Hermesdorf & Wells
Story from Scott Wells
I met Kathleen in Graduate school at the University of Illinois in 1989. We became lovers, and decided to move to San Francisco (and not New York) when we graduated. It seems ridiculous that I asked Kathleen to marry me on our first date. It’s not like I had ever asked anyone before. She ignored the silly request, but many months later she told her parents we were getting married. I guess she filed it away. Then later that summer at Bates Dance Festival (Bates is a part of her legacy), she told some dancers as well. We moved to San Francisco that Fall, and in the turbulence of trying to make it we never brought it up again and our relationship lasted about a year or so more. Our last “date” was Kathleen’s first backpacking trip.
As so many other people say, Kathleen is the first person I think of when wondering about favorite dancers. I remember in graduate school how she learned choreography faster than anyone. Picking up phrases was always a weak spot for me, and it just seems miraculous that someone could do it with such ease. Kathleen didn’t like it if I said she had natural talent. Maybe it seemed to diminish the work she put in. Well, there was definitely something special going on there, and it blossomed (exploded) to a whole other level at Bates (1991) in the choreography of Bebe Miller. Bebe’s dance to the Jimi Hendrix version of Star Spangled Banner was a blazing freshness of dance movement, and no one did it like Kathleen. I was sure Bebe would want to take her away before we had a chance to start our life in San Francisco. She would work with Bebe some 15 years later.
We did three seasons in San Francisco co-directing a dance company. Our first show was in the basement of a church on Franklin Street, a few months after we arrived in the city in early 1992. Maybe 25 people came, among them Joe Goode, Lisa Wymore, and Jo Kreiter. We also did a run at Footwork in May, and Theater Artaud in July. We did seasons in 1993 at Footwork, and 1994 at New Performance Gallery.
We didn’t make work together again until 2017 with: On the Occassion of our 25th Anniversary (and Eviction), Kathleen and Scott ask: “Was that good for you?” This messy title deserves some explanation. I was evicted from the place Kathleen and I had moved into exactly 25 years earlier. Kathleen and my anniversary was of our arrival in San Francisco. In any case, I am very grateful for that time in 2017. Reliving and retrieving our relationship in the context of performance somehow worked—laughing as we compared our versions planning to marry each other. I caught her off guard onstage when I asked if she knew the last time we made love, but then she remembered. We all matter to each other, all these relationships along the way. I think Kathleen is in my dreams more than anyone. A memorable one shortly after we broke up: I was sitting in the audience of a big opera house while she performed, waiting for her with the crowds afterward. I was happy for her success, and she was happy to see me after a long time.
Kathleen went on, as the testimonials will also say, to have an incredible career. How to describe her dancing? Three dimensional luscious fierceness. She danced jazz in her youth and I think that was part of her sharp focus and attack. And phrasing…her phrasing…was she ahead of the pulse or just attacking it? Then riding waves of momentum, both logical and unpredictable.
“How to describe her dancing? Three dimensional luscious fierceness.”
Images
Videos
A one minute collage of Kathleen in action.
Bates Festival 1991 was Kathleen and Scott’s first professional gig fresh out of graduate school. The idea to use a couch came from their graduation party, where there was wild contact dance with the couch at the center. This short clip is a rare glimpse of Kathleen's soft curly hair before she buzzed it off.
Theater Artaud 1992 started with a pre-show warmup/dancing, then a piece where Kathleen, Scott, and Alex Artaud all play the guitar. This was followed by the Home Piece (with Jesse Bie, Phippy Kaye, and Cindy LaRue). The evening ended with a lift from a Hermesdorf & Wells duet.
Footwork 1993 started with Kathleen talking/stretching—the camera was inadvertently left on after a run through. This close moment with Kathleen is touching and probably a unique look at her, at this age of 26. This moment was followed by Exercise 17 (with Carry Lee and Jesse Bie), then the Desk Piece, a trio with Kathleen, Scott, and Jesse.
Dance Mission Theater 2017 with the very long title: On the Occasion of our 25th Anniversary (and eviction) Kathleen Hermesdorf and Scott Wells ask: “Was that good for you?” “Two young dancers moved to San Francisco, engaged to be married and ambitious to start their dance careers. The dance careers worked out—Hermesdorf danced for Margaret Jenkins, Contraband, Bebe Miller; and Wells has received two Izzies for Choreography. The year this dance was created, Wells lost his dance studio, DanceGround, 25 years to the day he and Kathleen moved in.”