the viewer might not have any relationship. Just like the pole and the asparagus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\"><a id=\"puzzle\"><\/a>Rudy:<\/span> If I come across a sound or music, my challenge is: <em>How can I find a way to use this in opposition or contradiction of the sound?<\/em>&nbsp;And a lot of times that\u2019s been the case, and other times I\u2019ve worked on something and tried to find something that would fit it, in respect to the way I think about the connection between movement and sound or music or whatever. Somewhat it\u2019s like a puzzle. I want the audience to kind of arrive at their own way of thinking of what they\u2019re seeing. They might in some way relate to the sound and relate to the movement and somehow put it together. But everyone in the audience should hopefully interpret in their own way from their own experience and where they\u2019re at at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Before I started the taping here we touched on relationships with dancers. Would you like to talk about your personal relationships with dancers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well, I can\u2019t say I haven\u2019t become infatuated with certain dancers in my life. I mean, it\u2019s only natural and I\u2019m a human being. I have in my lifetime come across many dancers that I&#8217;ve been interested in and with some having had affairs. So it\u2019s just part of the human connection, human nature of people, if you\u2019re working around people that you\u2019re attracted to. When I got started, of course I did a lot of teaching and a lot of that sort of stuff. And part of one\u2019s sense of who they are needs to be\u2014how could I say it? [<em>laughs<\/em>]\u2014satisfied. Well, that <em>makes<\/em> you. The thing about it all, even though I\u2019ve had a lot of heartache in my life\u2014plenty, plenty, more than I like to get into\u2014it\u2019s given me the strength, really, to just persevere and really concentrate more on the work and not allow that to interfere. But it\u2019s a long process: thinking about oneself and how you protect yourself. And then one has to think about one\u2019s reputation. I\u2019ve done so much teaching. My latest stint here in L.A. was teaching at the High School for the Arts [at Cal State LA] working with young people. And in New York I was teaching at Marymount Manhattan College and there was always that temptation. There were always students that tried to get me interested, in their own way, whether it was serious or not. And one had to discipline themselves. And I look back and I consider myself very fortunate that I didn\u2019t really let that happen in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2.jpg?resize=525%2C394&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Rudy Perez Brochure\" class=\"wp-image-4707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/perez_brochure2-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Interior of Rudy Perez\u2019s informational brochure, Los Angeles version, 1980s. It includes stills (left to right) from <strong>All Things Considered<\/strong> (1979) featuring Susan DeSoto&nbsp;and Don Graham (photo Sue Martin), <strong>Take Stock<\/strong> (1981), and <strong>Equinox-Run<\/strong> (1978). (Click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> I want to make a comment about when I look at your work, your solo work. For instance, <em>Countdown<\/em>&nbsp;[1966] which is the centerpiece of the <a href=\"https:\/\/script-postscript.com\/projects\/countdown-reflections-on-a-life-in-dance-rudy-perez\/\">documentary<\/a>&nbsp;about you, I can\u2019t help but compare your performance with anyone else\u2019s. There\u2019s a sense of perfection in what I see. How can you compare what you do when you\u2019ve choreographed something and its realization can\u2019t help but be different [from the original]. How do you reconcile that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> [<em>chuckles<\/em>] That\u2019s a very hard question. In relation to that piece, maybe consciously or unconsciously, it\u2019s my response to Martha Graham\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/I-lcFwPJUXQ\"><em>Lamentation<\/em><\/a> where she does this solo bound in this stretching cloth. But my solos are really very, very personal. That particular piece says a lot about me: how I restrain myself, how I let my emotion out, how I almost start screaming, and all that sort of stuff. Or I can show a lighter side, just poking fun or something. It\u2019s who I am. People who know me can see that. But I\u2019ve made who I am into works that are signature pieces. Like <em>Coverage<\/em>&nbsp;[1970], my hardhat solo. That\u2019s a whole biographical piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">From Rudy&#8217;s mailing list, June 6, 2017:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy was at the Martha Graham School in 1955 and was part of her special class for demonstrations whenever she had dignitaries and other guests, e.g. Mary Wigman, and Helen Keller.