July 8, 2025 • 35 mins
Inlet Dance Theatre is a modern dance company in Cleveland, founded in 2001 by our guest, Bill Wade, a renowned dancer and choreographer who uses the power of dance to further people and explore human, societal, and environmental issues through movement. Located within the Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression on West 25th Street in Cleveland, Inlet's Dance Studio is called The Estuary, reflecting the company's nature-based and sustainability themes.
Inlet's mission aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, which promote health and well-being, quality education, equality, and sustainable cities. Deeply rooted in Cleveland, Inlet is helping nurture and grow the next generation of artists by offering free dance classes in public schools and other community programs. Bill explains that talent is everywhere, but access to developing that talent is not. He started Inlet to expose urban youth to the power of the arts and provide opportunities, mentorship, and creative expression to individuals who might otherwise lack access.
The connection between dance and sustainability may seem unexpected, but the arts are universally relatable and offer a unique opportunity to promote environmental awareness. "Don't put on stage what is. Put on stage what could be," Wade says, capturing how art contributes to sustainability by envisioning possibilities rather than dwelling on problems. In a world facing climate change and social inequities, Inlet Dance Theater reminds us that sustainability isn't just technical solutions – it requires creative spaces where we can collectively imagine and embody more hopeful futures.
Enjoy this episode of Eco Speaks CLE as Bill describes his work, his creative process, some of the pieces in his repertoire, his love of Cleveland and its youth, and upcoming appearances for his company.
Guest:
Bill Wade, Founder and Executive/Artistic Director of Inlet Dance Theatre
Resources:
About Inlet Dance Theatre and Upcoming Performances
Education and Community Programs
Cain Park Annual Performance and Calendar of Events
Aim2Flourish and The Lavender Project
Follow us:
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Contact us:
hello@ecospeakscle.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Diane Bickett (00:04):
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for
the eco curious in NortheastOhio.
My name is Diane Bickett and myproducer is Greg Rotuno.
Together we speak with localsustainability leaders and
invite you to connect, learn andlive with our community and
planet in mind.
Hello friends, Today we havesomething a little different for
(00:24):
you.
We're going to be exploring howthe arts, and more specifically
modern dance, can help elevatesustainability in exciting and
creative ways.
The idea for this episode camefrom a new friend of mine,
Andrea Villalon, who I metthrough our EcoMeetCLE events,
and those are our in-personmeetup events.
She came to our last one a fewmonths ago and was excited to
(00:48):
tell me about this local moderndance company that she's
involved with.
Their mission and programmingaligns with the United Nations
17 global goals for sustainabledevelopment and is contributing
to making Cleveland a moresustainable city.
Well, they got me reallycurious about how dance and
sustainability play together.
So one thing led to another.
(01:09):
Andrea invited me to a fewperformances and then introduced
me to our guest today, BillWade.
Bill is the founder andexecutive artistic director of
Inlet Dance Theater, a nonprofitmodern dance company in
Cleveland which is coming up onits 25th season.
This has been a greatexperience for me to learn more
(01:30):
about modern dance, which Ireally don't know anything about
, and this wonderful creativedance company which is deeply
rooted in Cleveland and usesdance to further people.
Welcome, Bill.
Bill Wade (01:41):
Thank you, that was very well done.
Diane Bickett (01:48):
Thank you.
So you're located in the PivotCenter for Art, Dance and
Expression on West 25th Streetin Cleveland.
Your studio is called theEstuary and your company is
called Inlet Dance Theater, soyou have some water and nature
themes going on, absolutely.
Tell us about that, tell usabout your company, and what's
(02:09):
what inspired the nature themes.
Let's start there.
Bill Wade (02:12):
Well, so I was born on Ohio State University campus
and then I grew up all over thecountry from like Lancaster,
pennsylvania, st Louis, all theway out to Southern California,
which had a huge impact on me asa kid.
It was my favorite place tolive Southern Cali.
We lived down by Laguna Beachin Mission Viejo.
Diane Bickett (02:33):
That doesn't suck .
Bill Wade (02:34):
Yeah, it was pretty awesome, especially back in the
70s.
Oh, yeah, it was gorgeous andI've always been like an animal
lover in nature.
But I grew up drawing andpainting and doing sculpture and
a lot of that stuff was outjust naturally.
Nature themed because I'm likenature is the best artwork ever
you know.
(02:54):
So then in college I foundmodern dance, um kind of on an
accident, I went to college tobe an animator, to do animation
and because I wanted artworkthat moved right and I had a lot
of music training and as a kid,um, music lessons and
everything and I ended up beingtrained by some world-class
(03:14):
people right away wow and inthree years um I long story
short.
I moved to cleveland in 1984 andI danced with al Alice
Rubinstein's Footpath DanceCompany, which at that time was
Ohio's leading professionalmodern dance company, and a lot
of her work was also kind ofembedded in the community and
community engagement andnature-themed work, so it just
(03:37):
was a good fit for me.
In the 90s I spent time as anartist-in-residence at Cleveland
School of the Arts.
I was asked to do two weeks ofmaster classes, fell in love
with the kids.
I was there for 11 years, endedup at the White House, got a
big award from the NEA and itwas awkward.
Diane Bickett (03:54):
What were you doing at the White House getting
the award?
Bill Wade (03:57):
Yeah, I was getting an award.
I had to wear a jacket and atie.
That's pretty it was awful, butthe work that I did, um, really
opened my eyes to the inequities, because these are, you know,
inner ring urban kids, cleanschool, the arts part of cmsd,
and I just fell in love withthese kids.
The talent is everywhere.
Access to develop, todeveloping that talent, is not
(04:19):
everywhere and it kind of lit ayou, you know something in me.
So in 2001, as sort of anoutflow of my work at Cleveland
School of the Arts, sending kidsto Juilliard and other places
and watching them thrive allover, the world.
Diane Bickett (04:36):
Wow, that's amazing.
Bill Wade (04:37):
Yeah, I mean the talent's there.
They just needed the realtraining that I had to give to
them.
Nice.
So I started Inlet because Irealized that, you know, I grew
up, coming up was rough, okay.
So, um, dance was the thing forme when I dove in.
Um, no compromise, just gopulled me away from a lot of the
(04:59):
toxicity and trauma that I Igrew up with.
Um, and then I got a cleanschool of the arts and I'm like,
oh, oh, I can pay this forward.
This is awesome.
So that paying it forward issort of like the, the thing that
drives in my dance theater,right.
So I started that in 2001.
And, um, like you said we have.
We started 25th anniversaryseason in September, which is
(05:21):
kind of weird, um, cause thatwas fast, was fast.
But we now tour nationally.
I'm doing work internationally.
Diane Bickett (05:28):
Wow, that's amazing.
Bill Wade (05:29):
Yeah, it's been a ride right, but just the idea of
the words inlet, inlet is apassageway, a way of letting
people really into my field.
Letting people really into myfield and I see that the
transformative properties ofdance or like work something I
(05:50):
experienced Right, so I'm like Iget it and so I'm, I'm, I'm one
of those kids so, but I'm justmuch older now and so paying
that forward and helpingwatching lives transform is is
what it's all about.
Whether that's some performingor education programming, I
don't see those two things asseparate.
They're really the same thing.
They're just like this ballthat keeps getting bigger there
you go.
(06:10):
I like that yeah and I because,yeah, back in the 80s I, you
know, I worked for not justfootpath but a couple of other
companies and it was very clearto me, ballet companies, modern
dance companies um, they wereusing their education, education
, outreach to fund their dancemaking and I that I don't know
that hit me wrong.
Um, I was, like I'm not goingto use kids to justify my art,
(06:32):
like there's something awkwardabout this, like why don't we
share and scale down what we'redoing with kids and transform
their lives with it instead?
So that's been a theme,obviously, in inlet dance
theater.
So just this, this idea ofgoing into water ankle deep and
then knee deep, and then themore you study, the more you
learn, the more it lifts you,and then just that imagery has
(06:56):
always stuck with me.
Diane Bickett (06:57):
That's a great analogy.
I have a quote here.
I don't know if I got it fromyour website or when we talked
earlier.
I don't know if I got it fromyour website or when we talked
earlier, but the dance world isan ecosystem to nurture and grow
the next generation of artists.
Like estuaries are places forraising the young and mentoring.
Bill Wade (07:15):
Exactly, and that's why we call our space the
estuary, because during COVID alot of people shut down.
We were doing a national tourwhen COVID hit and I came back
to Cleveland.
The dancers gave, gave themtime off and we transformed the
space that is now our home atthe pivot center.
Diane Bickett (07:35):
It's beautiful.
