ON DANCE
The Vision of Chris Holstad
by Aleksandra Mir

1998


You say that you grew up in Minnesota, with a bigger sister who wanted to become a dancer. As a kid, throughout her schooling, you endured hundreds of bad dance performances. Then she became a professional jazz dancer. She lives off her work today and dances full time. You say you respect that, but at the same time, the mannerism of the dance world makes you cringe.

Last year you started your own dance company, Fancy Pantz School of Dance together with some other people. You worked really hard, rehearsed a lot. You copied your moves from music videos and wanted to take a piss. But Fancy Pantz immediately took off on its own—in the art world. Alex Bag made a video documentary about you. In it, Delia Gonzales explains why Fancy Pantz is modern dance: "Because it is modern, and because it is dance".

You say you'll dance anywhere; on the streets or in a gallery. But then you got a gig at the Gramercy Art Fair. People paid money to see you. $20. It was incredible you said. Embarrassing. You told Delia "If they are ready for this, we really have to give them more". During that performance you showed them your pubic hair and your butt crack, and Delia popped out her tits. You made it hard-core. You described what visitors want from New York—freak show. You say that you are still not very sure whether they enjoyed it or not. After all, it is a serious gathering of professionals.

Then Fancy Pantz got dismantled. The members had different ideas of what it should be and where it should go. Your last Fancy Pantz performance at the Gavin Brown experience, during 'Oriental Nights' where I made the sets and we first met, was attended by 150 people. A famous German art critic said "This is fun, but I don't know how seriously I should take it". There were only four of you dancing this gig. The two other former members came to scream you were bad. You are a little bit shocked about that. "Why bother?", you say: "I am already on to something else".

You and Delia are like married. You say she is your muse. You move together as if you were having sex, although she has a boyfriend who also performs, Gavin Russom. Right now they are touring New Orleans with his magic act, and with Delia as his assistant. It is hilarious only to think of, but would be fantastic to see. Before she left, you two had a talk about what to do this summer and came up with a mime company called 'M.I.M.E.' It will be dumb you said, taking all the cool out of Fancy Pantz.

You said you want to work with new people again. I introduced you to Sigrun Hrolfsdottir from the Icelandic Love Corporation. You said she would be perfect and invited her to join. You say you can't wait to see her move. At the same time, Delia asked me. I was not sure at first, as I think mimes are the most degenerate of performers, the direct descendants of court idiots. Sigrun says she hates mime. So now we are all very exited about where it will go.

At the time, I worked in a doctor's office and told you that we had a plaster room there and that plastering our limbs or parts thereof, would be a natural constriction to our movements. To which you replied: "Great, it is white costume already". You say people should be able to come and go out of this. A narrative can form, and as new member enter, they will find their own way to relate. You were yourself not always present in the performances of your earlier dance groups. What matters to you is that it functions, out there.

You say you have another idea though, for an even newer dance company. Everyone will pick a bird and research and study it until they know all about its behavior and movements. You need new people for that and are already looking. It is not so much about the feathers and wings, but the focus will be on the legs. Bird legs are amazing: Strong and flexible. So who is going to be your penguin?

To you, people are primarily bodies that can be used for different purposes. But you are not egoistic that way. You say: "If you need me, consider me a body to work with as well". You want to work with new people all the time, so that you can learn new things from them. You say that what really interests you about all of this, is the observation of movement.