DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 35
P
rofessional dancer and activist Johanna Kepler
has made it her mission to use the creative arts as
a tool to inspire social change.
The recent University of Michigan graduate who
majored in dance with a minor in Latino studies has used
her platform to spark discussions about
racial injustice, immigration reform and
most recently, the impact that the COVID-
19 pandemic has had on the performing arts
community.
Kepler, 23, who originally hails from
Boston and is now based in New York City,
has witnessed firsthand the devastation
that the pandemic has had on artists, many of whom are
without work or turning to virtual platforms to reach
their audiences. She graduated in the class of 2020, so her
dream of auditioning for Broadway and Off-Broadway
shows is temporarily on hold.
Instead, Kepler, who has been dancing since age 6,
has used her time to interview more than 200 perform-
ing artists, dancers, choreographers and directors from
around the world about how the pandemic has person-
ally impacted their lives and careers. Her hope is that
creating a collective community focused on rebuilding
the performing arts industry will generate awareness for
the struggles artists have faced and steps they’re taking to
move forward.
“It’s continuing to share the story of the artists, not
just the art we make,
” Kepler explains. About a week
before she graduated from U-M, she wrote to the college
inquiring about 12 potential grants to pay
other recently graduated students
who were also out of work due to
the pandemic, and successfully
received a few. These grants
also helped her build “The
Power of the Performing
Arts: Uniting Artists While
Apart” and the website
platform needed to make
the interview project a
reality (thepoweroftheper-
formingarts.com).
Kepler conducts inter-
views via Zoom. When she
first started the platform, she was
completing up to 10 interviews a day.
While at the University of Michigan, she
also founded Arts in Color, a student organization com-
mitted to diversity, equity and inclusion within the arts,
an endeavor Kepler received the Martin Luther King Jr.
Spirit Award for in 2019.
“Being an adopted Latina woman in the U.S., my own
identity drives me forward,
” says Kepler, who was adopt-
ed from Guatemala and grew up in a Jewish household.
ARTS&LIFE
DANCE
continued on page 36
Recent University of
Michigan graduate
uses dance to inspire
social change.
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Dancing
Forward
Johanna
Kepler
“THE PERFORMING
ARTS NEED A LOT OF
LOVE AND ATTENTION
RIGHT NOW.”
— JOHANNA KEPLER
PHOTOS BY MICKY WEST