Bill Wade (07:35):
It's so what a blessing.
Diane Bickett (07:37):
So light and airy .
Bill Wade (07:39):
It's so, it's gorgeous, it's some of the
nicest dance studios in the cityand I'm incredibly grateful.
I mean, I've been at it for 40some odd years at this point.
So I'm like, okay, it's time tohave my own spot and instead of
being nomadic because thecompany was nomadic for 20 years
and during covid, we renovatedthis space.
I worked a lot with thebuilding owner and the
architects and I designed aspace that was intentionally
(08:02):
open, light-filled, airy, asharing space.
I didn't want a theater becausethere's just a lot of perceived
barriers with that and I, youknow, I like to work with real
folks and like give them anaccess point, right.
So our space has become the homefor, like, joppo cultural arts
institute, which is cleveland'swest african dance company.
(08:22):
It's the home for pacificparadise, which is a polynesian
dance company.
It it's the home for Pacificparadise, which is a Polynesian
dance company.
It's 10 K teaches class there.
That's a hip hop organization.
So my space almost immediately,and I never put a shingle out
like, hey, come rent our space.
It was because I've been herefor so long and I've trained so
many people over the years andwork with so many different
(08:43):
pockets of neighborhoods andstuff.
Greg Rotuno (08:50):
Um which it's?
Bill Wade (08:50):
full of dance seven days a week.
And, um, I was like we, yeah,we need to.
We need to name this spacesomething that's a little bit
more neutral than, like, thehome of inlet dance theater,
right it's like it's not just myhouse.
Um, I have a nice big house Iwant to share with all my
friends.
Right, very cool, um, so that'skind of how all of that
happened, and an estuary is aninlet, but I love the metaphor,
like what you just read from thewebsite.
Yeah well, it was your quote Ihad help writing that trust me
(09:15):
um, where so?
Diane Bickett (09:17):
how?
How big is your company?
Where do you perform?
You mentioned some locations,nationally and internationally
you want to name some places butin cleveland, specifically
cleveland specifically right.
Bill Wade (09:26):
So um I'm I'm proud that I'm playhouse square, which
is the second largestperforming arts center in the
country.
Um is a client of mine um,that's an honor we do.
It's such a blessing we, we, wedo a lot with playhouse square,
cleveland public theater.
We perform there every year forfor dance works.
You went to DanceWorks.
Diane Bickett (09:45):
I did.
Bill Wade (09:46):
And Kane Park.
We're about to do our 24thperformance at Kane Park in
Cleveland Heights.
I love that spot and we've beendoing Tremont every year for
many, many summers at Tremont's,lincoln Park.
We're not doing it this summerbecause they lost their funding.
So we're doing some otherthings.
Yeah.
So there's that.
That's happening everywhere andwe also do a lot of education
(10:09):
programming all over the city,not only at our own space,
obviously, where people cometake classes or whatever, but
there's two schools right aroundthe corner.
One's down the street LuisMunoz Marin is one of the CMSD
school.
It's pre-k to eighth grade, andthen around the corner is is um
scranton school and we doresidency work with both these
(10:31):
schools every year and get thekids in the studio and then we
go over there and, um, you know,we we kind of tailor what the
programming is based onconversations with you know the
principals.
Side note, the principal samuelat luisunoz Marin.
When he was young he was aballet dancer in New York City.
Diane Bickett (10:51):
Wow, the great big Puerto.
Bill Wade (10:52):
Rican dude and I could tell he was good too, so
the day we met we just clicked.
Dancers are like a people group, no matter where you go on the
planet, it's like we have asimilar thing yeah, well, you're
opening up this whole new worldto me.
Diane Bickett (11:08):
I didn't know any of those names of any of those
dance companies that you justmentioned.
So yeah, yeah check them outand I was able to go to your
sneak peak event at the estuaryall right uh, earlier in april,
I think yeah, yeah and um justmet you, know your, your people.
It's like man, I feel so goodyou know your, your people.
It's like man, I feel so good.
You know, when I left, I washappy smiling.
Greg Rotuno (11:29):
It's just like it's a very positive experience.
You have good people for sure.
Diane Bickett (11:34):
So you do your own.
Um, so when you put together adance performance, you do your
own choreography.
Bill Wade (11:39):
I'm the choreographer .
Diane Bickett (11:40):
Yeah, okay.
Bill Wade (11:41):
Yeah, but I choreographed collaboratively,
collaboratively.
I love that saying um, none ofus is as smart as all of us, and
that is so true saying and um,you know, I'm at that age older
where you know I receivecommissions to create work and
um, I also we employhuman-centered design thinking
(12:02):
so that you have the end user inmind when you start the project
.
And we have many differentprojects that have different
sort of pockets of town orpeople, groups that we're
focusing on or topics that we'refocusing on, and we get people
involved in the in right away.
So when I'm creating a new work, if it's connected to a
specific population, they'reinvolved in the creative process
(12:23):
.
And then I I'm a choreographerwho pulls the movement out of
the dancers that I work with.
I was just in houston workingwith somebody else's dancer, so
there's a dance company downthere and I walked in and I I
know the guy.
He's like my older brother,practically we've known each
other for many, many decades andum, my process in that kind of
work is really different thanhis and I said you guys are just
(12:46):
going to be really, reallyopen-minded dancers, just follow
my lead.
And I pulled a 25-minuteexperience out of them that was
placed into a high-end artgallery because it was an
exhibition from a Danish painterthat came over and I got to
meet him and talk about hisprocess, and then I mimicked his
process with the dance makingprocess in the studio and his
(13:07):
dancers were like we have neverdone anything like this before
how do you do that?
Diane Bickett (13:10):
how do you pull a dance out of, out of?
Bill Wade (13:15):
I don't know.
For me it's like really easy.
You just watch them move.
You're like, okay, do do thatagain, but do this like I had to
do.
The first day and a half waslike some foundation laying Okay
, because our company like we.
I had a dude at CPT dance workscome up to me one year at
intermission.
He's like are you thechoreographer and the director?
I was like yeah, and I'm likeyou good.
And he's like I'm having ablast.
My wife dragged me to this.
(13:35):
I'm not going to lie, but gotmarried and had a child and I'm
watching the child perform andI'm like that's a really good
analogy because we climb on eachother, we throw each other
through the air.
It's the work is really, reallyathletic it is and um and I love
that analogy but that you know,those dancers down there come
(13:56):
from the whole post-ballet worldand they're beautiful and
they've got legs and spins andall kinds of things that they do
and I was like you're gonnaclimb on each other and I'm
gonna teach you how to do thatand just follow my lead.
And then I taught them how tosee the imagery, the way that I
see the imagery, because thisI'm embedded in the midwest for
many, many, many reasons cost isone of the biggest ones, but
(14:17):
also, like I love it here, um,and my family roots are in ohio
and um, it was fun for me toopen their eyes to this whole
new way of thinking aboutchoreography and moving their
bodies and working with eachother and they became like this,
really tight, and they werelike this when I walked in, a
tight-knit family, but like thedynamic of the trust that they
have for each other now is in acompletely different level and
(14:41):
I've been talking to theirchoreographer, their director,
since being there and he's likeman, you helped me so much with,
yeah, with how, how things flowin the studio wow, what I
thought was cool, what I went tosee your you perform, your
group perform at dance workswhich was at cleveland public
theater.
Diane Bickett (14:58):
Um, there were, I think, six different, what do
you call just dances?
Pieces, yeah, pieces um but yougave an introduction to each
one so that helped me understandwhat I was looking at.
That thought that was superhelpful thank you.
Bill Wade (15:13):
You talk about how they all, we all, came together
sort of learned to do that overthe years, because we work
really hard on the like, theprogram, the play build people
have, but if they don't read itI'm like, well, that's
frustrating, that's frustrating,it's really.
I'm not a writer.
Diane Bickett (15:25):
Much more interesting to see the person
who created it.
Yeah.
Bill Wade (15:29):
So we, we, we just we've been doing this for a few
years now and we get a lot offeedback, like you just said.
So our feedback is so importantin our process, right, and
we're like, okay, let's continuethat.
How might we upgrade it?
Um, and because I really wantpeople to feel engaged and that
they're a part of what'shappening, so just giving like a
(15:50):
90-second or a two-minute video.
You hear from the choreographer, you hear from, perhaps, the
musician, you hear from thedancers and the roles that
they're learning or helping todevelop for the piece, and then
you watch the piece.
It just gives you this likeon-ramp into the freeway of this
pretty abstract art.
And not everybody less and lessnow, because what's going on in
(16:14):
the schools in America and inDC with the arts in general?
Less and less people are artliterate.
