Brannigan Dance Works, formerly Bay Area Dance Collective, was founded by Khala Brannigan in 2013. Brannigan is from Santa Fe, New Mexico and moved to San Francisco in 2011. After graduating from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program in 2013, she started choreographing and making her own work. We met to talk about her history as a mover and creator, what motivates her, and what her goals are for the future.

There is sincerity and honesty in how Khala Brannigan communicates. She talks about her childhood and how she came to dance, saying, “I had a really rough adolescence and was close to, you know, being on the edge of dying. I woke up one day and I was like, I feel like dance is the only thing that has been constant in my life. Not one person, not one thing, besides dance” (27-30). She reflects on highschool and family life and how it brought her to this realization: “My senior year of high school I was very addicted to cocaine, and drinking a lot. I think I hit an ultimate low. My family really didn’t give a shit about me. I realized, the one thing that’s been a place that I can go to, where I really feel like I can be myself without being reprimanded for it, is in the studio” (50-53).

Ronn Stewart, her dance teacher and mentor in Santa Fe, was a large part of that. Stewart has been in Brannigan’s life since she was seven years old. His presence and support were a strong contrast to her family and school life. She considers Stewart a big source of inspiration. Unfortunately, and quite suddenly, Stewart committed suicide this past September.

As we talk about her upbringing, about the hardships and struggles, the conversation naturally turns towards motivation and Brannigan describes her perspective. She states, “instead of moving away from the things that I struggle with, I move towards them and actually utilize them. That motivates me because then I get to a point of frustration and something happens from there” (242-245). The process of creating brings her closer to the experiences that are most painful to her. She manages to find motivation and strength in what she finds most difficult.

Brannigan’s work is about her life and each individual project has its own process. This is one of the major challenges for Brannigan as a choreographer. She does not make work just to make work, she makes in response to what she and the people around her are experiencing. For Brannigan, choreographing is a healing process where she can grow. She states clearly, “If I am not in a place where I feel like I want to grow then my work suffers” (110-111). Consequently, unless Brannigan is experiencing distress, she does not create. For her, it is this relationship between turmoil and growth, that makes choreographing so challenging.

Brannigan’s biggest challenge is also linked to her greatest joy as a choreographer. She thinks of the process and final product as gifts. As a choreographer, she looks forward to sharing her experiences and the processes it takes to understand them: “Something I always look forward to is the offering of [my work]...the offering to dancers that are in my piece, the offering to audience members. All this work that I put into it is to just let it go. Eventually. Hand it over to somebody else. So they can have the experience that I want them to experience” (117-120). The rehearsal process, choreographing, and the final performance all facilitate the understanding and acceptance of struggle. It is a shared personal journey that allows Brannigan to investigate and eventually let go of some of her hardest experiences.

It takes a lot of resilience to suspend yourself in processing. Brannigan is aware of this. She states, “I think that everything about my work and everything about me comes from resilience. Being able to take experiences that have plummeted me down and utilizing them through creation” (20-22). She is transparent about her relationship to being a choreographer.

Brannigan talks about how she found the role of choreographer: “I moved here by myself, 18. Did the [Alonzo King LINES Ballet] training program, 2011 through 2013. I started making work pretty much immediately” (38-39). She focused on her skills as a leader and the strength in holding space for others instead of simply being a dancer. For Brannigan, it was a decisive choice to pioneer first. She talks blatantly about her connection to dance and her role as choreographer:

I feel like I’ve had a lot of moments of falling in and out of love with dance and at the time, when I graduated the training program, I wasn’t interested in being a dancer for someone. I felt that I had something to say, beyond just being someone's person. It’s interesting because as I started to build, grow, and choreograph more, I became more interested in being a dancer for people and learning from them. (53-58)

Eventually, Brannigan wants Brannigan Dance Works to have a group of dedicated company dancers. For now, she works project by project and looks for people who would make a good fit. Compared to many dance companies, she is not interested in technique or body type; instead, she searches for “good character” (151). When looking for these people, she keeps in mind what her strengths are, what she can provide, and what a dancer deserves.

Brannigan values opportunities where it feels mutual and respectful. She talks briefly but openly about performance opportunities in the Bay Area and how they inform her as a choreographer. Brannigan differentiates between how she used to think about opportunity and how she thinks about it now, stating, “throughout my years I’ve always been like, take every opportunity you can get because it’s experience and it doesn’t matter. Directors should be really difficult, you should have a really shitty time as a dancer and you should feel uncomfortable all the time” (178-180). Now, she confidently says, “I don’t believe that is a good opportunity” (180-181). She understands the difficulties and discomfort that often come with being a professional dancer. Brannigan expresses, “something that a dancer always looks for is being seen. Somebody seeing you for who you are, versus trying really hard to fit a role [that the] choreographer/teacher, is asking for and it just never feels right. But then there are those times when they actually see you” (79-82). She shows insight into what a dancer experiences and awareness in how to apply this to her position as choreographer.

At the end of the day, Brannigan looks forward to the opportunity to make something out of nothing. She looks forward to providing the space for the people involved to make something and feel something that is relevant.

Khala Brannigan leads with herself. She owns her history and understands her strengths, managing to pool even more from her weaknesses. She has a unique perspective on motivation and unwavering resilience.

Up next, Brannigan Dance Works has commissioned David Harvey to set work on the company, which will premiere in September at the Joe Goode Annex. Also in September, Brannigan will show a new piece inspired by Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. The piece pulls from the myths and stories of the wild woman, investigates how instinct can override intellect, and how women find their wild selves in a society that suppresses them. Brannigan is interested in pushing herself to uncomfortable spaces. Because of this, she may decide to perform in it herself, something she has never done.

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Edited by Chloë Zimberg.
Quotes edited with permission from Khala Brannigan.
Images: Stephen Texeira Photography
PDF of full transcript available. Audio available by request.
Email: CourtneyFJKing@gmail.com