Meet the Writers: Nicole Bindler

Nicole Bindler

What would your parents say about your work in the arts?

My grandmother was a violin virtuoso who won an award and was invited to play at Carnegie Hall at age 12. Her family was so poor that they could not afford shoes let alone train fare from Detroit to New York. (Her lessons and violin had been donated.) She gave up her dream of being a musician, worked her way through college and grad school. She supported her mother and polio-inflicted sister as a teacher and psychologist until she married my grandfather, a labor lawyer who worked for the auto unions. When she discovered that I wanted to be a dancer, she poured all of her love and support into making that happen with not an ounce of bitterness about her own lost opportunities.

How did you learn to type?

I wouldn’t say I really know how to type.

Finish this sentence “Good dance…..”

Leaves audiences experiencing their bodies and the space around them more fully.

Finish this sentence “Good writing…”

Doesn’t seem well executed. The writer gets out of the way and leaves space for ideas to flourish.

What are you most excited to cover through TD?

I’m interested in writing about the place where dance and politics intersect. Right now I’m working on a piece about gender inequity in dance. This fall, I hope to work on a piece that relates my work in the Palestinian solidarity movement to the field of dance. I’d like to research the relationship of Palestinian Dabke to Israeli folk dance and also write a piece that looks at the impact of the cultural boycott on Israeli dance companies.

If I never see another ____________ again, it will be too soon.

Improvised dance performed by someone without an improvisation practice.

If you were to write a dance love-letter, it would be to:The creators of Badke:

Share this article

Nicole Bindler

Nicole Bindler is a dance-maker, Body-Mind Centering® practitioner, writer, and activist. Her work has been presented at festivals, conferences, and intensives throughout the U.S., Canada, Argentina, and Europe, and in Tokyo, Beirut, Bethlehem, Mexico City, and Quito. She is a former writer and editor with thINKingDANCE. Learn more.

PARTNER CONTENT

Keep Reading

Dances from the Churn

Ankita

Bodies across generations resist being silenced.

A black-and-white photo of two dancers in a brick-walled room. One, masc-presenting, has long curly hair and peeks out at the ceiling, mouth slightly open in expressive thought, one hand bent to touch their forehead, shielding half of their face. The other hand rests against the center of their body. A second dancer stands to their left, mirroring this pose with face tilted all the way to the sky and taut arms.
Photo: Thomas Kay

Possibilities Within Pain

Ankita

Maybe…pain can make one whole.

A white person with curly hair, a beard, and piercing blue eyes shows half of zir face, covering the rest with a red dome shaped hat. Pain au chocolat is stuffed in zir mouth, and zir clothes are bifurcated, much like zir face––half outfitted in red and gold, and the other half in black.
Photo: Janoah Bailin

Search

More results...

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Writers
Filter by Categories
.
Book Reviews
Interviews
News
Reviews
thINKpieces
Write Back Atchas