So what can I do?
That's an opportunity for meright.
So let me help people kind ofunderstand this stuff.
Can I do?
That's an opportunity for me,right.
So let me help people kind ofunderstand this stuff.
So creating those short filmsin between things we have found
to really help people understandwhat they're looking at well,
(16:35):
the one I think I like the bestwas red tape, which, yeah, that
turned out to be an audiencefavorite that night really.
Yeah, we've got a lot offeedback about it can you
describe what that is?
well, yeah, so I made thisbecause of my painting
background.
I'm really exploring, liketaking my previous dance life
and, now that I'm much older, mydance life and combining the
(16:56):
two together.
And so we have this hugemonolithic black on black
painting on the stage, and whenthe lights come up, the dancer
looks like she comes out of thepainting and she's dancing in
response to the art that'shaving an impact on her.
And then these faceless,nameless, literally suits come
out and basically like okay, youcan continue this, but we're
(17:20):
going to lay this red tape onthe floor in this.
Here's the parameters thatyou're allowed to do this inside
of.
And of course, that starts toshrink and shrink, and shrink
and shrink and pretty soonthey've like taped her to the
painting to the wall.
Yeah, and then there's anotherscene where it's like
marionettes, they, they, theylowered, like what looks like
nooses, but then she puts themon, they put them on her hands
(17:42):
and her wrists and then they dothis trio with the two
puppeteers at the top, withthese long things attached to
her, and they do this trio.
It's like the dance inside of adance, like shakespeare play
inside of a play, and, um, it'sexamining like how might we
create together givendiminishing resources?
(18:03):
Can we listen to each other andcreate together the suits and
the artists?
Because there's a bit of adivide there and a lot of
artists are really, reallybusiness averse when it comes to
their art.
As soon as you want to monetizeyour work, you're going to have
to deal with the fact that youare no longer the artist.
You are also now a businessperson and whether we like it or
(18:25):
not and I I went through thismyself years ago as a
choreographer I was like youknow what, If I want to bless
more than just my own community,I have to learn this stuff and
examining-.
Diane Bickett (18:38):
That's not the fun stuff, but it's got to be
done.
Bill Wade (18:40):
It's not but it can be.
So that's kind of where thepiece goes.
And then they, you know, theytry to taper her to it again and
she ends up climbing up the redtape literally and sitting at
the top and wearing it as aseatbelt and dances on top of
this painting Because, basically, you're not going to stop
making when you're a maker, whenyou're born with this stuff,
(19:01):
you know.
Greg Rotuno (19:03):
Yeah.
Bill Wade (19:03):
Using that stuff as a way to elevate literally in the
space.
Diane Bickett (19:07):
It's pretty literal what was beautiful to
watch and you explained itreally well.
Listening got a picture of thatso I want to touch on
sustainability, many guidingthemes that you have through
your company um, such as socialjustice, the environment, urban,
youth.
Bill Wade (19:26):
We've touched on a bit so far, right, right, right.
Diane Bickett (19:30):
Can we talk specifically about how you've
aligned your mission with the UNglobal goals for sustainable
development?
And I'm just going to read afew that were on some of your
promo pieces here.
Those are goal number threegood health and well-being.
Number four quality education.
Goal number eight decent workand economic growth.
Goal number 10, reducinginequalities.
(19:53):
And 11, sustainable cities andcommunities.
How does that play into thework you're creating, both with
your dance and also kind of howyou're serving the community
Right?
Bill Wade (20:05):
right, right, right, right, right.
Well, a lot of our communityengagement sort of education
programming focuses on the actsof creating, performing,
responding and connecting right.
So, um, when we create andperform dances connected to the
themes of sustainability orsocial justice, like from the
list, um, we can provideopportunities for the community
(20:26):
to engage and respond to thecontent and the form of the work
, like red tape, for exampleright and this and the dialogue
that happens as a result ofwatching something that that
feels meaningful.
But you gotta, you know, have aconversation with somebody to
kind of unpack what you got outof that.
Um, and we, we use the art tocreate conversations and
dialogue like when you went to asneak peek.
(20:47):
It's about like, here's behindthe scenes, as we're making some
things, we're about to do asneak peek on Friday, the 11th
of July, in our space, showingpeople a glimpse of what's being
created that will premiere atKane Park, for example.
Diane Bickett (21:01):
Okay cool.
Bill Wade (21:01):
So it's this opportunity for people to look
through and and how we're goingabout building it, asking
questions.
We use critical responseprocess.
It's a method of gettingfeedback that's actually gets
the artists excited to get backin the studio the next day.
And then the people want to.
Now, they want to come see theconcert because they had this
meaningful dialogue.
(21:22):
But I just think that, given thestate of things in the world
right now, creating work that isanchored on the conversations
that we're all having about youknow health, whether it's
physical health or healthcare ormental health, and, like you
know, I watch people leave ourstudio.
(21:44):
You said it earlier, leavingthe studio, big smile, feeling
so much better than the, youknow the day or the week that
you just had.
Um, those types of.
You know these.
You know these alignments withthe list, the 17 goals.
Um, you know our space is usedby everybody, every color of the
(22:05):
rainbow, right, so we'rereducing inequalities by the use
of our space.
Um, we make sure that thedancers are healthy.
We're giving them professionaldevelopment, not just in the
training and the performing,that receiving, but like we'll
bring in specialists to to talkabout, like trauma-informed arts
and how we work with thepopulations that we're working
(22:26):
with.
I'm having a conversation withimmigration right now, and what
could we be doing?
There's a lot of people groupsthat recently moved to our city.
Where they came from, dance wasvery much part of their
everyday thing, and now they'rein America.
Could we provide a space forthem to bring that part of
(22:47):
themselves back?
Greg Rotuno (22:48):
oh, I love that.
You know what I mean.
Bill Wade (22:49):
I just think that if you're an alien, you land on any
part of the planet and you lookat human beings there's.
Wherever you land, those peopleare dancing.
Diane Bickett (22:58):
That's the thing, it's just a human thing.
Bill Wade (23:00):
So, like, if you're displaced and you come to this
city and america is a lot,capitalism is like out of
control, um, and like to have aplace in a space where you can.
I mean, this is why joppo doeswhat they do.
This is why the polynesiandancers are in there doing what
they do.
This is why the hip-hop kidsare in there.
You know, hip-hop is 50 yearold art form.
These, you know, these kids needa place to be where they feel
(23:21):
safe and they can just enjoysort of the physicality but also
the mental health and thecommunity engagement.
And you know, so like, as youlook at the quality education,
teaching them how to make it,teaching it, teaching them how
to sell it, teaching them how toserve the community with it.
You know, I'm havingconversations regularly with the
(23:42):
directors of all these otherentities that are in my space
because I'm older at this point,and so they're like well, how
are you?
I'm like, well, you need, okay,you need a capacity building
grant so you can hire a personyou know and it just how can you
help elevate your community?
Um, and and if you're thinkingabout these, I mean there's
plenty of content in these 17goals to focus on learn some
(24:06):
stuff about, talk toprofessionals that are dealing
with that specific one, andcreate art out of that I think
so much.
Diane Bickett (24:13):
Everything that's happening right now with
climate change and loss ofbiodiversity and all that stuff
is so heavy.
Um, I think what you do andwhat others in the arts do is
just help us find a way toexpress our frustration and our
anger, but it also helps releasesome of that too, and you know
(24:37):
what I have a thing about.
Bill Wade (24:40):
Don't put on stage what is Put on stage.
What could be oh, I love that.
Put on stage what could be yeah, is put on stage.
What could be oh, I love it.
Put on stage what could be um,I'm thinking the music industry
60s and 70s.
Some of us grew up with ummotown, like if you go up there
and you go to the house and youtake the tour, that's, that's
what made motown ping, is they?
(25:04):
They wrote in their music andit was very strategic and
intentional hope, wonder, awe, aglimmer of.
You know what I mean, what itcould be I like that not
ignoring what it is.
yeah, and I and I, I don't knowthat's because that that was the
music I grew up with, right,and so going, going there years
(25:25):
and years ago, I was like that'swhat I'm going to do with mine,
yeah.
Diane Bickett (25:31):
You created, um a dance, a piece around, a book
called what is a children's book.
What do you do with an ideawritten by Kobe Yamada?
Bill Wade (25:41):
Yeah, kobe Yamada.
Diane Bickett (25:43):
Beautifully illustrated.
I have a copy here.
Yeah beautifully illustrated.
I have a copy here.
Yeah, maybe some did theillustrations.
Um, you were talking about thebook when I went to the sneak
peek and you said that you werealso working a second.
It was a commission piece,right?
