In Conversation with Davina Cohen

Krista DeNio spoke with Davina Cohen last year in the context of a conversation about E|MERGE, Interdisciplinary Artist Residency at Earthdance 

Davina: "I've been asking myself:  Am I an interdisciplinary artist?  I clearly like to work interdisciplinarily.  I think theater is inherently interdisciplinary: movement, writing, speaking, singing, constructing of props, lights, sound, can involve technology.  So, I suppose this is tricky.

I was talking to Amii (Legendre) the other day, and I was describing her as someone whose work and interest has gone beyond the convention of her original training and designation.  So I think that's the definition of an interdisciplinary artist." 

Davina went on to discuss the particular location she's arrived at, in her career: "I think that's why I was so delighted to go to E|MERGE---I was thinking where in the world are there kindred spirits?  This is what was so satisfying about the E|MERGE residency. What I love about E|MERGE, is that somehow there is an environment where it does not feel like a contest between exploration and rigor, it instead feels like a marriage between exploration, freedom and rigor.  Maybe rigor is not exactly the word that I mean, but I mean that you can sort of slide in and out of the spaces that you know and the spaces that you don't and there is a collective agreement that everyone is doing this and that's actually great to be doing!"

You can read more about Davina and other E|MERGE Artists in an article that Krista wrote for Kinebago, a Tour of Movement Arts in New England.  

Davina will be in residence with 31 other artists at Earthdance as part of E|MERGE 2012, February 14-26. They will present works in progress to the public on February 25th.