Megan has been with TDPS since 2012, joining as the Office Manager before taking on her position as Program Associate. Within the department, she handles course scheduling, enrollment, event coordination, and work-study supervision. In addition, she leads dance classes/workshops all over the Bay Area, serving movers of all different ages, experience levels, body types, races, cultures, and socio-economic statuses—building community and connection.
As part of our staff Q&A series, we spoke with Megan about movement, identity, and the power of dance as a medium. For more information on her past work and current projects, check out https://www.meganlowedances.com.
How did you navigate TDPS during your time at Berkeley?
When I started undergrad at UC Berkeley, I was originally an intended Biology major. I asked my advisor if there was any way I could complete this major without cutting open animals, and he said, "No," so I started my pathway to declaring a Psychology major. I was taking TDPS dance classes, shops, and performance studies classes, while performing in TDPS shows along the way, and at some point, the Undergraduate Advisor at the time, Michael Manslfield, told me I was accumulating a lot of credits toward the Dance major, so I decided to double major in Psychology and Dance & Performance Studies (I also ended up minoring in Theater & Performance Studies). Psychology was one of the largest departments on campus, while TDPS was one of the smallest. It was so much easier connecting with professors, staff, and students in TDPS because it was a more tight knit family. I was taking dance classes, choreography classes, performing in BDP, as well as working in the Costume Shop and as a Costume Designer. I was able to pursue leadership roles within the department, such as being a Student Dance Representative, Peer Advisor, and Allied Arts G.R.O.U.P. Research Assistant. One of my dance instructors, Amara Tabor Smith, gave me an opportunity to teach her class while I was still a student. I was able to fuse together my interests in Psychology and Dance to write an honors thesis: Theories on Creative Thinking and Problem Solving within a Performance Process. By really putting myself out there, I was awarded a number of scholarships from TDPS, which significantly helped me pay my way through college. I feel like I truly explored all that TDPS had to offer to me as a student, and because of that, I ended up landing a job in the TDPS Main Office right after graduating in 2012, and haven't left since then. TDPS' emphasis not only on technical practice, but also academics, really set me up with the skills I needed to pursue my career as a professional dancer that works with many esteemed San Francisco Bay Area dance companies, as well as start my own dance company, Megan Lowe Dances.
Do you have a dream project you would love to explore?
I have so many dream projects!
Current Project: “Just a Shadow,” by Megan Lowe Dances, is a performance journey in service to artists who have lost loved ones prematurely. With a title inspired by a poem my mother wrote shortly before she died, the project stems from my desire to process the loss of my mother and sister through art, and co-create a space of mutual support with collaborators who are also dealing with recent loss. “Just a Shadow” brings together 7 powerful artists—AJ Gardner, Sonsherée Giles, Josh Icban, Megan Lowe, Frances Teves Sedayao, Roel Seeber, and Shira Yaziv—to share 6 distinct duets that highlight the unique strengths and creative modalities of each collaborator, including contemporary dance, site-specific dance, turf dance, contact improvisation, aerial/vertical dance, and live music. The work coalesces in a final group section, where we unite in our differences and synthesize our experiences as a collective. While we are sharing space, there is always room for feeling and discussing our grief. However, the focus of this project is not necessarily about putting that trauma on stage. The emphasis is on creating something together that feels nourishing for our souls, supporting each other on a journey towards healing, acknowledging our resilience, celebrating the life that we have, honoring the memories of loved ones, and thoughtfully crafting something meaningful to share with our friends, families, colleagues, and communities. MLD premiered this work in May/June 2023, and I am super excited to bring it back to life, April 4-6, 2025 with donation/pay-what-you-can performances at ODC Theater in San Francisco.
Future Project: After celebrating Megan Lowe Dances' 10 Year Anniversary, I am inspired to embark on my largest-scale project to date, continuing to uplift the leadership and innovation of multiracial artists in contemporary dance, improvisation, theater, and music. MLD’s 2025 dance theater production, “Bridges that Breathe,” explores mixedness with a cast uniquely made up of mixed-race artists. Through writing prompts, thoughtful text, soulful song, site activation, and dynamic dancing, MLD is co-creating a supportive environment to explore the expansiveness of mixed-identities–delineating a space of wholeness, while holding the complexity of hybridity. These artists are living bridges, connecting the multiplicities that live inside them, and providing pathways of understanding of how folks of different racial and cultural backgrounds can come closer together through a process of dialogue, story gathering, community engagements, movement exchanges, and perspective shifting performances.
Long-term Project: As a mixed-race woman of color in predominantly white dance fields, I create supportive, inclusive environments for marginalized dancers and audiences to be seen, heard, and celebrated. One of my dedicated practices is vertical dance, an overwhelmingly white dance field that demands many financial resources to implement, making it hard for BIPOC to participate and get proper training. As one of the few artists of color creating, teaching, and performing vertical dance for over a decade, I’m frequently asked to represent the BIPOC voice, when what’s really needed is investment in BIPOC vertical dance training to grow and diversify the field. One of my dreams for Megan Lowe Dances is to have adequate resources dedicated to the rigorous and empowering training of BIPOC dancers in vertical dance. I'm currently seeking financial support to better integrate vertical dance into Megan Lowe Dances' productions and workshop offerings—expanding our already robust programming centered in site-specific works, contact improv, and contemporary dance—integrating creative/training opportunities in vertical dance for BIPOC artists–working together to permanently change the field.
To stay in tune about these projects, you can subscribe to my newsletter via my website (MeganLoweDances.com), Instagram (@MLoweDanceKitty), or Facebook (@MeganLoweDances).
What do you wish more people knew about dance as a medium?
Dance is in every fiber of my being. I live, breathe, and dream it. It is my past, present, future, and how I connect to the world. I love exploring the possibilities of my body in relation to others and structures: to move and be moved; to respond and elicit a response. I whole-heartedly believe in the transformative power of the arts. Dance, as an art form, has the unique ability to communicate emotions, ideas, and stories that words alone cannot capture. By harnessing this power, we can contribute to the cultural dialogue, challenge societal norms, and foster meaningful change. My works explore themes of identity, social justice, and inclusivity, aiming to provoke thoughtful conversations and foster empathy among audiences. Through thoughtfully crafted dance theater productions, free to the public site-specific performances, donation-based workshops, and community outreach programs, I seek to empower individuals to explore their own creativity and express their unique cultural experiences. I aim to create innovative and thought-provoking performances that resonate with audiences and challenge existing artistic and societal norms.
Are there any classes next semester that you would especially like to highlight/shout out?
Lots of fun TDPS classes going on in Spring 2025! For dancers, I always loved my experiences in working with Bay Area choreographers to create dance to perform in Berkeley Dance Project. I learned so much about myself and creating dance in these processes, and made many meaningful connections with my peers and choreographers that extended into my professional dance career after college. Also, for dancers, make sure to take a dance technique class every year, to keep you connected and moving. I often pop into these classes as a guest teacher to share contact improvisation, site-specific creation, or contemporary dance, so you might see me there! For performance studies, I remember really enjoying Gail De Kosnik as a professor, and she is teaching Theater 119: Performing Diversity, which is a topic I think is super timely, relevant, and meaningful.