Q&A With The Artists: Betsy Brandt

We wanted to give you, our fantastical readers and friends, a chance to "meet" a few of the LVDT artists. Readers, meet Betsy. 

How long have you been working with Leverage (including when it was aTrek)? 

Ten years!

How are you involved with Seen Unseen?

These days, I am the President of Leverage’s Board of Directors. In that role, my contributions to the organization are largely related to the broader strategic vision/direction of the company. For a number of years, I was Diana’s co-artistic director and the organization’s director of development, working on everything from grant proposals to press releases and all of those weird tasks in between! I was an active dancer and choreographer with the company throughout my time with aTrek/Leverage. After a three-year hiatus where I lived out of town to complete my MFA, I am thrilled to be back in St. Louis and supporting the mission and programming of Leverage in my new capacity.

What do you find exciting about working with Leverage?

LVDT is like a greenhouse that supports the germination/development of new work and emerging artists.  LVDT provides opportunities for these artists to work with visiting master artists throughout the year – opportunities that would not traditionally be available to them without being enrolled in a dance department’s undergrad/grad program. The organization also allows these artists to participate in the programming free of cost, requesting only a contribution of time and energy to the administrative side of running the organization. These are important learning opportunities for anyone looking to develop their career in the arts. Each of these aspects of Leverage’s identity has not only enriched my own artistic practice over the years, but they have helped me get jobs, grants, awards and opportunities that I never would have gotten otherwise!  

What does Leverage offer that’s different than other companies (in St. Louis or elsewhere)?

An open attitude to diverse aesthetics and an acknowledgement that this diversity strengthens, rather than weakens, the organization.

What opinions or thoughts would you like to share about Seen Unseen? 

I think that it is exciting that LVDT is tackling a site-specific project. This is something that I have never seen done in St. Louis in quite this way. I think the project highlights one of LVDT’s major strengths – its strong relationship to the city of St. Louis – and places this relationship at the center of our creative process. Sometimes audiences can feel a little alienated by modern/contemporary dance if they are unfamiliar with it, and I think this concert offers an exciting potential to empower the audience in a new way.

What would you like to say about your piece in Seen Unseen?

For this concert, I have made a short video installation that will be installed at the Centene Center and viewed by the audience as they walk from one live performance to another. It is a very quiet piece that incorporates images and texts that I have been thinking about during my transition back to living in St. Louis. Snowy parks, the architecture of our city’s many bridges, and the often non-verbal communication between dancers.

Stay tuned for Q&A's from other artists, coming soon!