Yes um a second supplement it'sanother book.
Bill Wade (26:01):
In this he has a series of three of those okay,
the second book is what?
What do you do?
The problem?
Diane Bickett (26:06):
yes, yes so what if?
Like, what would?
What is the?
You don't really identify theproblem, or?
The idea in your, in your piece.
But like what if you were to doa piece around an environmental
problem like you know, anendangered species or I don't
(26:28):
know, overpopulation orsomething like?
Bill Wade (26:30):
that Right right, right right.
Diane Bickett (26:31):
How would you take, like ideate that into a
performance?
Bill Wade (26:35):
Yeah.
So the whole human centereddesign thinking process, right?
Is you start with kind ofdefining what is your goal and
then talking to the people whoreally know a lot about that
topic and listen with empathy.
Who are the, the experts?
Who is that topic affectingmost, getting a really
three-dimensional grasp andvantage point on that thing?
(26:55):
Involve their feedback in theprocess.
So we'll go to, we'll, we'll dolike a story circle and we'll
get all this information.
We'll go to our studio andideate and create some little
prototype sketches, movementsketches, like we did at the
sneak peek with the fabric rightfor the you know as as the
metaphor for the storm in thatsecond book, and then we get
(27:17):
feedback, like we did that night, and we take that feedback and
that helps us shape the scenesfurther and further and further.
So, um, you know, what do youdo with?
An idea was commissioned byplayhouse square.
Um, because they he was, youknow, daniel, he's the head of
education came to me and he saidI want really high quality work
.
When I bust these little kidsin thousand at a time to the
(27:39):
mimi theater, what are theylooking at and what is it saying
to them, and can it beawe-inspiring would you be
interested in creating somethinglike that?
And I'm like hell, yeah, yeah,you're paying for it absolutely,
are you?
serious and I felt like a kid ina candy store and then.
But so in the process we tookthree years to develop that book
into the dance theateradaptation, and I'm not
(28:00):
exaggerating.
Hundreds of little kids fromall over cleveland came to the
studio or we came to them and wedid these little workshops,
read them the book, asked themwhat was their favorite part and
why what parts should we spendmore time in in our production?
And they, these little kids,will just tell you they don't
have any kind of adult grid oflike, being polite or whatever,
(28:20):
and they're very clear.
So now that that's been touringnationally, that production
that you just mentioned.
Oh, congratulations, it's beentouring nationally for seven or
eight years.
So, because of the success ofthat, we just landed we're going
to make a big announcementabout this in September but we
just landed a commission fromseven performing arts centers
(28:41):
from all over the country to dothe second book.
What Do you Do With a Problemto do the second book?
What do you do with a problemin light of these issues that
we're all facing globally andnationally and regionally?
You know, um and in our even inour city, in our neighborhoods,
like um, putting out a piecethat kind of just what do you do
with this?
What do you do with the problem?
How do you go about tackling it?
Do you?
Do you tackle it?
(29:02):
You know, I mean, it's veryclear in the book.
I'm so glad that he wrote thebook.
I'm just going to literally putthe book on stage and tell it
through dance, theater and dperry from um npr is going to be
the narrator really yeah, shenarrated what do you do with an
idea?
and she's like, she has thatvoice that like you just wanted
to read to you, um, and firsttime I ever met her I was like,
(29:22):
oh my gosh, I just will you readme a book.
And I'm like this grown adult.
But she has that like a veryrecognizable yeah and I'm like.
She's like a queen in cleveland,right I'm like we gotta have
her voice on the project becauseshe loved it.
So she said yes, so she's gonnado the next one.
So, as soon as we're done withall this performing that we're
doing this summer which is a lot, um, we're gonna.
(29:42):
We're gonna start at the end ofof August working on this new
project.
Diane Bickett (29:46):
When do you think it'll be out?
Bill Wade (29:49):
I have probably 10 months to create the entire
production.
I see, Last time took me threeyears, but because we're in our
own home now and we haveeverything that's under our roof
and I have the same team ofpeople that did that book, all
said yes, like so fast.
It was like so encouraging,because the whole team of people
(30:10):
was like we absolutely want to,you know, be involved in
creating the next book.
We just when you see a thousandlittle little kids stand up at
the end of the production beforethe adults, do you know you're,
you're hitting it's hitting youknow.
So that's.
Diane Bickett (30:25):
That's going to be fun to work on well, I
haven't seen the performance,but I do like the book because,
like I said, it's beautifullyillustrated.
But it's a little boy and thishe comes up with this idea and
he follows him around, followshim around and won't.
He won't let it go, even thoughhe's not sure if it's a good
idea.
He doesn't tell anybody, hekeeps it a secret.
And finally this idea comes tolife and it turns out to be big
(30:47):
and great.
We don't know what the ideaever was like we probably won't
know what the problem is, but itcan
Bill Wade (30:52):
be applied to yes, anything, and I.
That's why I was like thesebooks are amazing, because he
doesn't get specific, becauseyou, as you read it, you
immediately you fill in theblanks yourself right and and
that, and they're gorgeous booksand they're really not for
children.
Diane Bickett (31:09):
Yeah, I fill in the blanks.
Bill Wade (31:11):
I've gotten to meet Kobe and they use that book.
What Do you Do With an Idea?
They also use the other book.
What Do you Do With a Problem?
And there's a third book.
What Do you Do With a Chance?
Diane Bickett (31:29):
He uses them in the IT sector in Northern
California, like with likecorporate execs and stuff, these
books um.
Bill Wade (31:31):
So I was like I love an all-age pixar moment, like
let's do this, you know, solet's create let's make some
stuff.
Diane Bickett (31:33):
Well, good luck with that project thanks.
Yeah, it's a little daunting umbefore we wrap up here, do you
want to talk about your canepark coming up?
Yeah, so we have um.
Bill Wade (31:42):
Cane park is coming up um.
It's our 24th annual concert atkane park.
It's on saturday night um july26th, okay it starts at 8 pm.
We do have a um.
There's a lot of people like togo to this.
We have a pre-show twilightreception.
It's like a fundraiser thing tohelp pay for everything we just
did over the summer.
Um, and that's twilightreceptions at 6 30 um and it's
(32:08):
up in the colonnade at the topof kane park and it's you know,
there's like champagne and noshand um.
They get to hear an insiderstory about what they're about
to witness happen for the firsttime, because half the concert
is premieres of brand new works.
I use the summer months to givemy company dancers an
opportunity to be work on theircraft as emerging choreographers
(32:29):
.
So, like on monday or tuesday,tuesday of next week I'm going
to sit and look at what they'vebeen developing and they're all
like I need to talk to you, Iwant you to look at my work and
I help me develop this and um,so that mentoring thing right is
is huge for me.
That's like my one crayon, um.
So I'm to draw a world with it,help them develop their skills
(32:51):
as emerging choreographers, andthey're going to premiere new
work set on the dancers from theInlet Training and Apprentice
Program, the pre-professionalprogram and the students from
our Summer Dance Intensive, andall of them will be on stage
together at Kane Park.
Diane Bickett (33:04):
I'm going to get tickets.
That sounds really it's free,it's free well, I got to come
for the nosh and the champagnewell, that's there's a.
Bill Wade (33:11):
There's a price point for that.
There's a price point for that.
That's a.
It's a fun event.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's reallybeautiful I will.
Diane Bickett (33:17):
I will pay for that.
Yeah, cool.
So, um, is there anything elseyou want to add anything we
didn't touch on?
Before we move to, I just havea couple things for our tip time
no, I think.
Bill Wade (33:27):
I think it's just.
Dance affords people to look atthings that may be familiar
from a completely new lens.
We do workshops in our studio,for example, for corporate
people who their team like teambuilding exercises or or um just
kind of affirm their creativityand their innovation, because a
lot of people like I oh, I'mnot creative, and by the end of
(33:49):
it they're like this is so fun,I never realized I was so
creative, and I think thatthere's not enough of that
sharing happening and I'm doingeverything I can to make that
more accessible to people andonce you make the work, I mean
that brings people together,makes them happy.
It builds community Exactly, itchanges the mood.
It's connected to these verygood.
Diane Bickett (34:11):
Yeah, well, a couple things from tip time for
me.
I've got um.
First of all, by the books.
What do you do with an idea andwhat do I do with the problem?
No, what do you do with theproblem?
By kobe Yamada.
And then I just wanted to shoutout Andrea Villalon with the
Lavender Project.
So, back at the beginning whenwe started talking.
(34:33):
I talked about how sheintroduced us, but she's got a
cool project of her own.
Bill Wade (34:39):
Yes, she does.
