Meet Anna Long | Independent Film-maker, Choreographer, and Movement Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Long and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, how do you think about risk?
You could say my entire artistic career has been defined by risk, from packing up and moving to Tel Aviv not knowing a single soul, nor a single word of Hebrew in order to study Gaga with the dancers at Batsheva Dance Company, to moving to LA in my thirties to pursue independent filmmaking alongside my movement work.

These days I see risk as a sign to focus and move forward in that direction, not just for the potential reward, but for what I can learn from the thorniest parts of the path.

In my classes, we try to approach movement without running away from effort and risk, rather embracing it. The potential difficulty of any experience doesn’t preclude the feeling of passion or even joy, even when you’re right in the middle of a struggle or even a failure.

Risk reminds me that I create and act from a spirit of love and in the pursuit of change, which has been satisfying, frustrating, exhilarating, humbling, and fun in equal measure.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a multidisciplinary artist. I write and direct films. I choreograph for stage and screen. I’m a teacher and a performer.

When I was young, my mother would always tell me “your greatest strength is your greatest weakness,” and it must have really stuck because most of my work is centered around the mystery of the meeting place between opposing forces. I’m always looking for the exquisite and rare meeting places inside genre: where does beauty and horror intersect, for example, inside the physicality of movement: how solid shapes and ephemeral fantasy intertwine to make dances, and inside the human spirit, which is one big continual contradiction if you ask me.

Tl;dr Professionally I try really hard to make interesting visual content

I got here one demi-plie at a time. I began taking dance lessons at three years old and started training seriously with ambitions to become a professional dancer around the age of fourteen. I decided to choose a school that would allow me to continue training while pursuing academics, so I double majored in Dance and Biology at Skidmore College in upstate New York. When I finished my degree I seriously planned on becoming a biomedical researcher, until my friend Sam forwarded me an application to be included in the pilot Gaga Teacher Training program in Tel Aviv. The Gaga classes I had taken had completely transformed my sense of what was possible in my body and in my art form, so I jumped at the chance to apply with high hopes and low expectations. After a few rounds of interviews, they invited me to join, and I spent a year in Tel Aviv studying, dissecting, and becoming fluent in the movement language of Gaga.
I moved to New York after getting certified as a Gaga teacher and began auditioning for companies while starting my professional teaching career. It didn’t take long for me to get inspired to choreograph my own solos to perform in small venues in the city.
I relocated to Chicago as I began to fall more and more in love with choreography. I created and produced independent works for over six years as well as created commissioned works by local dance companies. I also continued to teach Gaga throughout the city and co-produced workshops in Boston, Denver, Atlanta, and Seattle.
Leaving my community in Chicago in January of 2020 was a difficult decision, compounded by the difficulties of starting over in the middle of a pandemic and adjusting to a quarantine all at once. I’d left because I wanted a change. I wanted to push myself to become a better artist by having more eyes on my work, and I was feeling more stuck and alone than ever.
I’m still processing a lot of grief from that time, but it forced me to learn how to love myself better when I feel weak, how to surrender to change more completely and with more faith. I felt like I lost all sense of who I was except for my creative fire, which kept burning bright enough to bring me back to myself.

This time period also helped rid me of any self-doubt in trying my hand at making films. It felt like the world was on fire, so what did I have to lose in following my dreams of making films? I moved to LA and got to work. I recently completed my first narrative short drama, titled Death in the Desert, and began submitting it to film festivals this spring. I could not be prouder of the meeting of the minds of people from all parts of my crazy life journey that brought this project to life.

So was it easy, absolutely not, but I’m invested in approaching all my creative work with the deepest love I can muster behind it and by welcoming the chaos confined inside the present moment of each creative process. That’s where it doesn’t ever feel too hard.

I want the world to know that I carry a unique perspective from my habit of keeping a foot in two worlds and I’m here to share and interrogate that perspective through my art. My story is the story of an artist who in pursuit of mastering a niche and often gate-kept craft, discovered that dance is truly for everyone. I’m a relentless generator of material who’s learned it’s much better to not take yourself seriously, even when you take your work very seriously. The goofball and virtuoso living side by side in spirit.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
What’s so special about LA is the community here, so I’d bring any friend of mine to spend an afternoon in Eagle Rock catching a movie screening at Vidiots, and then grabbing a drink or a bite to eat at Capri Club to unwind and discuss the film. I love their martinis and people watching.

I’m also enchanted and enamored with all the gorgeous natural landscapes right outside our door here in southern California. I grew up pretty outdoorsy in New England, so I’m always game for a beach day or taking a hike in Topanga. It’s all still fresh and exciting for me.

I’d also bring them to a dance class, of course! I teach Gaga for people, which is an open level class for movers of all ages and backgrounds at Studio A Dance on Hyperion on Tuesday nights. You are guaranteed to meet the kindest and most vibrant people who show up to move and groove together.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Of course I want to shout out the teams and artists at Stomping Ground LA, Studio A Dance, and Westside Ballet, all studios who champion and support classes, workshops, and activities for movers of every experience levels. I believe dance is for everyone, so it’s been extremely gratifying to partner with institutions that also want to create welcoming spaces for their students and teachers.

I also want to shout out Natalie Metzger (@nataliemetzger), director, producer, and VP of development and production at Vanishing Angle Productions. I’m continually inspired by her work, but also emboldened by her and her community to write fearlessly, to support and collaborate with other artists, and to create with tenacity and curiosity.

Lastly I’d love to shout out my dear friend Abbie Rickard (@abbie_doula) who has had my back since kindergarten, and connected me with my friends who urged me to chase my dreams out here in LA through hosting weekly themed movie nights for years. She’s a true friend and an incredible advocate for birthing people in her work as a birth and postpartum doula.

Website: https://www.thisisannalong.com

Instagram: @thisisannalong

Twitter: @thisisannalong

Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user10296779

Image Credits
Portraits by Lorrin Brubaker
Bts photos courtesy of Anna Long
photo of Anna in a red skirt by Lars Mendel
duet photo by Yvonne Portra