By day, Kelly Radermacher, 28, is a teacher’s assistant at an elementary school in St. Paul and a graduate student in education. Next week, she’ll turn those life experiences and many more into a dance experience for others to witness.The 1998 Chaska High School graduate is readying to present her movement, dance and video performance “Spill. Moves and Movies That Stain” at Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis. It is the culmination of years of performance work everywhere from Bryant Lake Bowl and the Mound’s Theatre to the Walker Art Center and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Herald asked her a few questions about her new show and her love of performance dance.

 Q. Tell us a little about your show “Spill. Moves and Movies That Stain”: A. “Spill” is a conglomeration of existing and a new dances and videos that exemplify raw displays of human emotion through character movement sketches. You’ll see mostly solos where the viewer gets to know the character dancing and is able to get involved in whichever of “life’s stains” he or she is reacting to both visually and viscerally.I do feel like life stains you. The stains can be both positive and negative and even if you’ve had an “easy” life, you are affected by your experiences, relationships, interactions, etc. and it changes your life, pushes you in a slightly different direction than the one you might have followed had you not had that experience.The dances and videos in “Spill” seek to connect the viewer to this idea of life’s spills. Throughout the show there will be dances created explicitly for the camera, shown on their own, and video that has been edited to be projected simultaneously with the live performer.

I use dance and video in my work because I feel like it gives the viewer an even deeper dimension from which to connect to what’s being conveyed on stage. And because I usually create work in response to my emotions I find that video is another tool at which to address these emotions. Often the video and dancer(s) are in competition with one another onstage. When I am crafting the dance and video together I make them with the intention that they would be strong enough to stand alone.

 Q. What do you hope viewers will get out of the show?

A. When I make work, it’s less important to me that the audience interpreted the dances and videos exactly how I did and more important that they felt moved by them.

Ideally, I would like the viewer to leave feeling a bit emotionally altered, whether it’s inspired, shocked, angry, sad or uplifted, my goal as a performer and as a choreographer for other performers is to find connections during performance between audience and performer so that the audience feels involved or like they are somehow going through the experience with the performer.

 Q. How did you come up with the premise for the show?

A. Honestly, the premise came after some of the dances and videos were already in existence. I began just examining my process and what motivated me to make art, dances, video, etc., and it came back to these “spills.”

I feel like I am in constant examination of the state of my life and the chain of events that lead me to my current status. And usually, there was a whole lot of emotional growth that accompanied that journey. My dances are a re-visitation of those journeys.

 Q. Who would you recommend the show to?A. I would recommend my show to anyone. People who love modern dance, or those who have never seen it before and would like to see something different; or those who enjoy trying to decipher the abstract, and those who simply want to be entertained.

Emotion is universal, I believe, so these characters are in all of us. I invite everyone to come with a sponge-like mind. Soak it all in for what it is first, and see if show is naturally accessible to you. If you’re able to connect in some way, then I’ve done my job.

 Q. What do you enjoy most about dancing?

A. As most dancers will say, dancing is a nonverbal form of expression, one that becomes a necessity in life after you’ve gotten used to it being there. I love taking up space in ways that are outside our pedestrian way of moving or are circumstance appropriate. Basically, moving your body feels good, especially when it can be spontaneous and improvisational, though rehearsing and mastering choreography is equally rewarding. It’s one way I find joy in life.

 Q. How do you feel when you are on stage dancing/performing? What is going through your head?

A. I feel both in control and humbled and fortunate. It’s rare to have that many people’s attention and intense focus all at once so I eat it up. I tend to want to channel the energy and performance intention (whether it’s emotional or simply physical) and send it right back out to the audience so that they feel exactly what I’m feeling. It’s a rush to be able to look someone in the eye in the audience as you’re dancing and I certainly take those opportunities when it is appropriate.

 Q. What advice would you give to those interested in taking up dance/performance art?

A. Follow your heart. Minneapolis is a great city for this art form.

 Q. What’s next after this show? Any others planned?

A. I’m working with Denise Armstead DA Dance and also the April Sellers Dance Collective. They both have shows coming up late fall/winter. I haven’t thought beyond this show for my own work yet.

 Q. What do you hope to be able to tell your former CHS classmates at your 10-year reunion?A. I actually just attended my 10-year reunion this summer and so I asked myself that same question before I went. I decided just to be my self, no need to prove myself to anyone.

Of course I took the opportunity to invite people to my show, but overall, it seemed like everyone was just there to have a good time and reconnect, not be impressive. Ultimately it’s impossible to really fill people in on 10 years of your life at a class reunion. So many life-changing stains and spills along way.

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer