Juan Michael Porter II: the Claudia Boettcher stage and beyond
December 7, 2022
As the curtains closed on the final Masters Dance Company fall concert this past Saturday, guest choreographer Juan Michael Porter II’s last piece of choreography before retirement ran its last course. Health journalist, culture critic and Drama Desk Award nominee, Porter has been working with the Masters Dance Company since 2017 and has created over five pieces of choreography that have been performed on the Claudia Boettcher Theatre stage.
Porter’s journey in dance started when he was 16 years old – late compared to most professional dancers. He had gone to an audition for the musical in his high school on a whim and discovered that he was dancing his heart out and doing flips around the room before he even knew it. “I just sort of found this new amazing thing, because I didn’t know what I was doing, I was just going with the music and making it up,” he said. After that initial experience, Porter would frequent his friend’s house after school and just dance. He said, “I would just dance for hours to the music and it was terrible. But I loved it so much.”
Porter decided to turn this passion into his career, however, just as he was starting his training at The Juilliard School, he fractured his hip, “I had to re-learn how to walk and dance again, ” he said. Two years after this injury, Porter was able to recover and attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and entered the production of a Broadway show soon after his graduation. However, his Broadway experience was not ideal, “I found that experience so upsetting I actually quit performing for almost four years. I just felt like if Broadway is supposed to be the highest form of the arts, then I don’t want to be a part of this,” he said.
This decision led Porter to go through many occupations, working as a marathon runner and model before returning to his passion for dance. This return happened more or less coincidentally when Porter saw the Lar Lubovitch Ballet Company perform while he was modeling in Paris. He said it was a combination of passion and ego. “[I felt like] I know these dancers and I know I can swirl around them all day long, so if they have this job, I can get this job. Also, just seeing dance again and not just being around models, I felt like oh, I missed this.”
This return to dance carried Porter to various New York City stages as he worked with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Michael Mao Dance, the Chen Dance Center and other companies. During this time Porter also took on the role of choreographer and dance educator, developing a creative process that is also behind his piece in the fall concert. “[sometimes] I think I have one thing going and then I destroy half of the dance and do something else entirely different,” Porter said. He continued, “This creative process of being willing to say no this isn’t working and shift gears is the greatest education I’ve had, not only as an artist but also as a writer and educator,” the two roles which brought him to Masters.
In 2017, after Porter had earned a reputation as a choreographer and illustrator, he started collaborating with Shell Benjamin, director of Masters Dance Company. They had made a connection through a mutual colleague, “And yes we hit it off like two peas in a pod,” she said. Benjamin continued, “As a colleague, one could not ask for a more considerate person.”
For this fall dance concert, Porter choreographed to the theme Benjamin came up with – “just dance.” His piece, Treillis, focuses on the shapes of movements unique to dance. “Choreographically, I’m looking for shapes and design. If you look at the piece from above, it’s constantly moving, opening and closing almost like a flower,” Porter said. The piece starts with a stage lit only by flashlights, evolves into a colorful whirlwind, and ends in a dark stage as the dancers converge. He said, “[I want it to] give this idea of ‘oh, I was taken in by dance.’”
Senior and member of the dance company Nico Riley, has worked with Porter for the past two years. He said, “This year’s piece allowed me to break free and really express myself through dance in a raw way. For that I am thankful to him.”
This year is Porter’s final year as a choreographer and educator, making the piece in the dance company’s fall concert his last choreography. Moving forward, Porter will be focusing on his career as a writer and journalist, a role which he took on in 2016 and has enjoyed since. “I like being able to write about dancers because I love dance, and [want] to give people proper opinions about the field based upon my experience,” Porter said. As one of a handful of Black Broadway critics, Porter feels that this choice to advance his career in journalism has allowed him to focus on his health and put his voice out to a larger audience.
Looking back on his career and the closure he put on the Masters stage, Porter said he does not regret his decision to retire as a dancer and choreographer. When asked about his relationship with dance, Porter remarked with his unique charisma, “I love dance, but dance is not a religion, it does not love you back.”
