"You know something that I don't know." In this simple statement lies both agency and humility, both autonomy and responsibility. This statement begins to define my values, desires, and demands as an artist. 

I value the authority that lies in places between tendons and bones. I value the act of listening. The daily task of bringing questions, conflict, and curiousity to the table is an act of defiance towards a society that is only interested in answers. I am not interested in answers, I am interested in finding new ways to ask the question. Conflict is vital. Uncertainty is vital. 

I desire to acknowledge the people around me. Dance becomes a language that allows a person to bring themselves unapolegetically and without explanation. I want to listen, learn, and share space with artists whose experience differs from mine. I desire to live fully and extravagantly in my body. I desire the courage to fail. 

I demand to be seen. I refuse for my body to be silent and I refuse to close my mouth. In a society where my body is referred to as capital, I demand agency. This defiance is a counter to the culture we live in, not because we participate in the violence and self-serving that perpetuates in Western culture, but because we act in opposition to these things. The artist's lifestyle becomes a template for each citizen in our world to follow. 

My identity as an artist is not about what I know, but what I don't. Demanding to be seen requires that you share more than you take and that you listen more than you speak. The question always remains: What do you know that I don't know?