Audio By Carbonatix
Phoenix is brimming with creativity. And every other year, we put the spotlight on 100 of the city’s creative forces. Leading up to the release of this year’s Best of Phoenix issue, we’re profiling 100 more. Welcome to the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today: 32. Carley Conder.
Carley Conder’s wheels are turning.
“I know I want a live harpist playing against a techno score,” she says. “Hyper-physical for the dancers. Exploring the idea of co-existing in two opposing environments.”
The 41-year-old founder of her namesake modern dance company, CONDER/dance, is already at work on her annual performance showcase Breaking Ground, slated for March of 2015 at Tempe Center for the Arts. That’s when the longtime Tempe resident isn’t spending time with her three kids, practicing Bikram, or teaching contemporary ballet at Arizona State University and modern dance at Scottsdale Community College.
See also: Nathan Blackwell of Phoenix’s Squishy Studios: 100 Creatives
Conder grew up dancing in Yuma, where, she says, teachers prepared her for a career as a professional dancer. But it wasn’t until after she completed her bachelor’s of fine arts in ballet that she became interested in modern dance. “I wish it would have happened sooner,” she says.
Now that Breaking Ground is entering its eighth year, it’s evident that Conder’s more than made up for any time not dedicated to modern dance. “We now are hosting local, national and international dance artists of the highest caliber for a weekend of performances, master classes and school residencies. I feel good about the fact that we can provide these opportunities for Arizona students, artists and audiences,” she says.
And we feel that way, too.
I came to Phoenix with the intention to live with my parents for the summer following my MFA and then move to NYC to dance and create. I’m still here 15 years later. It’s been the right choice to invest in this place, develop as an artist, and bring what I have to offer to Arizona dancers and audiences.
I make art because it keeps me balanced, keeps me sane, keeps me constantly asking questions and seeing the world through the lens of someone who wants to capture and crystallize the human experience. I love diving into the process and discovering things about myself and the beautiful dancers I get to work with along the way.
I’m most productive when I’m working under a deadline. Whether that be the next rehearsal with the dancers or an upcoming premiere of a new dance… there’s nothing like focusing the creative process when you have a roomful of dancers waiting for you to give them something juicy to sink their teeth into. And without a show date looming, I end up spinning creatively and the dancers want to kill me because I’m constantly changing major sections of the work. That being said, I always give myself a lot of time to explore new ideas and allow myself the freedom to throw out a lot of material. It takes about six months for me to create a dance I’m happy with and has any sort of integrity.
My inspiration wall/desk/Pinterest is full of:
– quotes from Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac and Walt Whitman
– drawings and origami that my kids have made for me that I’ll keep forever
– All available Batsheva images and videos (dance company in Tel Aviv)
– Rocks and shells from almost every beach I’ve been to
– images from Miro, Klimt, and Pollock
– photographs of Sufi Whirling Dervishes
I’ve learned most from other art forms. I seek out visual art, writing, architecture and film that I know can teach me something new about how to communicate to a viewer. My last piece was based on a huge metal sculpture by Phoenix artist Pete Deise. A work before that was inspired by a passage from Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence about how women use fashion as armor. It’s too easy for me to fall into a formula that I know is going to work and then I’m making the same piece over and over again. Studying other art forms helps me to keep challenging myself to expand on what I know.
Good work should always be process driven. There’s a mantra that my friend Ashleigh Leite uses in the studio, Process not Product. It takes time to understand what it is you are saying and how to say it clearly. I think the best work has gone through a process that allows for a bit of a wrestling match between creator, performers and what is eventually given to an audience.
The Phoenix creative scene could use more dance writers! I would love to see each Arizona media outlet have a qualified person on staff that can write with authority on the major dance events in town. A good dance critic would give good work a wider audience as well as a way to document this ephemeral art in the written form. A bad review would help make us conscious of the fact that we need to be taking our work seriously and only putting our best stuff out for audiences.
See the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives:
100. Bill Dambrova
99. Niki Blaker
98. Jeff Slim
97. Beth May
96. Doug Bell
95. Daniel Langhans
94. Nanibaa Beck
93. Nicole Royse
92. Ib Andersen
91. Casandra Hernandez
90. Chris Reed
89. Shelby Maticic
88. Olivia Timmons
87. Courtney Price
86. Travis Mills
85. Catrina Kahler
84. Angel Castro
83. Cole Reed
82. Lisa Albinger
81. Larry Madrigal
80. Julieta Felix
79. Lauren Strohacker
78. Levi Christiansen
77. Thomas Porter
76. Carrie Leigh Hobson
75. Cody Carpenter
74. Jon Jenkins
73. Aurelie Flores
72. Michelle Ponce
71. Devin Fleenor
70. Noelle Martinez
69. Bucky Miller
68. Liliana Gomez
67. Jake Friedman
66. Clarita Lulić
65. Randy Murray
64. Mo Neuharth
63. Jeremy Hamman
62. La Muñeca
61. Kevin Goldman
60. Emily Costello
59. Kerstin Dale
58. Vara Ayanna
57. Nathaniel Lewis
56. Ruben Gonzales
55. Lisa Poje
54. Bobby Zokaites
53. Frances Smith Cohen
52. Julie Rada
51. David Miller
50. Xanthia Walker
49. Kyllan Maney
48. Cary Truelick
47. Constance McBride
46. James D. Porter
45. Allyson Boggess
44. Abigail Lynch
43. Ashley Cooper
42. Jaclyn Roessel
41. Brandon Boetto
40. Melissa Dunmore
39. Gavin Sisson
38. Rossitza Todorova
37. Monica Robles
36. Josh Kirby
35. Jesse Perry
34. Yai Cecream
33. Nathan Blackwell
