Ellen Miller - thINKingDANCE

Articles written by Ellen Miller

Performer Daisie Cardona rests in a fetal position on her side with her eyes closed. Dressed all in black, one arm stretches above her body, holding a black string taut. The string is connected to a red, orange, and yellow ribbon which rests on the ground.

September 21, 2025

A blue aerial hoop and a green hammock hang from

A mass of performers writhe on a square white platform. Some of the performers kneel while others lay or drape themselves atop one another. One shirtless performer rises above the others, held by a Black performer wearing red boxer shorts. The performer held aloft croons into a microphone; a rope is draped over the shoulder of the arm holding the mic.

Can you keep looking?

September 8, 2025

A square, white platform sits in a theater-in-the-round. Performers, standing

Liam Bradley and Kevin Flanagan watch Sierra Rhoades Nicholls intently from their position to the side of the stage, seated in folding chairs. Nicholls supports herself upside-down with one hand gripping a block that is balanced atop a silver rod. Her other arm is extended parallel to the floor at her side and her legs are extended in a straddle above her head.

Raw Egg and All, It Works

August 3, 2025

Kevin Flanagan enters the stage with a big jump. In

Dancers rehearse for the closing performance of Merián Soto’s exhibition last January celebrating her 25 years at Temple University. Marion Ramírez is center. Soto is to the right, overseeing the rehearsal and also participating. Each dancer is dressed in colorful, casual exercise clothing and holds a long branch vertically along their body, arms raised above their head and branch extended into the sky. From her vantage point, Soto is slightly removed; she is smiling.

I am the Archive

June 13, 2025

Dancer, choreographer, video artist, and teacher Merián Soto has had a storied

A copy of The Swans of Harlem is open on a table next to an open laptop. The book is open to a photo spread. The black-and-white images depict dancers from the early days of Dance Theatre of Harlem, including an image of Lydia Abarca being coached in Afternoon of a Faun, final bows, Gayle McKinney-Griffith being partnered in arabesque, and a photo of Marcia Sells in class at ten years old. Sells is jumping in second position with her feet pointed and arms outstretched, looking down towards her left hand.

Remember Us: Five Groundbreaking Black Women Who Changed Ballet

January 5, 2025

In The Swans of Harlem, Karen Valby retells a memorable moment

The performer, marisa illingworth, sits on the floor in a straddle with their body facing the camera. They are wearing a white crop top and navy sweat pants and have bare feet. A coffee cup sits in between their legs, white with a black lid, anonymous.Tattoos are visible on their arms. They look down and away from the camera. Behind them is photography lighting equipment; one of the lights is lit, putting the performer in the spotlight.

In endings, beginnings; in presence, healing

September 17, 2024

Speaking into the mic propped in front of them, marisa

An artist stretches their arms side to side with their body positioned towards the camera. They are looking in the direction of one extended arm and appear to be holding a wand or blade in their hand.

Sound takes us back: an exploration of audio memories

September 17, 2024

In a fourth-floor theater at Christ Church Neighborhood House, Germaine Ingram enters

A mature Black woman (Rhonda Moore) stands in the center of two rows of pews with her arms outstretched. She grips the side of one pew reaching towards the open palm of another Black woman (Song Aziza Tucker) who stands in George Washington’s pew at Christ Church.

Homage to the Passed

September 15, 2024

“Is this a ghost tour?” a person passing by asks.

evan ray suzuki and Glenn Potter-Takata kneeling with their hands together in gassho with a projection of the moon in the background.

How Many Coors Lights Cans Were Harmed in the Making of this Show?

September 15, 2024

Bodhisattva Beer Run begins with a talking head. A video projected

A group of dance writers stands in two rows facing the camera. They are wearing bright colors, smiling, and squinting into the sunlight.

Envisioning a future of possibilities for dance writing

August 22, 2024

As part of MoBBallet’s Pathways to Performance exercise at the Kennedy Center,

Momentary bliss in Northern Michigan

August 18, 2024

Across from the grass and concrete amphitheater, the sun shimmered

Co-creating softness in community

August 1, 2024

Mawu Ama Ma’at G. Oyesii has been doing hard work

A Study in Setting

June 2, 2024

There was a time, not that long ago, when video

A body/ a response

March 26, 2024

“What film inspires you?” they asked, and Rainey said, “I

In The Album Series: Dreamland, a nascent dream

March 15, 2024

Burgundy Blue Dance returned to the stage recently with choreographer

Invitation to Joy

March 1, 2024

The curtain opens on Century, choreographed by Amy Hall Garner, to

In “I Invited Myself,” Eiko Otake asks us to linger

November 17, 2023

Eiko Otake is a giant in the dance world, but

Building an Altar to Remembrance

September 30, 2023

“A rush of imagination is our ‘flooding,’” Toni Morrison writes,

Self-Acceptance is a Journey

September 15, 2023

The stage is set: a rug taped to the front

In Fruit of Her Lips, a Surrealist Celebration

September 13, 2023

Gentle thunder threatened as the dancers took their places, and