Matt Peiken, host of The Overlook with Matt Peiken, stopped by the Wortham recently to sit down and chat with Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen, co-founders of Stewart/Owen Dance. Vanessa and Gavin had just finished a rehearsal for the company’s newest evening-length work, where i end, you begin, premiering in Tina McGuire Theatre May 9–19.
Podcast: “Dance Dance Evolution | Vanessa Owen and Gavin Stewart”
As heard on The Overlook with Matt Peiken
Gavin Stewart and Vanessa Owen have spent many years building lives for themselves in contemporary dance. Not long ago, they believed they largely had to perform and teach around the country to make it sustainable. Now, fueled by artistic residencies in Western North Carolina and the embrace of the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, the couple hopes Stewart/Owen Dance can become a fixture for Asheville dancers and audiences.
This conversation happened just after a rehearsal inside the Wortham’s Tina McGuire Theatre, where the company performs a string of performances there, May 9-19. We dissect their artistic process, how they translate concepts into movement and what sustainability looks like in today’s ecosystem of contemporary dance.
About Matt Peiken: Matt’s journalism career spans print, broadcast, video and podcasting. In Feburary 2023, he departed as the Arts & Culture Producer with Blue Ridge Public Radio, the NPR station in Asheville, N.C., to launch The Overlook. Learn more