Diane Bickett (34:40):
She's the founder of the Lavender Project, which
is a social enterprise based inrural Mexico.
They're growing lavender tocreate jobs and to support and
empower women and their families, and to foster sustainable
agriculture and production.
The lavender that's grown ismade into these beautiful soaps
that you can buy online andthrough local farmers or farmers
(35:04):
markets here this summer, Ithink.
So we'll put a link there inour show notes and thank you,
andrea, for introducing me tomodern dance and the Inlet Dance
Theater.
Thank you, bill Wade.
Bill Wade (35:14):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
This has been fun Cool.
Greg Rotuno (35:18):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of EcoSpeak
CLE.
You can find our full catalogof episodes on Spotify, apple
Podcasts or wherever you getyour podcasts.
New episodes are available thefirst and third Tuesday of each
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Please follow EcoSpeak CLE onFacebook and Instagram and
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(35:39):
you'd like to become a sponsorof EcoSpeak CLE, you can email
us at hello at EcoSpeakCLEcom.
Stay tuned for more importantand inspiring stories to come.
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for
the eco curious in NortheastOhio.
My name is Diane Bickett and myproducer is Greg Rotuno.
Together we speak with localsustainability leaders and
invite you to connect, learn andlive with our community and
planet in mind.
Hello friends, Today we havesomething a little different for
(00:24):
you.
We're going to be exploring howthe arts, and more specifically
modern dance, can help elevatesustainability in exciting and
creative ways.
The idea for this episode camefrom a new friend of mine,
Andrea Villalon, who I metthrough our EcoMeetCLE events,
and those are our in-personmeetup events.
She came to our last one a fewmonths ago and was excited to
(00:48):
tell me about this local moderndance company that she's
involved with.
Their mission and programmingaligns with the United Nations
17 global goals for sustainabledevelopment and is contributing
to making Cleveland a moresustainable city.
Well, they got me reallycurious about how dance and
sustainability play together.
So one thing led to another.
(01:09):
Andrea invited me to a fewperformances and then introduced
me to our guest today, BillWade.
Bill is the founder andexecutive artistic director of
Inlet Dance Theater, a nonprofitmodern dance company in
Cleveland which is coming up onits 25th season.
This has been a greatexperience for me to learn more
(01:30):
about modern dance, which Ireally don't know anything about
, and this wonderful creativedance company which is deeply
rooted in Cleveland and usesdance to further people.
Welcome, Bill.
Bill Wade (01:41):
Thank you, that was very well done.
Diane Bickett (01:48):
Thank you.
So you're located in the PivotCenter for Art, Dance and
Expression on West 25th Streetin Cleveland.
Your studio is called theEstuary and your company is
called Inlet Dance Theater, soyou have some water and nature
themes going on, absolutely.
Tell us about that, tell usabout your company, and what's
(02:09):
what inspired the nature themes.
Let's start there.
Bill Wade (02:12):
Well, so I was born on Ohio State University campus
and then I grew up all over thecountry from like Lancaster,
pennsylvania, st Louis, all theway out to Southern California,
which had a huge impact on me asa kid.
It was my favorite place tolive Southern Cali.
We lived down by Laguna Beachin Mission Viejo.
Diane Bickett (02:33):
That doesn't suck .
Bill Wade (02:34):
Yeah, it was pretty awesome, especially back in the
70s.
Oh, yeah, it was gorgeous andI've always been like an animal
lover in nature.
But I grew up drawing andpainting and doing sculpture and
a lot of that stuff was outjust naturally.
Nature themed because I'm likenature is the best artwork ever
you know.
(02:54):
So then in college I foundmodern dance, um kind of on an
accident, I went to college tobe an animator, to do animation
and because I wanted artworkthat moved right and I had a lot
of music training and as a kid,um, music lessons and
everything and I ended up beingtrained by some world-class
(03:14):
people right away wow and inthree years um I long story
short.
I moved to cleveland in 1984 andI danced with al Alice
Rubinstein's Footpath DanceCompany, which at that time was
Ohio's leading professionalmodern dance company, and a lot
of her work was also kind ofembedded in the community and
community engagement andnature-themed work, so it just
(03:37):
was a good fit for me.
In the 90s I spent time as anartist-in-residence at Cleveland
School of the Arts.
I was asked to do two weeks ofmaster classes, fell in love
with the kids.
I was there for 11 years, endedup at the White House, got a
big award from the NEA and itwas awkward.
Diane Bickett (03:54):
What were you doing at the White House getting
the award?
Bill Wade (03:57):
Yeah, I was getting an award.
I had to wear a jacket and atie.
That's pretty it was awful, butthe work that I did, um, really
opened my eyes to the inequities, because these are, you know,
inner ring urban kids, cleanschool, the arts part of cmsd,
and I just fell in love withthese kids.
The talent is everywhere.
Access to develop, todeveloping that talent, is not
(04:19):
everywhere and it kind of lit ayou, you know something in me.
So in 2001, as sort of anoutflow of my work at Cleveland
School of the Arts, sending kidsto Juilliard and other places
and watching them thrive allover, the world.
Diane Bickett (04:36):
Wow, that's amazing.
Bill Wade (04:37):
Yeah, I mean the talent's there.
They just needed the realtraining that I had to give to
them.
Nice.
So I started Inlet because Irealized that, you know, I grew
up, coming up was rough, okay.
So, um, dance was the thing forme when I dove in.
Um, no compromise, just gopulled me away from a lot of the
(04:59):
toxicity and trauma that I Igrew up with.
Um, and then I got a cleanschool of the arts and I'm like,
oh, oh, I can pay this forward.
This is awesome.
So that paying it forward issort of like the, the thing that
drives in my dance theater,right.
So I started that in 2001.
And, um, like you said we have.
We started 25th anniversaryseason in September, which is
(05:21):
kind of weird, um, cause thatwas fast, was fast.
But we now tour nationally.
I'm doing work internationally.
Diane Bickett (05:28):
Wow, that's amazing.
Bill Wade (05:29):
Yeah, it's been a ride right, but just the idea of
the words inlet, inlet is apassageway, a way of letting
people really into my field.
Letting people really into myfield and I see that the
transformative properties ofdance or like work something I
(05:50):
experienced Right, so I'm like Iget it and so I'm, I'm, I'm one
of those kids so, but I'm justmuch older now and so paying
that forward and helpingwatching lives transform is is
what it's all about.
Whether that's some performingor education programming, I
don't see those two things asseparate.
They're really the same thing.
They're just like this ballthat keeps getting bigger there
you go.
(06:10):
I like that yeah and I because,yeah, back in the 80s I, you
know, I worked for not justfootpath but a couple of other
companies and it was very clearto me, ballet companies, modern
dance companies um, they wereusing their education, education
, outreach to fund their dancemaking and I that I don't know
that hit me wrong.
Um, I was, like I'm not goingto use kids to justify my art,
(06:32):
like there's something awkwardabout this, like why don't we
share and scale down what we'redoing with kids and transform
their lives with it instead?
So that's been a theme,obviously, in inlet dance
theater.
So just this, this idea ofgoing into water ankle deep and
then knee deep, and then themore you study, the more you
learn, the more it lifts you,and then just that imagery has
(06:56):
always stuck with me.
Diane Bickett (06:57):
That's a great analogy.
I have a quote here.
I don't know if I got it fromyour website or when we talked
earlier.
I don't know if I got it fromyour website or when we talked
earlier, but the dance world isan ecosystem to nurture and grow
the next generation of artists.
Like estuaries are places forraising the young and mentoring.
Bill Wade (07:15):
Exactly, and that's why we call our space the
estuary, because during COVID alot of people shut down.
We were doing a national tourwhen COVID hit and I came back
to Cleveland.
The dancers gave, gave themtime off and we transformed the
space that is now our home atthe pivot center.
Diane Bickett (07:35):
It's beautiful.
Bill Wade (07:35):
It's so what a blessing.
Diane Bickett (07:37):
So light and airy .
Bill Wade (07:39):
It's so, it's gorgeous, it's some of the
nicest dance studios in the cityand I'm incredibly grateful.
I mean, I've been at it for 40some odd years at this point.
So I'm like, okay, it's time tohave my own spot and instead of
being nomadic because thecompany was nomadic for 20 years
and during covid, we renovatedthis space.
I worked a lot with thebuilding owner and the
architects and I designed aspace that was intentionally
(08:02):
open, light-filled, airy, asharing space.
I didn't want a theater becausethere's just a lot of perceived
barriers with that and I, youknow, I like to work with real
folks and like give them anaccess point, right.
So our space has become the homefor, like, joppo cultural arts
institute, which is cleveland'swest african dance company.
