Free Gigs. Are they helping or hurting?

For the past 7 years of my L.A. life, I can't even count how many gigs I have done for free. Whether choreographing to "boost my reel" when I first started out, or even dancing in numerous free shows in Hollywood and around the city.

Morgan Thorson

"Heaven" @ Performance Space 122

N.Y. PREMIERE

Sun, Oct 25 - Fri, Oct 30
Wed - Fri 8pm, Sun 6pm,
Late show: Fri, Oct 30 10pm

$20, $15 (students/seniors)

212-352-3101

Performance Space 122
150 First Ave. at E. 9th St.
NYC 10009

EST CHOREOGRAPHER 2008 - Best of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis-St.Paul City Pages

"Powerhouse" - Claudia La Rocco, The New York Times

Morgan Thorson teams with the sublime slowcore band LOW in pursuit of ecstatic and corporeal perfection in a real-time performance ritual. This reverential spectacle transfers the myth of perfection from the religious to the theatre world as a roving chorus of performers undertakes angelic choral singing and Thorson's uniquely dynamic choreography. While extreme restriction is transformed into powerful kinesthetic expression, believers and non-believers, dance-enthusiasts and live music-lovers will experience HEAVEN's acute force of attraction.

Heaven is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Diverseworks (Houston) in partnership with Performance Space 122 (New York), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and NPN.

Heaven was made possible by the Doris Duke Fund for Dance of the National Dance Project, a program administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation..

For  the past 9 months, Lucky Plush Productions, headed by acclaimed contemporary dancer and choreographer Julia Rhoads, has been knee deep in their Punk Yankees project, exploring the subject of intellectual property rights in a digitalYouTube age. The project culminates Oct. 22-31 with performances at the Dance Center of Columbia College. In conjunction with The Punk Yankees project, LPP created the companion website, stealthisdance.com which is now hosting a choreography competition.

Many people consider going to big cities to study dance. I know as a young dancer that was surely an option that crossed my mind. But, for whatever reason, I went to a college in a smaller metropolitan city. The attraction to big cities for many dancers is the exposure to industries where dancers are heavily needed: Broadway musicals, movies, cruises, or even theme parks.

Last night! TVMOVES 2! A sold out evening of dance for the Academy of Arts and Sciences held at The Wadsworth Theater in LA. Performances from SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW, DANCING WITH THE STARS and SUPERSTARS OF DANCE were all performed live on stage as guest speakers Nigel Lythgoe, Debbie Allen, Shane Sparks and others discussed the impact of dance on television and the growing awareness of the art form around the world! It was very cool seeing the incredible variety of styles together at one venue; The Strikers from ABDC, contemporary duets from SYTYCD by Mandy Moore (love that table piece), the great Indian dance solo from SuperStars, a Michael Jackson tribute by Debbie Allen's Dance Academy, and so many others. Yours truly, The GROOVALOOS were asked to close out the evening with one of our performances from SuperStars of Dance! We chose the first crazy hospital number and had a total blast putting that piece up again and wrapping up a great night.

I first met Michael back when I was around 12 years old. The entire Jackson crew spent a few precious minutes with me and my family after a fantastic show in Vegas that is still etched on my mind ("Dancing Machine!", oh-my-goodness!). It was the first time our family saw other people wear full sweat suits like normal clothes. Funny how I remember that, it seemed so weird at the time. (LOL).

l went to Michael's concerts as I grew up. I remember the BAD tour with that ridiculously enormous mind-blowing lighted screen! First you heard thunderous footsteps, then you saw these GIANT feet walk out, do the backslide, spin, and rise up on their toes as lights exploded everywhere! Then, there he was alone, doing his thing. Just awesome. And of course I fondly recall our family and friends gathered around the TV watching The Motown 25th Anniversary Special where, after rocking with his brothers, Michael did the solo performance of a lifetime that launched him into the stratosphere, backsliding himself into history. (Whoa! - just got chills:)

Show up on time choreographers! This is one thing that makes me despise the L.A dance scene. It makes me MAD. For dancers, it is hard enough to endure the endless charade of maintaining a look, a body, a wardrobe, headshots, you name it! I see people  wearing sunglasses in class, wearing skinny jeans to jazz, and my favorite, the people huddling around the water fountain name dropping a little louder so people can hear who they have worked with; and these people are my age! (not that i am by any means old, but seasoned and experienced, right??)  Come on, really? I teach at a studio in L.A , I walk in, teach my jazz class in my Target brand sweat pants, and leave quietly and quickly. But it is what it is.