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">In fact, Rudy\u2019s solo&nbsp;<em>Countdown<\/em>&nbsp;(1966) was influenced by Martha&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>Lamentation<\/em>. Premiered at the Mary Anthony Studio,&nbsp;<em>Countdown<\/em>&nbsp;was originally titled&nbsp;<em>To Mary With Love<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">The Martha Graham Company recently performed at Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge &#8211; May 13, 2017. Artistic Director Janet Eilber is to be commended for her commitment and dedication to Martha&#8217;s legacy. Many of us are forever grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4713 size-full\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"628\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/download_overload.jpg?resize=525%2C628&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Still from download\/overload\" class=\"wp-image-4713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/download_overload.jpg?w=535&amp;ssl=1 535w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/download_overload.jpg?resize=251%2C300&amp;ssl=1 251w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy Perez in a still from <strong>Download\/Overload<\/strong>, performed in 2012 at the Hammer Museum as part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945\u20131980. Rudy <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dancehistoryproject.org\/genre\/modern\/rudy-perez-i-could-have-gone-bowling\/\">called<\/a> the solo \u2018\u2018a bookend to <strong>Countdown<\/strong>.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.looseleafreport.com\/rudy-perez-powerful-poignant-provocative.html\">Read<\/a> journalist Victoria Looseleaf\u2019s detailed response to Rudy\u2019s solo. (Photo: Irene Fertik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve communicated it well, but I\u2019ve tried showing people <em>Countdown<\/em> as a demonstration: <em>This is Rudy Perez<\/em>. This is the genius. Here it is, right in front of you. And it\u2019s one of those pieces where every tiny movement is gargantuan. Somehow you need to be clicked into that; if you\u2019re not, it\u2019s like whoooooh, goes way over the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well, know you, recently Stephen Petronio Company, one of the dancers, attempted to do <em>Coverage<\/em>. Although it was a great opportunity, the experience was not.&nbsp;I usually work with people for a length of time before they get really into what I\u2019m doing. This particular person came to L.A. and I tried to do all I could in one rehearsal, and that was impossible. I mean, to get into anyone\u2019s head, you really have to be with them for a certain amount of time. And I really knocked myself out. It was a very frustrating time. You know, when I worked with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thirteen.org\/freetodance\/biographies\/cthompson.html\">Clive Thompson<\/a> on <em>Coverage<\/em>&nbsp;and <em>Countdown<\/em> at least I approached it from where he was and he met me halfway. But in Stephen Petronio\u2019s case the person was too young: what he could do, what he could bring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Although I didn&#8217;t mention it to Rudy in our interview, the Petronio rehearsal image <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/09\/arts\/dance\/stephen-petronio-rudy-perez-coverage.html\">printed<\/a> in the <em>New York Times<\/em>, underscores his point. The pose is simply too <em>dansual<\/em>. &#8220;For Mr. Perez,&#8221; writes Siobhan Burke in the accompanying article, &#8220;it\u2019s crucial that the soloist shed any dancerly affectation, so that he reads as &#8216;just a guy, a man, an everyman\u2014not a dancer,&#8217; he said.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">And yet the work itself can be described, at least in part, as it was by <em>Times<\/em> dance critic Gia Gourlas:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">He tapes a square on the floor and removes his jumpsuit; now in shorts, he has the freedom to jump and run within the space. But it\u2019s a tiny space to pledge allegiance to; in the end, he rips the tape off the floor\u2014systematically and without emotion\u2014while the song \u201cGod Bless America\u201d plays. Finally, he removes his hat, brings it down across his chest and pauses slightly over his heart; he isn\u2019t finished until it firmly rests over his crotch. The affecting \u201cCoverage\u201d is quiet and defiant at once.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> And so in terms of dance, before this pandemic, you were teaching, still?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> I had my Sunday workshop. And so I had a small group of people that would attend. And I\u2019d experiment. Aside from emotion, later on I became interested in space, how to use space. I found that, whether it was conscious or not, people didn\u2019t have the kind of sensitivity or emoting as I had. And I was always interested in space, so I just concentrated more on space. I felt that that would be a challenge. I mean, if they couldn\u2019t express themselves or even use space, what good are they? So that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been working on mostly. And doing things backwards and doing things in many different ways, but being aware of where you are all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> And now in this era of distancing, space takes on a\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> A couple of my students, people who are part of my work, they\u2019re doing it on [virtual], remote\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Zoom or whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Yeah, they\u2019re doing that. Which is good; good for them. I mean, they\u2019re younger\u2026.&nbsp;Do I miss it? Well, I miss it because I like being around people. And your energy is quite different when you\u2019re working, doing your work. I\u2019m a whole other person. I don\u2019t think you\u2019ve seen where I\u2019ve gone to since the workshop, but I\u2019m a completely other person. My energy is different, my focus is different, I don\u2019t waste any time. And so much of that came from the experiences that I\u2019ve had as a person. The psychological experience by doing the piece\u2026.