(08:22):
It's the home for pacificparadise, which is a polynesian
dance company.
It it's the home for Pacificparadise, which is a Polynesian
dance company.
It's 10 K teaches class there.
That's a hip hop organization.
So my space almost immediately,and I never put a shingle out
like, hey, come rent our space.
It was because I've been herefor so long and I've trained so
many people over the years andwork with so many different
(08:43):
pockets of neighborhoods andstuff.
Greg Rotuno (08:50):
Um which it's?
Bill Wade (08:50):
full of dance seven days a week.
And, um, I was like we, yeah,we need to.
We need to name this spacesomething that's a little bit
more neutral than, like, thehome of inlet dance theater,
right it's like it's not just myhouse.
Um, I have a nice big house Iwant to share with all my
friends.
Right, very cool, um, so that'skind of how all of that
happened, and an estuary is aninlet, but I love the metaphor,
like what you just read from thewebsite.
Yeah well, it was your quote Ihad help writing that trust me
(09:15):
um, where so?
Diane Bickett (09:17):
how?
How big is your company?
Where do you perform?
You mentioned some locations,nationally and internationally
you want to name some places butin cleveland, specifically
cleveland specifically right.
Bill Wade (09:26):
So um I'm I'm proud that I'm playhouse square, which
is the second largestperforming arts center in the
country.
Um is a client of mine um,that's an honor we do.
It's such a blessing we, we, wedo a lot with playhouse square,
cleveland public theater.
We perform there every year forfor dance works.
You went to DanceWorks.
Diane Bickett (09:45):
I did.
Bill Wade (09:46):
And Kane Park.
We're about to do our 24thperformance at Kane Park in
Cleveland Heights.
I love that spot and we've beendoing Tremont every year for
many, many summers at Tremont's,lincoln Park.
We're not doing it this summerbecause they lost their funding.
So we're doing some otherthings.
Yeah.
So there's that.
That's happening everywhere andwe also do a lot of education
(10:09):
programming all over the city,not only at our own space,
obviously, where people cometake classes or whatever, but
there's two schools right aroundthe corner.
One's down the street LuisMunoz Marin is one of the CMSD
school.
It's pre-k to eighth grade, andthen around the corner is is um
scranton school and we doresidency work with both these
(10:31):
schools every year and get thekids in the studio and then we
go over there and, um, you know,we we kind of tailor what the
programming is based onconversations with you know the
principals.
Side note, the principal samuelat luisunoz Marin.
When he was young he was aballet dancer in New York City.
Diane Bickett (10:51):
Wow, the great big Puerto.
Bill Wade (10:52):
Rican dude and I could tell he was good too, so
the day we met we just clicked.
Dancers are like a people group, no matter where you go on the
planet, it's like we have asimilar thing yeah, well, you're
opening up this whole new worldto me.
Diane Bickett (11:08):
I didn't know any of those names of any of those
dance companies that you justmentioned.
So yeah, yeah check them outand I was able to go to your
sneak peak event at the estuaryall right uh, earlier in april,
I think yeah, yeah and um justmet you, know your, your people.
It's like man, I feel so goodyou know your, your people.
It's like man, I feel so good.
You know, when I left, I washappy smiling.
Greg Rotuno (11:29):
It's just like it's a very positive experience.
You have good people for sure.
Diane Bickett (11:34):
So you do your own.
Um, so when you put together adance performance, you do your
own choreography.
Bill Wade (11:39):
I'm the choreographer .
Diane Bickett (11:40):
Yeah, okay.
Bill Wade (11:41):
Yeah, but I choreographed collaboratively,
collaboratively.
I love that saying um, none ofus is as smart as all of us, and
that is so true saying and um,you know, I'm at that age older
where you know I receivecommissions to create work and
um, I also we employhuman-centered design thinking
(12:02):
so that you have the end user inmind when you start the project
.
And we have many differentprojects that have different
sort of pockets of town orpeople, groups that we're
focusing on or topics that we'refocusing on, and we get people
involved in the in right away.
So when I'm creating a new work, if it's connected to a
specific population, they'reinvolved in the creative process
(12:23):
.
And then I I'm a choreographerwho pulls the movement out of
the dancers that I work with.
I was just in houston workingwith somebody else's dancer, so
there's a dance company downthere and I walked in and I I
know the guy.
He's like my older brother,practically we've known each
other for many, many decades andum, my process in that kind of
work is really different thanhis and I said you guys are just
(12:46):
going to be really, reallyopen-minded dancers, just follow
my lead.
And I pulled a 25-minuteexperience out of them that was
placed into a high-end artgallery because it was an
exhibition from a Danish painterthat came over and I got to
meet him and talk about hisprocess, and then I mimicked his
process with the dance makingprocess in the studio and his
(13:07):
dancers were like we have neverdone anything like this before
how do you do that?
Diane Bickett (13:10):
how do you pull a dance out of, out of?
Bill Wade (13:15):
I don't know.
For me it's like really easy.
You just watch them move.
You're like, okay, do do thatagain, but do this like I had to
do.
The first day and a half waslike some foundation laying Okay
, because our company like we.
I had a dude at CPT dance workscome up to me one year at
intermission.
He's like are you thechoreographer and the director?
I was like yeah, and I'm likeyou good.
And he's like I'm having ablast.
My wife dragged me to this.
(13:35):
I'm not going to lie, but gotmarried and had a child and I'm
watching the child perform andI'm like that's a really good
analogy because we climb on eachother, we throw each other
through the air.
It's the work is really, reallyathletic it is and um and I love
that analogy but that you know,those dancers down there come
(13:56):
from the whole post-ballet worldand they're beautiful and
they've got legs and spins andall kinds of things that they do
and I was like you're gonnaclimb on each other and I'm
gonna teach you how to do thatand just follow my lead.
And then I taught them how tosee the imagery, the way that I
see the imagery, because thisI'm embedded in the midwest for
many, many, many reasons cost isone of the biggest ones, but
(14:17):
also, like I love it here, um,and my family roots are in ohio
and um, it was fun for me toopen their eyes to this whole
new way of thinking aboutchoreography and moving their
bodies and working with eachother and they became like this,
really tight, and they werelike this when I walked in, a
tight-knit family, but like thedynamic of the trust that they
have for each other now is in acompletely different level and
(14:41):
I've been talking to theirchoreographer, their director,
since being there and he's likeman, you helped me so much with,
yeah, with how, how things flowin the studio wow, what I
thought was cool, what I went tosee your you perform, your
group perform at dance workswhich was at cleveland public
theater.
Diane Bickett (14:58):
Um, there were, I think, six different, what do
you call just dances?
Pieces, yeah, pieces um but yougave an introduction to each
one so that helped me understandwhat I was looking at.
That thought that was superhelpful thank you.
Bill Wade (15:13):
You talk about how they all, we all, came together
sort of learned to do that overthe years, because we work
really hard on the like, theprogram, the play build people
have, but if they don't read itI'm like, well, that's
frustrating, that's frustrating,it's really.
I'm not a writer.
Diane Bickett (15:25):
Much more interesting to see the person
who created it.
Yeah.
Bill Wade (15:29):
So we, we, we just we've been doing this for a few
years now and we get a lot offeedback, like you just said.
So our feedback is so importantin our process, right, and
we're like, okay, let's continuethat.
How might we upgrade it?
Um, and because I really wantpeople to feel engaged and that
they're a part of what'shappening, so just giving like a
(15:50):
90-second or a two-minute video.
You hear from the choreographer, you hear from, perhaps, the
musician, you hear from thedancers and the roles that
they're learning or helping todevelop for the piece, and then
you watch the piece.
It just gives you this likeon-ramp into the freeway of this
pretty abstract art.
And not everybody less and lessnow, because what's going on in
(16:14):
the schools in America and inDC with the arts in general?
Less and less people are artliterate.
So what can I do?
That's an opportunity for meright.
So let me help people kind ofunderstand this stuff.
Can I do?
That's an opportunity for me,right.
So let me help people kind ofunderstand this stuff.
So creating those short filmsin between things we have found
to really help people understandwhat they're looking at well,
(16:35):
the one I think I like the bestwas red tape, which, yeah, that
turned out to be an audiencefavorite that night really.
Yeah, we've got a lot offeedback about it can you
describe what that is?
well, yeah, so I made thisbecause of my painting
background.
I'm really exploring, liketaking my previous dance life
and, now that I'm much older, mydance life and combining the
(16:56):
two together.
And so we have this hugemonolithic black on black
painting on the stage, and whenthe lights come up, the dancer
looks like she comes out of thepainting and she's dancing in
response to the art that'shaving an impact on her.
