Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey Rogers.
Hi Hailey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Tarantism Unfolds was a product of the pandemic in 2020. Studios and classes were shut down, my teaching job had been put on hold and I was itching to create. So I got with a friend of mine, Jessica Owens and we started Tarantism. The name itself fell into our laps, I’ve always loved the word “Tarantism”, it is from an Illness long ago and roughly translates into an uncontrollable urge to dance.
We want to share every urge to dance and have it envelop and unfold around ourselves and our audiences. From that point, we created a dance film titled River inspired by the injustices people of color still face to this day. After that Jessica took a step back to focus on her personal goals and the reigns of the company have been in my hands ever since. We performed at Immerse Fest in October 2021 with the band, The Fly Casuals.
Following that was our first showcase, Fleeting Cycles, on December 1, 2021. The turnout for our show was great for being the very first one and I can’t wait to see how that grows throughout this year as I navigate writing, rehearsing, and producing our second one, Transcribing Expansion. We are nowhere near the growth I hope to achieve with this company but are striving towards it daily.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Is there ever really a smooth road? We have definitely had lulls and runs. When we finished filming River we hit a little plateau of not knowing where we wanted to go from there because Theaters and Studios were still mostly closed due to Covid.
After a few months, I decided to go for putting the showcase together since theaters were starting to open up again. Being that we are small-time right now and funded completely by myself & my fiancé I definitely ran into some unexpected financial needs that I hadn’t anticipated when budgeting but we put our heads down, figured it out and the show was a success.
I did learn to give myself more time though, creating/rehearsing & putting on a show in 3 months’ time is a wee bit stressful.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I teach dance at the studio I grew up training at, Studio 19 Centre for Performing Arts. I teach intermediate & advanced contemporary, intermediate/advanced modern (Graham & Horton based), beginner level ballet, and tap.
I’d say my specialty is Contemporary & Modern. Within my studio I’m most known for pushing the norm; I’m always telling my students they can do whatever crazy things I see in my mind and then encouraging them until we get it right. Sometimes it’s a journey. I think what I’m proudest of is the company and where it’s gone so far.
It used to be a dream, something in my head that I thought would never happen and then it did. Sitting in the audience and watching a product of me play out on stage was something I never thought I’d reach and now I’m out there trying to do it again and again with a wider spectrum each time. It’s wild.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I love collaborating! I just submitted to be part of this season’s Central Florida Choreographers Collaboration, so that’s one way to work with me. But another, and probably the easiest is to just shoot me a message/email. I love connecting with other artists and seeing what our individual visions meld together to make.
The best way to support is to show up; buy tickets, buy merchandise, donate when possible.
Contact Info:
- Email: tarantismunfoldsdc@gmail.com
- Instagram: @tarantismunfoldscontemporary
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarantismunfoldscontemporary/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCmYURP4hJu9Xm59zkCHDA_Q
Image Credits
Amanda Van and Meter Burch (AvyPhotography), and Raphael Loquellano
