Take Me to Church with Mattie Waters. DANCE Church, that is!
As Chattanooga slowly opens up, to varying degrees, in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, dance studios are struggling with how to keep students and company members safe while still paying the bills.
Many encourage students to take classes from home, via Zoom or other platform, but honestly, it’s difficult for me. I peer at the exercise on my computer screen, pull off my glasses and trot back to the center of the room to attempt the steps, dash back up to my computer and put on my glasses to check on a detail, and boom, the exercise is finished before I’ve started it.
Mattie’s Dance Church, though, is different. It’s a “silly, fun, led dance party,” as she describes it, and you don’t have to really see much more than Mattie’s silver-clad outline to dance right along. Mattie Waters, co-founder and director of the Pop-Up Project, takes dance — and silly fun — very seriously, and that makes her and her fellow Pop-Up dancers just the right companions for online, socially-distanced dancing.
Improvising and adapting to the moment have long been a part of Mattie’s history. She took a BA with honors in theater arts from the University of Manchester, and after that she performed in vaudeville and improv comedy in New York City. Returning to Chattanooga for what she thought would be a brief stay, she met up with her longtime friend Jules Downum, recently returned from the West Coast.
Rather than going back to either coast, the two decided to stay in the middle and bring more art here, to Chattanooga. Together, they formed The Pop-Up Project. Their mission was to research local sites, learn the stories behind them, and “pop up” with site-specific dance, filmed and released for free online. They quickly reached a broad audience, with up to 10,000 views of their early Facebook films postings, Mattie says.
“We’ve had to pivot in our plans,” says Mattie of the epidemic, “but one of the most beautiful things that has come out of this is that artists from all over the world are starting to share their art online. We contacted all our company members and asked, ‘Would you be willing to offer a 30-minute class online for free?’ They all jumped at it.”
Mattie’s offering, Dance Church, takes place every Sunday. It’s like Richard Simmons with soul — affirming, easy, and very high-energy. Mattie wears zany outfits and encourages you to do the same. With her husband, videographer and musician Tim Cofield, she takes viewers through a warmup, short choreography, and “go crazy” time when everyone can throw their hands in the air and dance however they feel like. Toddlers to elders can join in.
“My goal is get families up and jumping around and giggling and expressing,” Mattie says. “We are all so cooped up and claustrophobic, it’s nice to scream, jump, bounce, and play. I invite people to allow themselves to be silly, laugh cry, get your sweat on.”
It works because Mattie uses familiar music — everything from Cher to Destiny’s Child — and simple steps like the grapevine. She uses plenty of repetition, and she calls out steps so you can hear what’s coming up next without having see every detail. Dance Church, in fact, is both easy and exhilarating.
What’s different about taking class online? “I do miss the faces,” Mattie says. “I miss seeing the movement on other bodies. I miss that connection.”
She asks viewers to upload videos of themselves dancing, and many do.
“We have reached an audience we would probably not have if we hadn’t done these online classes,” Mattie says. “Many people fear coming to dance class. You’re vulnerable, very exposed, staring at yourself in a mirror in front of other people and putting other people’s moves into your body. Now new people have taken class because it’s in the comfort of your own home. They’re getting more confident moving, sending us videos, and getting to know our dancers, who are beautiful people — silly, kind, and super-intelligent. That is one of the most beautiful things that has come out of this time.”
Personally, Mattie’s challenges during social distancing have mirrored those of the company — it’s hard for collaborative performers to be isolated from the process of creating as a group. During the interval, she’s taken a journey, she says, learning to appreciate the work she’s already done.
“I was a really fast-moving train,” she says, “constantly thinking about the next destination and always moving forward. This has slowed my pace down tremendously. I started to really think … not to look forward to ‘when I can do that pirouette’ or ‘one day when I can be stronger’ … but to think how I can be mindful in my practice and be present in my body and just be here now.
“I’m still figuring out how to express it in words.”
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When there are no words, there’s always dance. You can access Dance Church every Sunday at Noon on The Pop-up Project’s Facebook and Instagram Live @thepopupproject.
And follow The Pop-up Project’s Instagram Live every day at noon:
- Sunday: Dance Church with Mattie and Tim
- Monday: Hip Hop with Ryan
- Tuesday: Guided Dance Improv with Maddi
- Wednesday: Werk it with Jules
- Thursday: Contemporary Modern with Emma
- Friday: Fluid Friday with Mattie
- Saturday: Urban Choreography with Jeri
Classes are free and open to the public, though you can choose to make a donation.