Artist Story: Lucy Vurusic-Riner

The Moving Vessel is a project that explores several facets of pregnancy and motherhood in relation to maintaining a dance career. As I write this, there is a baby boom occurring in the Chicago dance community. I have an opportunity to work with a wide variety of pregnant dancers this year. In exploring this growing population of dancers, I hope to learn more about what drives us to continue to dance and how our families motivate our work. Mothers who have paved the way in our community can offer insight and support that they may have never received. I believe that now is the time to explore possibilities. Now is the time to give voice to dancers who embrace their families while also working toward creating new and exciting dance for our city.

CAR Dance Researcher Meida McNeal: Tell me about your Moving Vessel project and how the idea came to be.

Lucy Vurusic-Riner: The (work-in-progress) title is "The Moving Vessel: Exploring Pregnancy and Its Effects on Women Who Dance.” Basically, after I became pregnant with my first child, I started wondering how being pregnant and a mother would affect my career as a choreographer and dancer. I was worried about how my body would change and whether I would be able to truly make an artistic investment in my work while taking care of a baby. I also was hyper aware of dancers who had had babies and were much more scarce on the stage. Did they know something I didn't? So I started dancing, with much more awareness of my body, during my pregnancies. I also continued to choreograph and perform during this time and what I found is that it is possible…and in some ways even more fulfilling.  

I began dialoguing with other "dance moms,” and they either shared the same experiences with me or were stunned that I could manage both worlds. This project, which I hope to fund through various awards and grants from the state and other private organizations, will allow me to develop new vocabulary that comes out of pregnancy. It will also enable me to explore my options as a mother who continues to call dance her career. My hope is that from all of this, a network of resources and support will be established that can benefit other dancers in my position—so that we can be artists and mothers whose careers continue to flourish after pregnancy.

What sort of work did you do as a dancer/choreographer before you had children?

I was born and raised in Chicago and have received most of my training and other dance experiences here. I feel very supported in my hometown. I started my training at Joel Hall Dance Center and went to Illinois State University where I received a degree in Modern Dance and Dance Education (as well as English). After college, I co-founded a choreographer's festival with dancers who have remained my friends throughout the years, Lisa Fleming-Hayes and Martha Mulligan (who are now dance moms as well). I have danced for many independent choreographers in the city. I was with Molly Shanahan's Mad Shak Dance Company for about five years and have also had the pleasure of working with Matthew Hollis, Jyl Fehrenkamp, and Rachel Thorne Germond. I feel very lucky to have a lot of resources and connections to the Chicago dance community. Because of this, I've been able to produce many shows on my own and with other collaborators. I am also the Dance Program Director at Oak Park and River Forest High School, where I’ve worked for 13 years, and am very proud of the dance program I’ve developed there. I think it's important that my students see that I am active in the dance community. I think I should be an example of the many hats you can wear as a dancer—choreographer, teacher, producer, and administrator.

What do you envision for the future of the project?

I hope to truly develop some new and thoughtful movement vocabulary that stems from how pregnancy changed my body and has forced me to move more efficiently than ever before. I also hope to explore the challenges we dancers face in having to juggle our two worlds. There are some definite struggles with body image, time management, and finances that prevent us from pursuing and maintaining our careers, but there are also rewarding moments: the motivation and support I get from my kids and the love I feel for them coming through in my work. Funding is always an issue when taking on projects of this magnitude. I am working on different fundraising and grant writing opportunities. My hope is to eventually bring my research together into an evening-length work with a cast of dance moms, both pregnant and post-partum. I am so excited about where this investigation can lead me!

Are there other projects that you are working on right now?

I am on a sabbatical this year and have been working on developing new curriculum for the high school. I have been interested in studying Spanish dance and have been working with Dame Libby Komaiko at Northeastern Illinois University. I’ve also begun a new artistic partnership called RE|Dance with my dear friend Michael Estanich. I’ve been busier then ever. Juggling my three-year-old and 10-month-old during this year off from teaching has proven to be pretty intense! But I'm doing it…and it's working, so that means onward and upward for me!

Are there other artists who have been influential as you think about balancing parenthood and creative production?

Absolutely.  Most of my dance teachers are also mothers. Natalie Rast was one of my very first teachers, and I watched as her daughter grew up before my eyes as Natalie continuously built her ballet school and career. Nana Shineflug is a great mom and grandmother who has actually performed with her grandson. Julia Rhoads inspires me with her ability to run a very successful dance company, Lucky Plush, while raising three small children. Dardi McGinley-Gallivan, Liz Burritt, Pam McNeil, Shirley Mordine…the list goes on. Honestly, there are a ton of wonderful dancers, teachers, and choreographers who have influenced me and who continue to inspire me. That is why this project is so important to me.

Lucy Vurusic-Riner is a native Chicagoan who has been supporting and contributing to the dance community for more than 15 years. She received her B.S. Degree in dance and dance education from Illinois State University. Lucy has been a member of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak Dance Company, RTG Dance Company, and Matthew Hollis’ “The Power of Cheer.” She has also been part of the community cast of White Oak Dance Project and David Dorfman Dance. Lucy has taught modern, hip hop, and jazz at numerous studios and high schools in the Chicagoland area. Currently, she is the Director of Dance at Oak Park and River Forest High School. In 2005, Lucy completed her Masters Degree in Education from National Louis University and also received the Midwest Dance Teacher of the Year Award. When Lucy is not working with other independent choreographers and producing her own shows, she is at home with her two great kids, Margie and Luka, and her very supportive husband, Jim.