And then these faceless,nameless, literally suits come
out and basically like okay, youcan continue this, but we're
(17:20):
going to lay this red tape onthe floor in this.
Here's the parameters thatyou're allowed to do this inside
of.
And of course, that starts toshrink and shrink, and shrink
and shrink and pretty soonthey've like taped her to the
painting to the wall.
Yeah, and then there's anotherscene where it's like
marionettes, they, they, theylowered, like what looks like
nooses, but then she puts themon, they put them on her hands
(17:42):
and her wrists and then they dothis trio with the two
puppeteers at the top, withthese long things attached to
her, and they do this trio.
It's like the dance inside of adance, like shakespeare play
inside of a play, and, um, it'sexamining like how might we
create together givendiminishing resources?
(18:03):
Can we listen to each other andcreate together the suits and
the artists?
Because there's a bit of adivide there and a lot of
artists are really, reallybusiness averse when it comes to
their art.
As soon as you want to monetizeyour work, you're going to have
to deal with the fact that youare no longer the artist.
You are also now a businessperson and whether we like it or
(18:25):
not and I I went through thismyself years ago as a
choreographer I was like youknow what, If I want to bless
more than just my own community,I have to learn this stuff and
examining-.
Diane Bickett (18:38):
That's not the fun stuff, but it's got to be
done.
Bill Wade (18:40):
It's not but it can be.
So that's kind of where thepiece goes.
And then they, you know, theytry to taper her to it again and
she ends up climbing up the redtape literally and sitting at
the top and wearing it as aseatbelt and dances on top of
this painting Because, basically, you're not going to stop
making when you're a maker, whenyou're born with this stuff,
(19:01):
you know.
Greg Rotuno (19:03):
Yeah.
Bill Wade (19:03):
Using that stuff as a way to elevate literally in the
space.
Diane Bickett (19:07):
It's pretty literal what was beautiful to
watch and you explained itreally well.
Listening got a picture of thatso I want to touch on
sustainability, many guidingthemes that you have through
your company um, such as socialjustice, the environment, urban,
youth.
Bill Wade (19:26):
We've touched on a bit so far, right, right, right.
Diane Bickett (19:30):
Can we talk specifically about how you've
aligned your mission with the UNglobal goals for sustainable
development?
And I'm just going to read afew that were on some of your
promo pieces here.
Those are goal number threegood health and well-being.
Number four quality education.
Goal number eight decent workand economic growth.
Goal number 10, reducinginequalities.
(19:53):
And 11, sustainable cities andcommunities.
How does that play into thework you're creating, both with
your dance and also kind of howyou're serving the community
Right?
Bill Wade (20:05):
right, right, right, right, right.
Well, a lot of our communityengagement sort of education
programming focuses on the actsof creating, performing,
responding and connecting right.
So, um, when we create andperform dances connected to the
themes of sustainability orsocial justice, like from the
list, um, we can provideopportunities for the community
(20:26):
to engage and respond to thecontent and the form of the work
, like red tape, for exampleright and this and the dialogue
that happens as a result ofwatching something that that
feels meaningful.
But you gotta, you know, have aconversation with somebody to
kind of unpack what you got outof that.
Um, and we, we use the art tocreate conversations and
dialogue like when you went to asneak peek.
(20:47):
It's about like, here's behindthe scenes, as we're making some
things, we're about to do asneak peek on Friday, the 11th
of July, in our space, showingpeople a glimpse of what's being
created that will premiere atKane Park, for example.
Diane Bickett (21:01):
Okay cool.
Bill Wade (21:01):
So it's this opportunity for people to look
through and and how we're goingabout building it, asking
questions.
We use critical responseprocess.
It's a method of gettingfeedback that's actually gets
the artists excited to get backin the studio the next day.
And then the people want to.
Now, they want to come see theconcert because they had this
meaningful dialogue.
(21:22):
But I just think that, given thestate of things in the world
right now, creating work that isanchored on the conversations
that we're all having about youknow health, whether it's
physical health or healthcare ormental health, and, like you
know, I watch people leave ourstudio.
(21:44):
You said it earlier, leavingthe studio, big smile, feeling
so much better than the, youknow the day or the week that
you just had.
Um, those types of.
You know these.
You know these alignments withthe list, the 17 goals.
Um, you know our space is usedby everybody, every color of the
(22:05):
rainbow, right, so we'rereducing inequalities by the use
of our space.
Um, we make sure that thedancers are healthy.
We're giving them professionaldevelopment, not just in the
training and the performing,that receiving, but like we'll
bring in specialists to to talkabout, like trauma-informed arts
and how we work with thepopulations that we're working
(22:26):
with.
I'm having a conversation withimmigration right now, and what
could we be doing?
There's a lot of people groupsthat recently moved to our city.
Where they came from, dance wasvery much part of their
everyday thing, and now they'rein America.
Could we provide a space forthem to bring that part of
(22:47):
themselves back?
Greg Rotuno (22:48):
oh, I love that.
You know what I mean.
Bill Wade (22:49):
I just think that if you're an alien, you land on any
part of the planet and you lookat human beings there's.
Wherever you land, those peopleare dancing.
Diane Bickett (22:58):
That's the thing, it's just a human thing.
Bill Wade (23:00):
So, like, if you're displaced and you come to this
city and america is a lot,capitalism is like out of
control, um, and like to have aplace in a space where you can.
I mean, this is why joppo doeswhat they do.
This is why the polynesiandancers are in there doing what
they do.
This is why the hip-hop kidsare in there.
You know, hip-hop is 50 yearold art form.
These, you know, these kids needa place to be where they feel
(23:21):
safe and they can just enjoysort of the physicality but also
the mental health and thecommunity engagement.
And you know, so like, as youlook at the quality education,
teaching them how to make it,teaching it, teaching them how
to sell it, teaching them how toserve the community with it.
You know, I'm havingconversations regularly with the
(23:42):
directors of all these otherentities that are in my space
because I'm older at this point,and so they're like well, how
are you?
I'm like, well, you need, okay,you need a capacity building
grant so you can hire a personyou know and it just how can you
help elevate your community?
Um, and and if you're thinkingabout these, I mean there's
plenty of content in these 17goals to focus on learn some
(24:06):
stuff about, talk toprofessionals that are dealing
with that specific one, andcreate art out of that I think
so much.
Diane Bickett (24:13):
Everything that's happening right now with
climate change and loss ofbiodiversity and all that stuff
is so heavy.
Um, I think what you do andwhat others in the arts do is
just help us find a way toexpress our frustration and our
anger, but it also helps releasesome of that too, and you know
(24:37):
what I have a thing about.
Bill Wade (24:40):
Don't put on stage what is Put on stage.
What could be oh, I love that.
Put on stage what could be yeah, is put on stage.
What could be oh, I love it.
Put on stage what could be um,I'm thinking the music industry
60s and 70s.
Some of us grew up with ummotown, like if you go up there
and you go to the house and youtake the tour, that's, that's
what made motown ping, is they?
(25:04):
They wrote in their music andit was very strategic and
intentional hope, wonder, awe, aglimmer of.
You know what I mean, what itcould be I like that not
ignoring what it is.
yeah, and I and I, I don't knowthat's because that that was the
music I grew up with, right,and so going, going there years
(25:25):
and years ago, I was like that'swhat I'm going to do with mine,
yeah.
Diane Bickett (25:31):
You created, um a dance, a piece around, a book
called what is a children's book.
What do you do with an ideawritten by Kobe Yamada?
Bill Wade (25:41):
Yeah, kobe Yamada.
Diane Bickett (25:43):
Beautifully illustrated.
I have a copy here.
Yeah beautifully illustrated.
I have a copy here.
Yeah, maybe some did theillustrations.
Um, you were talking about thebook when I went to the sneak
peek and you said that you werealso working a second.
It was a commission piece,right?
Yes um a second supplement it'sanother book.
Bill Wade (26:01):
In this he has a series of three of those okay,
the second book is what?
What do you do?
The problem?
Diane Bickett (26:06):
yes, yes so what if?
Like, what would?
What is the?
You don't really identify theproblem, or?
The idea in your, in your piece.
But like what if you were to doa piece around an environmental
problem like you know, anendangered species or I don't
(26:28):
know, overpopulation orsomething like?
Bill Wade (26:30):
that Right right, right right.
Diane Bickett (26:31):
How would you take, like ideate that into a
performance?
Bill Wade (26:35):
Yeah.
So the whole human centereddesign thinking process, right?
Is you start with kind ofdefining what is your goal and
then talking to the people whoreally know a lot about that
topic and listen with empathy.
Who are the, the experts?
