Artist Statement

I shift the concept of what Aerial Dance can be by creating expressive, visceral works. The process involves collaborations with dancers as well as composers, filmmakers, and dramatists. Communities connect through pre and post performance workshops that allow people to experience the work on a deeper level.

Dancing with single point apparatus gives the choreography an improvisational edge and a state of acute awareness for the performers. This heightened awareness blends with emotional intensity resulting in visually stimulating performances.

Bio

Julie Ludwick has created dozens of dances for Fly-by-Night Dance. These works has evolved into evening-length Aerial Dance works that integrate video, theater, and live music. Her most recent piece, “Where Shall I Send My Joys?” was commissioned by the CUNY Dance Initiative 2022 and premiered at John Jay College in April of 2022 in Manhattan. 

She is a master teacher, choreographer, dancer, and scholar. Ludwick has developed a somatic Aerial Dance curriculum for low-flying trapeze which has been featured in Paper Magazine, Time Out NY and in a documentary film on AfterEd TV, as an outstanding alum of Teachers College, Columbia University. Ludwick regularly teaches Somatic Aerial Dance, Somatic Modern Technique, Improvisation and Choreography to students of all ages from Pre-K through Grade 12, to College/University settings

Under Ludwick’s direction, Fly-by-Night Dance Theater’s repertory has evolved to include video projection with the camera, emphasizing the 3-dimensional aspects of the aerial work and Ludwick’s expressive approach to Aerial Dance. With each new work, Ludwick has expanded her collaborative efforts to include commissioned composers and live music, videographers, film editors, and lighting designers.

Contact:   info@flybynightdance.org

Press

Ludwick’s choreography has been well received by the press. Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times had this to say,

“Ludwick is… a thoughtful and intelligent choreographer.”

In 2008 Lisa Jo Sagolla wrote in Backstage, (“New Works from Seasoned Choreographers”),

“The history books will surely recognize her as an exceptional artist who has taken modern dance to new places (literally) and mined its expressive potential in a truly original fashion. As the artistic director of Fly-by-Night Dance Theater, Ludwick has developed a movement language that extends the spatial and kinetic possibilities of modern dance by blending it with low-flying trapeze work, yet with no evocation of circus-trick sensibilities.”

Scholarly work

As a certified teacher of Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) Ludwick has presented and written about SRT extensively including as a contributor to Martha Eddy’s book, Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action. Her projects has received support from CUNY Dance Initiative, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Puffin Foundation, The Frances Alexander Family Fund, The Cartwheel Foundation, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, JP Morgan Chase, Fleet Bank, Dance Theater Workshop, and The New York City Council.

Books & Articles on Skinner Releasing Technique:

• Movement Research Journal Article (1999)
• A contributing writer to Martha Eddy’s book on Somatic history Mindful Movement The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action (2016)
• Contributing writer to Skinner Releasing Technique: Movement and Dance Practice, edited by Manny Emslie, (2021)