maker & mover &
maker & mover &
“As I learned to express myself, language came last yet lingers loudest. It remains most expected, often demanded. I’ve sat across from friends, physicians, parents, therapists all asking - ‘how are you?’ My stack of diagnoses indicates I have a more expansive internal experience than many. Language limits me, we all have access to the same words. How do I express my experience? It’s not like yours, and I need multiple bodies and costumes and a set and sound to do it. And a few months, at least… and don’t ask me what it’s about, if I could tell you I would’ve done that instead of making a 20-minute dance theater piece. I have never made for money and have rarely made money while making. I move and create because it regulates me, allows me to exude and express as accurately, albeit abstractly, as I can. I can process the passage of my time as I see the impacts of the last months or weeks or years play out on stage.”
Frank Pattee David is a Chicago-based maker, mover and educator who works to empower others through their work. Though their art is ultimately autobiographical, they strive to center the voices and choices of her creative collaborators.
In 2018, Frank graduated with the Dance Prize from Kenyon College where they had the opportunity to study various facets of dance academia under Julie Brodie, Balinda Craig-Quijada and Kora Radella. Since getting their B.A. in dance, Frank has worked as a dance instructor, therapeutic assistant, paraprofessional and middle school teacher.
In 2020, they began a process-oriented project-based collaborative dance company: dollop dance theater. dollop is an interdisciplinary dance company creating approachable works using a light-hearted lens of humor and humility. Since its creation, they have released three full-length dance films and performed in Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn.
Frank is grateful to have pursued their MFA at Smith College 2022-2024, where they had the privilege of dancing for artists such as j.e. Kim and Duane Lee Holland Jr. Back in Chicago, they continue to cultivate and participate in the vibrant surrounding dance scene.
photos by Fabien Baez