Dancer and choreographer Hannah Dennison
Photo: Emily Boedecker

Celebrated Vermont choreographer Hannah Dennison has, for over 35 years, created and produced numerous dance pieces for stage and selected sites in Vermont, as well as founding a nonprofit arts and educational organization, Cradle to Grave Arts, in 1991. Now 67 years old, the Chelsea resident shows no evidence of slowing down and continues to initiate new projects, such as Threads and Thresholds, which was performed this past summer in Calais.

Cradle to Grave Arts

A key objective of Cradle to Grave Arts is to contribute to the community through both stage presentations and large-scale projects with dedicated themes. Through these productions, Dennison hopes to effect a connection with people who might not otherwise have access to the arts, she said.

One year after its founding, the organization implemented a board of community supporters. By 2010, the creative group had grown into an educational and artistic dynamo with a three-tier mission: (1) support the creative process of the company’s director and participating artists in the field of contemporary dance; (2) promote the art dance form through educational and community settings; and (3) advance the art of dance regionally.

Now, as an established and flourishing company, audiences that come to watch the company’s presentations can best be described as eclectic and diverse. In addition to serving on the organization’s board, Dennison also has danced with the group, and she proudly notes her company has received community, state, regional, and national acclaim.

In March 2001, the FlynnCenter hosted a retrospective photographic exhibit of Dennison’s work, spanning 12 years of her career. During her storied career, Dennison has formed presenting partnerships with an array of venues, including Shelburne Farms, Burlington Community Land Trust, and the City of Burlington.

Among her standout work of that era was a 54-hour performance that Dennison staged in 1995 in a renovated woolen mill. Called The Mill Project, it centered first on the Winooski textile mills during the 1900s, and then the piece was brought full circle to the present, highlighting concerns of modern-day workers.

The following year, Dennison’s Running Like Mad with Our Eyes Closed was presented at the Flynn, as part of the summer residence program. Created for and performed by Working Ground, the evening-length dance-theater piece focused on “partially obscured or hidden aspects,” according to Dennison’s website. Another stand-out piece was staged at the Flynn in 2001: Inside Moves, a dance-theater stage work inspired by nonverbal communication and gestures, its dream-like story woven together through movements and abstract images.

Stepping Back, Stepping Forward

It was in that very year of the Flynn retrospective that Dennison opted to retire from the Vermont dance scene, after having created large-scale and important dance works for more than two decades in Burlington and Chittenden Counties. She didn’t stop her involvement with dance, however—she continued to study improvisation—but she stepped off the stage.

If she was going to be tempted back to the Vermont dance scene, the reason would have to be compelling. What sparked her reentry was the sudden death of her dance idol, German-born choreographer Pina Bausch, in 2009. After mourning Bausch’s death, Dennison decided she needed to celebrate the dancer’s creative spirit and began work that year on an ambitious dance piece in her honor.

The next year found her back onstage for the first time in nine years, in a performance improvisation with three other dancers for Andrea Roger’s FlynnCenter retirement celebration.

Dear Pina

During the winter of 2011, Dennison began staging Dear Pina, her tribute to Bausch, collaborating with two other choreographers, Amy LePage and Hanna Satterlee. She drew up a list of possible participants for the piece. Because Dennison had moved away from the stage a decade earlier, some of the dancers who responded to Dennison’s call were unfamiliar to her. As part of the audition process, Dennison asked each dancer to write something about herself, telling a bit about herself, both as a person and as an artist. One performer responded by mentioning how Bausch had influenced her.

The following year, Dear Pina premiered at the grand Breeding Barn at Shelburne Farms, a huge, dirt-floored barn. For six, sold-out nights, people flocked to the production, which featured 30 dancers. During its staging, the performance morphed into a 62-minute filmed presentation.

While Dennison is full of praise for Bausch, it’s clear she holds other choreographers, such as Trisha Brown, in high regard. When asked what touches her about Brown’s work, Dennison drew up a short list, citing Brown’s creativity with dancers’ bodies and her unique approach to how dancers interact with the audience.

Origins

Dennison grew up in Massachusetts with three siblings. It was in that home atmosphere that her creative nature was cherished. “I grew up in an environment where my imagination flourished,” she said.

As Dennison moved through high school and grew into her early adult years, she was faced with deciding which path to take—join the world of dance or stay on the field to compete in athletics: Dennison noted that she “had a pretty physical life growing up.”

She moved to Vermont over 40 years ago, looking to put down roots in the state’s creative environment.“Things change in life. I attended a dance class at the University of Vermont. Something just sparked with me then,” she said, which prompted her to choose dance. Dennison came relatively late to the world of dance, starting her career at the age of 28.

Dennison’s move away from the hustle and bustle of Chittenden County to the more bucolic Chelsea is the outgrowth of purchasing property and building a house on the parcel. She lives there with David Severance, with whom she has enjoyed a domestic partnership of over 20 years. A composer, Severance wrote the music for Dear Pina and for Threads and Thresholds.

Just under six months ago, Dennison collaborated with visual artist Leslie Anderson and Severance on Threads and Thresholds, staged in the historic Kent Museum in Calais, June 18–21. The piece utilized the museum’s sensory-rich environment: each Kent museum room was designed to create a certain environment. Textiles, threads, and lighting produced large-than-life effects in partnership with natural materials, such as leaves and branches, which were used to indicate boundaries,and currents.

On Dennison’s website are captivating photographs, taken by Emily Boedecker, of her working with her dancers, as they rehearsed and developed Threads and Thresholds. In one photo, Dennison bends over, demonstrating in meticulous detail what she is asking her performers to capture. Her dancers watch her intently; many stare at her, absorbing every nuance of her direction. A few close their eyes, seeming to soak up her verbal cues. In another photo, Dennison lies on the floor, touching another dancer. With her back to the camera, her face not visible, Dennison’s red hair and body, clad in a purple shirt, yellowish scarf, and brown, yoga-type pants, conjure up Vanessa Redgrave’s turn as the great Isadora Duncan.

Despite her celebrated and successful return to dance, Dennison still worries about the dancers and the staging of productions. “I had given up on stage work,” she said, citing frustrations with finding and managing venues. “You had to get a large enough space because I tend to work with large ensembles.”

Dennison is coy about discussing any future projects, only noting she is working on a piece. “I still have to cross a few hurdles before I can make it public.” Four years ago Dennison’s arthritic hips started to bother her, leading to a hip replacement. In addition to the excitement of developing a new piece, Dennison is also looking forward to staging the work “pain free,” she said.

Dennison is clearly proud of her dedication to working with a diverse population. “I’ve collaborated with a variety of people, and that means ages, skills, and histories,” Dennison noted. “I’ve used many different art forms—dance, music, video, word, and visual—in both improvised and choreographed. I’ve also offered the performance opportunity chance to people, who might otherwise, never have had the change.”

Dennison prides herself on being one of the few Vermont chorographers who is willing to work with both seasoned and novice performers. Citing the designated site work she has done, Dennison noted that audience members who come to watch those site-work dance pieces may be watching a neighbor or family member on stage.

Gail Callahan is a freelance journalist based in Burlington.