Pat Catterson, who teaches dance composition here at Juilliard, was featured in last year’s December dance concert sharing her own knowledge and interviewing some of her students. This year, Pat’s presence in the Juilliard Theater takes a slightly different tack: not only has she been invited to present one of her works, but she will also be performing in it.

Pat Catterson (in foreground, above) with Juilliard dancers. (Photo by Nan Melville)

Born to professional ballroom dancing parents who were clearly a great inspiration to her, Pat immersed herself in the art of making dances from an early age. She has since emerged as a multifaceted dance artist whose work combines modern, tap, and ballroom dance vocabularies into a unique form all her own. With this broad foundation, she has created all kinds of dances—from large group works to her critically acclaimed series of 14 solo dance portraits. Her work ranges from high-energy, rhythmically complex dances to ones with less structural, more gestural themes. She is never afraid to explore the possibilities of props, film, slides, and improvisation in her work.

9 Lives, Pat’s piece for the December concert, evolved from several phrases of nine counts of movement that Pat created (and soon found were plaguing her to be developed further). The problem was finding a suitable piece of music that was in nines. When the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 111 was recommended to her, Pat fell in love with it instantly, and remains enchanted by it even now. There was no turning back—this piece of music was to become her passion and her obsession!

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9 Lives, Pat supposes, could well be viewed as a metaphor for her life—reflective of moments, experiences, and people she has known and worked with. As the soloist, Pat invites the audience into her mind while she creates a dance; and it is the eight dancers accompanying her who bring this dance to life as we watch.

Pat Catterson (second from left, below) with Juilliard dancers. (Photo by Nan Melville)

While sections of the piece clearly correlate with the structural form and rhythmic essence of Beethoven’s music, there are also moments of the unexpected (for example, when the dancers heartily showcase interludes of tap dance—a recurring theme evolving naturally from Pat’s love of skillfully combining modern dance with tap—or when Pat spontaneously proceeds to “phone a friend”!). This, combined with the casually gestural idea of going through imaginary doorways and windows, makes for a truly unique work.

For Pat, the piece has an undoubtedly personal significance, since it pertains so intently to her own journey through life. In performing the solo role herself, Pat embraces her overriding passion for dance as the through-line of her being, the core of her existence. As well as confronting her own fears and insecurities, she is passing on to her dancers—and her audience—inspiration, knowledge, and the vision of dance as a healing force in life.