Matteson Returns to Middlebury with Verve and Vision

Author: Chris Grosso

It's Monday evening, around 5 p.m. and I stop to observe the rehearsal taking place in one of dance studios. Gliding over the floor, demonstrating intensity and passionate deliberation, I watch Paul Matteson '00 directing this kinetic art. His colleagues resonate an inspiring energy. After about 15 minutes, he pauses and engages in a conversation. It appears he's discussing one of the arrangements. He makes a couple of gestures, and then they resume.

Matteson, a professional dancer, is back in the CFA's studios. Three years after graduating, Paul has returned to prepare for his upcoming show, "Paul Matteson and Friends: In Concert." The performance is an exploration of movement and capturing the beautiful moment before a decision is made.

Last week I chatted with Paul to learn about his appreciation and passion for the art of dancing. We conversed about his non-traditional Middlebury College career, the New York City dancing scene and creating an evening of dance.

Slated as a member of the Class of 1996, Matteson graduated four years later. His four-year stint at the College was prolonged by a couple of excursions. He grew up in Cumberland, Maine, and came to Middlebury by chance. Like many of us, his academic interests were diversified. He unknowingly fulfilled all the distribution requirements within his first year. After trying some theater, he was advised to take a class with Professor Andrea Olsen of the Dance Department. The class satisfied his liking for artistic and physical expression. She persuaded him to audition for the student production that year. His experience turned out to be beneficial despite his lack of confidence in his abilities. He reminisces, "There was something about being in performance mode. I felt hopeless, but it was fulfilling and enjoyable."

After two years at the College, he had a calling. Uncertain about his aspirations, he traveled out to Jackson, Wyo. "I guess I would say I was a bad ski bum." On his adventure to the West, in between various jobs, he walked into an advanced dance class. The modern dance session was challenging, but it aroused much excitement.

He soon returned to Maine. Continuing to entertain his curiosity, he enrolled in an advanced techniques class, which not surprisingly turned out to be way over his head. He recalls, "The teacher subtly inspired me, and for the next four months, I danced around and attended the Bates Dance Festival."

With this new focus, he came back to Middlebury College and pursued a Dance major. "It was like night and day from two years ago. Once I got back, I spent all my time in the studio." Completely absorbed in dancing, Matteson was dedicated to his studies. Within a semester of graduating, he made the decision to move to New York City and further pursue his work. He danced under the tutelage of Terry Creach for the next three years.

To coincide with his success as an artist, he enrolled for his last semester at the College and completed a senior project. "It almost felt like graduate school since I had taken some time off and was already professionally dancing. Everyone was really supportive though." For his work, he received the National Student Choreographer Award from Dance Magazine for his work at the American College Dance Festival.

Today, Matteson returns to the spot where he first began dancing as an awkward college student. This time around, though, he brings the maturity and creativity of a New York City dancer. In his upcoming show, on Nov. 7, Matteson will present an evening of dance with artist-in-residence Amy Chavasse and guest artist Joseph Poulson. Less than three weeks away, Matteson is actively shaping his final product.

The performance will consist of three-pieces - an emotional display choreographed for Chavasse, a solo composed by choreographer Peter Schmitz, and an extremely physical duet between Poulson and the director.

He eagerly explained that he aims to capture an inspiring moment in a "whole-in-the-wall bar" in Greenwich Village at three a.m. Last year he observed a middle-aged, washed-out Broadway singer bare his soul and sing gorgeously and generously. "He didn't care who was watching, this was for him." In Chavasse's solo, Matteson strives to fabricate this idea of performing for oneself.

The intense moment at the bar was something Matteson had always wanted to recreate as a performer so he is collaborating with his former teacher Schmitz.

In the early summer, Paul's interest in performing a lengthy solo resurfaced and he contacted Schmitz. "Every time, I work with Peter, it is about transformation and discovering new ways of moving. He makes me take new steps, and I trust him as a director. I look forward to performing this enduring solo."

In the third piece, Paul will face off against Poulson in a charged duet. Designed with a bull-fighting motif in mind, the physical encounter is an improvisational game that blends camaraderie and competition.

He elucidates, "I want the stylized fight to be noble and elegant, like a Matador, and I want to confront boyhood with manhood. I hope the antagonistic element creates a very energizing setting."

The linkage between the three eclectic dances is the human element. "I want the three pieces to be real and revealing. They are about going for it and diving in. They capture the moment of beauty, that truthful moment that one approaches when he is about to reveal himself. And this special moment is what I want the audience to experience!"

As opening night approaches, Matteson is making final preparations and diligently rehearsing. "I feel like I am observing this as it is happening. I am getting a solid sense of my work. The voice [of the production] is not confident. I am excited to be creating at this point." Matteson believes that in some respect true artists develop their best ideas in the moments before production.

The New York Times has praised Mattson as "one of the most interesting and intelligent young modern dancers to come along in a great while." "I strive to bring a sense of thoughtfulness and care to each project. Because of my time at Middlebury, I feel I bring a unique personality," he says. He values persistence, hard work and playfulness. Drawing inspiration from teachers and literature along with life encounters, Matteson thrives on combining the sublime with the corporeal.

"Middlebury's Dance program is real alternative and prepared me well for the real world. It focuses on how you move as a person, which is perfectly suited for New York's downtown experimental scene. I learned that it was about how far I can go."

It has been five years since Matteson entered the field and just recently is he beginning to feel established and to gain a sense that he is a professional dancer.

His advice for current Middlebury College students -"You should be persistent, get into something and immerse yourself in it. And you don't have to find a way to justify it."