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Tamar Rogoff's boundary-breaking body work and choreography
It was four months into working with chogreographer Tamar Rogoff when Gregg Mozgala first placed the full soles of his feet on the floor. Until that point, the New York City-based actor had walked turned-in on his toes, with his feet clenched, curled and dragging behind him due to cerebral palsy-a neurological disorder that affects motor function and coordination. To suddenly feel the floor underneath his feet was nothing short of a miracle. "All the years of physical therapy, doctors, specialists, waiting rooms, paper gowns, name calling, shame and self-doubt are left behind me," wrote Mozgala after his breakthrough. "I walk heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe with no effort at all."
When Rogoff first saw Mozgala in 2008, she had no idea that her interest in the way he moved would lead to a life-changing physical transformation. An NYC-based choreographer of more than 40 years, Rogoff has built a career on her fascination with bodies of all types. Her work is distinct for its inclusivity-in addition to movers of all ages, backgrounds and body types, she also casts people with disabilities, like Mozgala. "I don't work with people with disabilities. At least, I don't think of it that way," says Rogoff. "I'm a choreographer, and my interests as a choreographer are in bodies."
However you categorize Rogoff's work, it is emblematic of the potential movement has to uplift, empower and unify diverse individuals. Her most recent work Grand Rounds, which premiered in April, sees a multigenerational, mixed-ability cast depict a family in the 1950s-their rituals, relationships and how they come to terms with the death of a loved one. Through this and other works like it, Rogoff is changing the relationship between dance and disability, demonstrating that not only can the two go hand-in-hand, but frequently, they should.
A DANCEMAKER FIRST
Rogoff's interests are wide-ranging. Ever the storyteller, she finds inspiration in unusual characters and unexpected settings. As early as 1991, she was setting site-specific choreography inside large water tanks constructed for a piece at Lincoln Center. Later, she worked with Holocaust survivors for The Ivye Project (1994)-a site-specific work performed around mass graves in Belarus. She worked with veterans with PTSD for Daughter of...