How it began -

Zoe + Bebe

I was first introduced to Bebe’s work when I was about 12 or 13 years old and lived in Gainesville GA (read: small town), my dad drove me two hours to see The Hendrix Project in Athens GA. My mom took modern dance classes with José Limón and Martha Graham (!!) when she was a student at Connecticut College and my dad loved Jimi Hendrix, but I was clueless. Up to that point my knowledge of dance was my weekly ballet classes with a capital B and the PBS Great Performances videos of Barishnykov, Martha Graham and NYCB that I got from the library. Watching Bebe’s work my mind was blown. I sat in the audience afterwards stunned, I couldn’t quite understand what I had just experienced. I didn’t know dance could be like this, I didn’t know you could dance to music like that- I didn’t know anything like this was possible. After that, the world of dance and music was blown open for me. 

Fast forward to 2007: I am so bold as to ask Bebe if she would be willing to act as a sort of mentor and come watch rehearsals, offer feedback, etc. Bebe generously watched various rehearsals through the years, gave me frank and deeply insightful feedback, allowed me into her rehearsals and in 2018 served as a formal mentor through a choreographer mentorship program with Jacob’s Pillow and the Princess Grace Foundation. 

I have studied Bebe’s work and its vast territory like a student learning how to paint like the masters- staring at each piece, drawing them to learn the physicality of brush strokes, the control of paint and the understanding of each element's effect on the viewer. Or like my boyfriend teaching himself at fifteen how to play the guitar like Eddie VanHalen, not to sound like Van Halen but so that he has the skills to make his own songs. ;) I have learned so much from Bebe and am grateful to continue to. I’m thrilled to get to know Bebe in this way and so excited to open it up to all of you!