At New 42 Studios In Times Square As Broadway Prepares To Reopen, ‘It Feels Like Coming Home’

By Ali Bauman, July 9, 2021
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/07/09/new-42-studios/ (cue to 2:51)
EXCERPT & INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT BELOW

Jody Sperling is a dancer, choreographer and founder of Time Lapse Dance. Like many artists, Sperling had to pivot during the pandemic.

“There’s nothing like being in a room full of living, breathing bodies,” Sperling said.

Sperling didn’t let the shutdown shut out her creativity. She stayed in step with the changing times, and took her dance company to the streets of New York.

“The piece is called ‘Bunhead’s Back.’ And in the dance, Maki wears a mask on the back of her head, and it’s inspired by Degas’ sculpture of a 14-year old dancer,” Sperling said. “I think all of us feel at sometime in our life like we’re a little bit different and we don’t fit in.”

“At Time Lapse Dance, we believe that dance can be a driver of social change, and I think that we have seen how much society needs to change over the past year, and so we’re interested in deploying dance to create a more sustainable and a more equitable future,” Sperling added. “We have to continue to think about art as a means for enriching our lives but also building community and envisioning the kind of future that we want.”

Now back in the studio rehearsing, Sperling is ready for a reopening of the performing arts.

“To be in a studio, it’s a special place for dance, and it feels like coming home and rediscovering this whole part of yourself that I’ve been developing for decades,” Sperling said.

She says returning to the stage comes with some additional challenges.

“It’s gonna be a big adjustment for us to feel comfortable being in social proximity and sharing the same breath after, you know, so much trauma over the past year, but I think it’s also really important for us to become fully embodied and to continue to grow and frankly to make the changes that we need to make as a society,” Sperling said.