There’s No Such Thing As “We Can’t Do Something”

PODCAST BY SILVA LAUKKANEN

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Karenne Koo, a dance artist in Tucson, AZ, committed to developing and practicing multidisciplinary approaches to encourage and stimulate the art of inclusive dance as an instrument for building community. Here, she discusses her involvement with the Mettler-based dance community and the breadth of her outreach work – from working with survivors of trafficking and abuse, to children with severe medical issues, to low income families, to adults and children with diverse abilities, and even horses. She reflects on how her own community makes all the facets of her work possible.

LISTEN HERE!

Karenne H. Koo co-founded Dancesequences in 2017, a Tucson-based nonprofit organization with the mission to advance societal inclusion through dance. She was also co-founder of Evolve Dance in New York and served as executive director from 2006 to 2017. She serves on the board of directors of Mettler Studios, and is a member of the International Association for Creative Dance. Utilizing Mettler-based creative dance as a foundational resource, Karenne has conducted creative dance residencies in New York, San Francisco, Vietnam, Indonesia and Peru for communities who are vulnerable with little or no access to dance programming, including LGBTQ support networks, children and women rescued from trafficking/abuse/homelessness, and children and adults with diverse abilities. In Tucson, she completed a three-year dance residency at Arts for All, a nonprofit arts organization that provides art education for adults and children with diverse abilities. She also co-directed the Arts for All Adult Dance Ensemble, a performing group of dancers with diverse abilities who regularly presented original works at multiple venues. Karenne facilitates creative dance workshops/residencies with Arizona TASH, Mettler Studios, Pio Decimo Center, Satori School, Sister Jose Women’s Center, ZUZI! Dance Company and several assisted living residences.

To learn more, visit dancesequences.org or karennekoo.net.