36 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020
“That intersectionality in my
identity sparked interest in
the personal narrative and the
personal story.” She especially
focuses on gathering stories
from people of color, which
are portrayed in both her
interview project and through
her choreographed dance.
“Creating these plat-
forms and making those
connections, I’m
trying to figure out
how we can get a
seat at the table,”
she continues, “to
make change in
the performing
arts, to be a more
diverse and inclu-
sive community.”
Kepler cho-
reographed vari-
ous pieces while at
Michigan that tied her
identity to her personal
narrative.
To shine a light on the cur-
rent U.S. and Mexico border
crisis that has separated chil-
dren from their families, she
gathered 15 interviews from
various news sources that
featured her Latino friends
on campus reading them,
then reacted to those sound
bites through dance moves.
This powerful solo show was
selected to be performed at
the eastern conference of the
American Dance Festival in
2019.
“Showcasing that solo on
stage is a solid example of how
the performing arts can show
emotion that touches people
in a different way,” Kepler
says. Afterward, she explains,
numerous students went up
to her and told her how the
story of the crisis hit them in
a different way when viewed
through art. “The performing
arts can open people’s minds
and hearts.”
Now, Kepler is working on
continuing to build awareness
for the performing arts com-
munity through the COVID-19
pandemic while also helping
performing arts organizations
with marketing and develop-
ment. She hopes that in 2021,
Broadway will be able to reopen
and that dance companies will
once again hold auditions so
she can continue to pursue her
career as a performing artist
and choreographer.
“The performing arts need
a lot of love and attention right
now,
” Kepler says, who believes
a deeper appreciation for the
field is quickly developing. “
A
lot of people are turning to the
performing arts for their enter-
tainment and to be uplifted
during this hard time.
”
DANCING FORWARD continued from page 35
WONDER WOMAN AND
TOM TO THE RESCUE
Wonder Woman 1984, the
sequel to the 2017 mega-hit
Wonder Woman, is arguably
the biggest film release since
the pandemic began. It starts
streaming Dec. 25 on HBO
Max at the same time it is
released to theaters. AT&T
owns WarnerMedia and HBO
and it decided that getting
more streaming subscribers
was more important now
than anemic theater reve-
nues. Warners will release 17
new movies in 2021 in the
same way.
Many filmmakers are not
pleased with this decision.
However, Israeli actress Gal
Gadot, 35, offered anoth-
er perspective in a recent
Digital Spy interview: “The
truth of the matter is we
just didn’t have other better
options. We felt like we were
sitting on this movie for such
a long time, we shot the
movie in 2018, we started
promoting the movie in 2019,
we pushed [rescheduled] the
movie four times. We felt like
the movie was so relevant
to what’s happening in the
world right now that you
come to a place at a certain
time where you’re like, ‘OK,
I just want people to watch
the movie.’”
Gadot said she was open
to doing another sequel.
She also recalled how she
felt when she first saw the
opening sequence of the first
film: “I got so emotional … I
felt like Gal, the 8-year-old,
watching another 8-year-old
doing something out-of-
worldly and being so good
at it … it moves me so deeply
and so much that I just, you
know, I got emotional.”
Tom Hanks’ first Western,
News of the World, opens in
theaters Dec. 25. He plays a
former Confederate officer
who agrees to return a white
girl, taken by the Kiowa tribe
years before, to her family,
even though the girl wants
to remain with the Kiowa. He
and the girl travel hundreds
of hard, eventful miles.
The film’s score is by
James Newton Howard, 69,
an eight-time Oscar nominee.
Howard’s father died when
he was 10, and 25 years
later, he found out his father
was Jewish. He later became
a practicing Jew. Actress
Mare Winningham, 61, has a
large supporting role (“Jane”)
and, like Newton, an unusu-
al Jewish story. Raised a
Catholic, she decided to take
a Judaism class in 2001. Two
years later, she converted
to Judaism. Her conversion
was not associated with
having a Jewish romantic
partner. A talented musical
performer, Winningham
likes to refer to herself as a
Jewish country singer and
issued a “Jewgrass” album
in 2017. Last March, she got
good reviews for her perfor-
mance in Girl from the North
Country, a hit Broadway
musical that features many
Bob Dylan songs. It had
to close after a few weeks
because of COVID-19.
ARTS&LIFE
CELEBRITY JEWS
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Wonder
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1984
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