“Becoming a mother gave me this drive and confidence. I felt like I had a voice and that I felt ready to be that person that was at the front of the room, having those ideas, using my imagination, and attempting to communicate that to a whole room of dancers.”

~ Dani Rowe



Kaitlin talks with Choreographer and filmmaker, Dani Rowe about her transition to motherhood and how that impacted her career as a whole. Dani started out as a dancer from very early on in her life, with her first professional role at age 17. From 2001-2015, she was a Principal Dancer with the Australian Ballet and Houston Ballet, and also danced with the prestigious Nederlands Dans Theater.

After her daughter was born, having moved to the States with her husband (also a dancer), Dani pursued choreography and became even more dedicated to dance, though in a different way. She has created works for San Francisco Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater’s SWITCH program, and Royal New Zealand Ballet, to name a few. 

During the pandemic, her work shifted to include filmmaking, which you can see on her website.

Dani and Kaitlin talk about:

• Dani’s transition from dancer, to mother and choreographer.
• Before You Had a Name, a unique collaborative project between Dani, violinist and upcoming guest on this podcast Heather Powell, and dancer & choreographer Sarah van Patten.
• The unfavorable effect that pregnancy often has on female dancers' careers, an outrageous imbalance that inarguably stems from patriarchal bias, and one that the very foundation of Before You Had a Name challenged from the get go.
• The juggle between motherhood and Dani’s choreography work.
• The concept of invisible work, how that resonates with Dani, and the importance and value of making space for creative ideas.

Related resources:

• More about Before You Had a Name:https://www.daniellerowe.net/#/beforeyouhadaname/
• More about Violinist Heather Powell:https://www.heather-violin.com/bio
• More about Dancer Sarah Van Patten:@sarah.vanpatten
• To find out more about flow, read the book and research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.

You can find Dani on her:

Website:https://www.daniellerowe.net/

Instagram: _danirowe_