&nbsp;When I think back to the factory [meaning the warehouse where I lived and Rudy and I performed, before his workshop], <em>what things<\/em> were happening. That was the hub, that building, the studio, and everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> I don\u2019t know if I mentioned it in that blog post [<a href=\"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/28\/everybody-dance-now\/#rudy_perez\"><em>I did\u2026<\/em><\/a>], but the people I\u2019ve come in contact with, not because I necessarily wanted to, but people like you, my writing mentor Charles Cameron, people have just come across my path and I\u2019ve embraced them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Right. Interesting how that happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> And I\u2019m just really grateful for the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Well I can say the same thing right now after all these years. My God [Rudy always tends to pronounce this <em>My Gad<\/em>, which I&#8217;d forgotten], I think I\u2019ve been here for forty years. Almost as long as I\u2019d been in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"525\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C525&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Creshevsky LP cover\" class=\"wp-image-4709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky1-scaled-e1589858778952.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"525\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3.jpg?resize=525%2C525&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Creshevsky LP cover\" class=\"wp-image-4722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/creshevsky3-scaled.jpg?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy Perez commissioned his portrait by electroacoustic composer <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Noah_Creshevsky\">Noah Creshevsky<\/a> in 1978, the year he moved from New York to Los Angeles. The liner notes to this LP are sprinkled with the accolades Rudy had accumulated to date. (Click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Right. What year did you arrive in L.A.?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> 1978. And L.A.: I\u2019m so lucky. That residency at UCLA, which was not the greatest experience for me, and not knowing exactly what I was going to do after that year. But during the time I was here other people were aware that I was here and work started coming in. So I started to do the whole West Coast. [<em>laughs<\/em>] I\u2019ve just been very lucky, so grateful. So I have nothing to complain about. My gosh, it never ends. And this moment, this recollection, reflection is very important for me, I want you to know, at this time in my life when I spend a lot of time thinking about my past. Because the slightest little thing triggers off a whole bunch of stuff that never ends. One thing leads to another and it\u2019s unbelievable. Stay up nights. [<em>chuckles<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Well, I\u2019m glad that you\u2019ve let us in on some of that through your mailing list. I\u2019m really grateful for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> I\u2019m very lucky. Sarah Swenson\u2014she\u2019s in Italy at the moment\u2014she helps me with my email, drafting my emails and all that sort of stuff. And in a way I wanted to let people know more exactly about things that are important to me. It\u2019s not that I wanted to brag, but it was important to me to state them so that I was more or less sharing, not bragging. And that took the two of our heads put together so it wasn\u2019t about advertising. But maybe I was aware like yourself. People need to know each other. What makes someone who they are and where are they coming from? I\u2019m always very curious about someone I admire, someone whose work I admire. Where are they coming from? What have they done? Who\u2019ve they studied with? Always, always. Great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">Rudy:<\/span> Love ya, man. Love ya. [<em>laughs<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif;\">David:<\/span> Yeah, you too. Thanks so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/11\/portrait-of-rudy-perez-2-remain-in-light\/\">Part 2: Remain in Light<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year, in Everybody Dance Now 1, I reminisced about studying with dancer-choreographer Rudy Perez in the early 1980s. Nearly four decades later Rudy agreed to let me interview him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[43,158,214,683,159,34,33,165],"tags":[824,821,820,822,768,825,226,826,823],"class_list":["post-4699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-criticism","category-dance","category-education","category-interview","category-lgbt-history","category-music","category-theater","tag-clive-thompson","tag-judson-dance-theater","tag-judson-memorial-church","tag-martha-graham","tag-merce-cunningham","tag-noah-creshevsky","tag-rudy-perez","tag-sara-swenson","tag-stephen-petronio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/portrait_of_rudy_perez2-scaled-e1589847417692.jpg?fit=2560%2C1497&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paF2cn-1dN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4699"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10758,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699\/revisions\/10758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qualityofmercy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}