Who is that topic affectingmost, getting a really
three-dimensional grasp andvantage point on that thing?
(26:55):
Involve their feedback in theprocess.
So we'll go to, we'll, we'll dolike a story circle and we'll
get all this information.
We'll go to our studio andideate and create some little
prototype sketches, movementsketches, like we did at the
sneak peek with the fabric rightfor the you know as as the
metaphor for the storm in thatsecond book, and then we get
(27:17):
feedback, like we did that night, and we take that feedback and
that helps us shape the scenesfurther and further and further.
So, um, you know, what do youdo with?
An idea was commissioned byplayhouse square.
Um, because they he was, youknow, daniel, he's the head of
education came to me and he saidI want really high quality work
.
When I bust these little kidsin thousand at a time to the
(27:39):
mimi theater, what are theylooking at and what is it saying
to them, and can it beawe-inspiring would you be
interested in creating somethinglike that?
And I'm like hell, yeah, yeah,you're paying for it absolutely,
are you?
serious and I felt like a kid ina candy store and then.
But so in the process we tookthree years to develop that book
into the dance theateradaptation, and I'm not
(28:00):
exaggerating.
Hundreds of little kids fromall over cleveland came to the
studio or we came to them and wedid these little workshops,
read them the book, asked themwhat was their favorite part and
why what parts should we spendmore time in in our production?
And they, these little kids,will just tell you they don't
have any kind of adult grid oflike, being polite or whatever,
(28:20):
and they're very clear.
So now that that's been touringnationally, that production
that you just mentioned.
Oh, congratulations, it's beentouring nationally for seven or
eight years.
So, because of the success ofthat, we just landed we're going
to make a big announcementabout this in September but we
just landed a commission fromseven performing arts centers
(28:41):
from all over the country to dothe second book.
What Do you Do With a Problemto do the second book?
What do you do with a problemin light of these issues that
we're all facing globally andnationally and regionally?
You know, um and in our even inour city, in our neighborhoods,
like um, putting out a piecethat kind of just what do you do
with this?
What do you do with the problem?
How do you go about tackling it?
Do you?
Do you tackle it?
(29:02):
You know, I mean, it's veryclear in the book.
I'm so glad that he wrote thebook.
I'm just going to literally putthe book on stage and tell it
through dance, theater and dperry from um npr is going to be
the narrator really yeah, shenarrated what do you do with an
idea?
and she's like, she has thatvoice that like you just wanted
to read to you, um, and firsttime I ever met her I was like,
(29:22):
oh my gosh, I just will you readme a book.
And I'm like this grown adult.
But she has that like a veryrecognizable yeah and I'm like.
She's like a queen in cleveland,right I'm like we gotta have
her voice on the project becauseshe loved it.
So she said yes, so she's gonnado the next one.
So, as soon as we're done withall this performing that we're
doing this summer which is a lot, um, we're gonna.
(29:42):
We're gonna start at the end ofof August working on this new
project.
Diane Bickett (29:46):
When do you think it'll be out?
Bill Wade (29:49):
I have probably 10 months to create the entire
production.
I see, Last time took me threeyears, but because we're in our
own home now and we haveeverything that's under our roof
and I have the same team ofpeople that did that book, all
said yes, like so fast.
It was like so encouraging,because the whole team of people
(30:10):
was like we absolutely want to,you know, be involved in
creating the next book.
We just when you see a thousandlittle little kids stand up at
the end of the production beforethe adults, do you know you're,
you're hitting it's hitting youknow.
So that's.
Diane Bickett (30:25):
That's going to be fun to work on well, I
haven't seen the performance,but I do like the book because,
like I said, it's beautifullyillustrated.
But it's a little boy and thishe comes up with this idea and
he follows him around, followshim around and won't.
He won't let it go, even thoughhe's not sure if it's a good
idea.
He doesn't tell anybody, hekeeps it a secret.
And finally this idea comes tolife and it turns out to be big
(30:47):
and great.
We don't know what the ideaever was like we probably won't
know what the problem is, but itcan
Bill Wade (30:52):
be applied to yes, anything, and I.
That's why I was like thesebooks are amazing, because he
doesn't get specific, becauseyou, as you read it, you
immediately you fill in theblanks yourself right and and
that, and they're gorgeous booksand they're really not for
children.
Diane Bickett (31:09):
Yeah, I fill in the blanks.
Bill Wade (31:11):
I've gotten to meet Kobe and they use that book.
What Do you Do With an Idea?
They also use the other book.
What Do you Do With a Problem?
And there's a third book.
What Do you Do With a Chance?
Diane Bickett (31:29):
He uses them in the IT sector in Northern
California, like with likecorporate execs and stuff, these
books um.
Bill Wade (31:31):
So I was like I love an all-age pixar moment, like
let's do this, you know, solet's create let's make some
stuff.
Diane Bickett (31:33):
Well, good luck with that project thanks.
Yeah, it's a little daunting umbefore we wrap up here, do you
want to talk about your canepark coming up?
Yeah, so we have um.
Bill Wade (31:42):
Cane park is coming up um.
It's our 24th annual concert atkane park.
It's on saturday night um july26th, okay it starts at 8 pm.
We do have a um.
There's a lot of people like togo to this.
We have a pre-show twilightreception.
It's like a fundraiser thing tohelp pay for everything we just
did over the summer.
Um, and that's twilightreceptions at 6 30 um and it's
(32:08):
up in the colonnade at the topof kane park and it's you know,
there's like champagne and noshand um.
They get to hear an insiderstory about what they're about
to witness happen for the firsttime, because half the concert
is premieres of brand new works.
I use the summer months to givemy company dancers an
opportunity to be work on theircraft as emerging choreographers
(32:29):
.
So, like on monday or tuesday,tuesday of next week I'm going
to sit and look at what they'vebeen developing and they're all
like I need to talk to you, Iwant you to look at my work and
I help me develop this and um,so that mentoring thing right is
is huge for me.
That's like my one crayon, um.
So I'm to draw a world with it,help them develop their skills
(32:51):
as emerging choreographers, andthey're going to premiere new
work set on the dancers from theInlet Training and Apprentice
Program, the pre-professionalprogram and the students from
our Summer Dance Intensive, andall of them will be on stage
together at Kane Park.
Diane Bickett (33:04):
I'm going to get tickets.
That sounds really it's free,it's free well, I got to come
for the nosh and the champagnewell, that's there's a.
Bill Wade (33:11):
There's a price point for that.
There's a price point for that.
That's a.
It's a fun event.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's reallybeautiful I will.
Diane Bickett (33:17):
I will pay for that.
Yeah, cool.
So, um, is there anything elseyou want to add anything we
didn't touch on?
Before we move to, I just havea couple things for our tip time
no, I think.
Bill Wade (33:27):
I think it's just.
Dance affords people to look atthings that may be familiar
from a completely new lens.
We do workshops in our studio,for example, for corporate
people who their team like teambuilding exercises or or um just
kind of affirm their creativityand their innovation, because a
lot of people like I oh, I'mnot creative, and by the end of
(33:49):
it they're like this is so fun,I never realized I was so
creative, and I think thatthere's not enough of that
sharing happening and I'm doingeverything I can to make that
more accessible to people andonce you make the work, I mean
that brings people together,makes them happy.
It builds community Exactly, itchanges the mood.
It's connected to these verygood.
Diane Bickett (34:11):
Yeah, well, a couple things from tip time for
me.
I've got um.
First of all, by the books.
What do you do with an idea andwhat do I do with the problem?
No, what do you do with theproblem?
By kobe Yamada.
And then I just wanted to shoutout Andrea Villalon with the
Lavender Project.
So, back at the beginning whenwe started talking.
(34:33):
I talked about how sheintroduced us, but she's got a
cool project of her own.
Bill Wade (34:39):
Yes, she does.
Diane Bickett (34:40):
She's the founder of the Lavender Project, which
is a social enterprise based inrural Mexico.
They're growing lavender tocreate jobs and to support and
empower women and their families, and to foster sustainable
agriculture and production.
The lavender that's grown ismade into these beautiful soaps
that you can buy online andthrough local farmers or farmers
(35:04):
markets here this summer, Ithink.
So we'll put a link there inour show notes and thank you,
andrea, for introducing me tomodern dance and the Inlet Dance
Theater.
Thank you, bill Wade.
Bill Wade (35:14):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
This has been fun Cool.
Greg Rotuno (35:18):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of EcoSpeak
CLE.
You can find our full catalogof episodes on Spotify, apple
Podcasts or wherever you getyour podcasts.
New episodes are available thefirst and third Tuesday of each
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(35:39):
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