Alicia Hann on Her Sense of Home with Hixon Dance

Sarah Hixon, artistic director of Hixon Dance, sat down with company rehearsal director and dancer Alicia Hann to talk about her upcoming work, and what she considers home. Alicia will perform with Hixon Dance as part of Chasing the Light: Artists Speak on Oct. 2.

Sarah: This is your eighth season with Hixon Dance and your fifth as company rehearsal director. Can you talk about why the company has become an artistic home for you and what you enjoy?
Alicia: I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Hixon Dance under your [Sarah Hixon’s] direction for the past eight seasons. Over that time, the company has really become an artistic home for me because I’ve had the opportunity to grow not only as a performer, but also as a leader, educator and choreographer. Serving as rehearsal director and teaching company class has allowed me to take on greater leadership while continuing to learn from the dancers and from you [Sarah.]

One of the things I value most about Hixon Dance is the culture of sharing knowledge, feedback and ideas. There is a genuine openness to learning from one another, and I’ve been able to grow tremendously in both dance performance and dance making through that exchange. The past eight years have been such a formative part of my artistic career, and I’m grateful for the many opportunities the company has provided me—from performing and choreographing to teaching, community outreach, interdisciplinary collaboration, and, perhaps most importantly, building meaningful relationships with the people I’ve shared these processes with.

Hixon Dance feels like the right artistic home for me because you [Sarah] value both the technique and physicality of modern dance and the importance of individual creative expression. That balance really resonates with me. I appreciate having a strong physical and technical foundation while also being encouraged to bring my own voice, perspective and curiosity into the work.

I also really value the collaborative nature of the company. Through movement development, research and creative process, everyone has an opportunity to contribute to the material and have a voice in what we are creating. That sense of shared ownership and discovery is something I find incredibly meaningful, and it’s a big part of why Hixon Dance has continued to feel like home to me.

Sarah: You were commissioned to create a new work with Hixon Dance for the collaborative Chasing the Light: Artists Speak showcase. Can you talk about the piece you’re creating and what you’re looking forward to?
Alicia: I am really looking forward to the Chasing the Light: Artists Speak showcase. For my piece, “Precipice of Dawn: Light Filled Bodies,” I approached movement generation through words and poetry. I was particularly inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem “The Sun.” We took the words from the poem, put them onto individual flashcards, jumbled them up and distributed them among the dancers. Each dancer was then invited to explore their own physical embodiment of those words. From there, we began developing movement material and experimenting with how those individual ideas could come together through duets, trios, solos and larger sections with all five dancers onstage.

The title of the piece, “Precipice of Dawn: Light Filled Bodies,” was inspired in part by the music Jacob Reed composed for the work, “The Morning Star” for cello and piano, which will be performed live.

I’m interested in exploring the dichotomies within the imagery—the relationship between darkness and light, individuality and collectivity, stillness and movement—as well as the cyclical and gradual process of a new day unfolding. I hope the audience will feel this cycle and the alternation between light and dark in the movement, while also experiencing the dancers themselves as light-filled bodies supporting one another through the process.

Sarah: What is something you want readers to know about you?
Alicia: I believe dance has the capacity to meet people wherever they are. For me, dance is not just about what happens on a stage—it is a way of connecting with ourselves, with one another and with the world around us. My work as an artist and educator has allowed me to explore that belief in many different spaces and with many different communities, from professional dancers and university students to children, older adults, and people living with different physical and cognitive abilities.

I am deeply curious about the ways movement can create connection, invite vulnerability and make space for people to experience themselves differently. I am also someone who is continually learning. I value collaboration, interdisciplinary exploration and the dialogue between teaching, performing, choreographing and embodied research. At this point in my career, I don’t feel the need to separate those parts of myself. They all inform one another, and together they shape the kind of artist and educator I want to be.

Some things unrelated to dance: I have an urban vegetable garden and enjoy harvesting, pickling and canning what I’ve grown, savoring the fruits of our labor year-round. I am also an animal lover and have two dogs and a new kitten. My partner and I also enjoy backpacking, which is usually how we spend our vacations. We’ve backpacked through national parks, sections of the Appalachian Trail and even traveled to Scotland to hike the West Highland Way.

Sarah: What is on your current playlist?
Alicia: What I listen to in my free time is often very different from the music that inspires my choreography. My listening habits are pretty eclectic and tend to depend on what I’m doing.

In the car, I often gravitate toward 90s rock with female vocalists—Alanis Morissette, Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls—as well as early-70s rock. Led Zeppelin is a longtime favorite. I also listen to a lot of oldies, particularly Simon & Garfunkel, which I often incorporate into the work I do in memory care units. For working out, I’ve been loving Bad Bunny.

I think the variety is probably the most accurate reflection of my taste—I’m less interested in sticking to one genre and more interested in what a particular piece of music makes me feel or want to move to.

Sarah: What is one of your favorite things about Columbus?
Alicia: My favorite thing about Columbus is that it feels like home. I live in the Old North, and I love being able to walk to my local coffee shop, Honey Cup, walk over to Ohio State’s campus, or hop on my bike and take the Olentangy Trail downtown. There’s something really special to me about having a sense of place and connection to the neighborhoods around me.

Professionally, I’ve found an incredibly meaningful community here through Hixon Dance, Perennial Movement Group, STILGO Dance & Tech, HOMING, CoMo Dance, The Movement Mission, and so many other artists and organizations over the years. Columbus has given me opportunities to grow as both an educator and an artist while also allowing me to build lasting relationships.

And, on a more personal note, Columbus has history for me. My husband and I met here, my family is here, and so much of my life and artistic journey has unfolded here. I love visiting other places, but when I think about where home is, I really can’t imagine it being anywhere else.

See Alicia performing with Hixon Dance as part of Chasing the Light: Artists Speak showcase on Friday, Oct. 2 at the McConnell Arts Center.

About the author

Sarah Hixon is the artistic director of Hixon Dance.

This article is part of a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council as part of the Art Makes Columbus campaign. Explore a calendar of events, public art database, artist-curated public art tours and stories at columbusmakesart.com. To learn more about GCAC grants visit gcac.org.