Meet Olivia Gotsch: Learning to Work with Her Body
The next dancer of our series is Olivia Gotsch who began dancing with Conflux in January of 2024. After taking a handful of Sunday Conflux community classes, Artistic Director Miguel Perez invited Olivia to come to a company rehearsal.
“I started coming to rehearsals and then I never really left,” Olivia laughs.
Olivia grew up in Chicago and danced with contemporary companies, namely Hubbard Street Dance and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. She moved to Richmond upon graduating from Vassar College with a major in anthropology and a minor in dance. After about a year of doing anthropological field work while dancing on the side, Olivia reached a crossroads. “If I want to make dance a priority at this point in my life, I need to choose,” she said. Understandably, she chose dance.
Now, Olivia divides her time between rehearsing with Conflux, teaching dance, working at Niche Pilates Studio, tending to her garden and more.
As one of the younger dancers of Conflux, Olivia said, “Getting to work with people who have a wider range of knowledge than I do helps me understand how to work with my body.” She cites cross training as something she’s picked up from the other Conflux dancers. “Julie [Davis] teaches pilates and I took her class and learned so much,” she said.
“With Conflux, because of the range of ages we have, I think that that drives the company culture in a way that’s really positive,” Olivia said.
Joining Conflux, Olivia said, “I feel like I’ve been challenged without worrying about that sense of competition.” She said it’s not about outperforming anyone. “Standing next to these incredible dancers, I’m like, ‘How did they do that? How can I learn from that.’”
Being a 6-foot dancer brings its own set of obstacles. “It has always been a challenge for me as a dancer, both psychologically, and in terms of looking in the mirror and constantly comparing my body to other people.” Olivia added that many dance companies have strict height limits and won’t hire above them.
The last couple of years have been spent learning how to work with her body rather than against it. Olivia said, “I remember in high school writing about the physics behind why it was so difficult for me to turn. If you do the equations, it’s because I have a wider radius when my leg is in passé,” In ballet classes, she now does her arms the way men traditionally do in saut de chats which works better in her body. “It’s little things like that where I think, ‘Okay, how can I work with this to make it better and easier for myself?”
As a performer and choreographer, Olivia’s goal on stage is to leave the audience feeling like they want to get up and dance themselves. “That is something that drives me as a performer. Maybe somebody doesn’t have the same ability but I can be the vessel for carrying that energy out.”
We can’t wait to celebrate Olivia and the other dancers with a day full of movement and community. The classes will be donation-based and you can reserve your spot online. We look forward to seeing you there!
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